Third time is a charm: my first trip to the Bayreuth Festival, attending its successful Tannhäuser.

Bayreuth, August 12, 2024.

Every Wagnerian has the Bayreuth Festival as a reference, a sort of divine place to go to at least once in their life. Wagnerism, lived as a faith or just a musical passion, has its core in the opera house that Richard Wagner had built in this quiet Bavarian city. I also had Bayreuth as a reference in my life, specially in my teenage years, so since I applied for tickets for the first time, in 2005, this is the first time I have visited the Festspielhaus, after two occasions in which I was not able to attend because of personal circumstances. It took me 19 years to get a ticket! So, the third time's the charm. The performance I got was Tannhäuser, an opera that I had not seen live since 2009.

Wagner always had in mind the idea of ​​creating a theatre to lead exemplary performances of his operas, preparing its structure for this purpose. Thus, Wagner revolutionized opera, and even advanced filmmaking, twenty years before his invention. Attending an opera performance wouldn't be an occasion just to acquaint with VIP people anymore, but would mean to witness a mesmerising show of the highest operatic level.

For a Wagnerian, attending Bayreuth is like doing pilgrimage to a holy site. The fact that the theatre is at the top of a hill, dominating the landscape, reinforces that idea. The first thingone can see is the majestuous Festspielhaus, with the Wagner white flag, at whose feet lies the well-known floral arrangement, and the pile of Wagner statuettes, designed by the artist Ottmar Hörl, this year coloured in gold. The excitement intensifies as the brass musicians from the orchestra come out to the main balcony, shortly before the show begins, to perform the fanfare of the first act of the opera that will be performed that day. In addition to the fanfares, a little bell warns the audience that performance is to begin in few minutes. 

Wagner wanted people to only go to see the opera and not indulge in too many luxuries, so the theater is very simple. The main hall is elegant, but not overly decorated. The Bayreuth Festspielhaus is rooted in tradition in all its aspects, even in a negative way.

In order to avoid affecting the acoustics, there is no air conditioning, so there is very, very warm in the main hall, specially in the upper zones, the so-called Galerie. The seats are endless rows of wood without aisles, so to enter one has to get the entire row up. Since all tickets tend to be sold, specially the cheaper ones, there are too many people in the room and the heat is even more intense, and consequently, one sweats a lot there, even feeling a raising heat in arms and armpits, so the possibility of dizziness, even fainting, cannot be ruled out. All this suggests that the Festspielhaus is possibly be the most uncomfortable place to attend an opera performance. 

Still, during the third act, there was a gust of fresh air. During the intermissions, it is imperative to leave the room, you cannot visit the stalls or see the  "shell" which covers the orchestra pit. The kind ushers, called "blauen mädchen", firmly prevent this. As a novelty this year, water canisters and disposable cups have been provided so that the public can drink, refresh, or hydrate themselves a little after the end of each act.

The Tannhäuser current production in Bayreuth is the successful one by Tobias Kratzer, premiered in 2019, and considered the top production of the last editions. Indeed, despite it was supposed to be retired this year,  it has been extended for another edition, for the 2026 festival. Kratzer proposes a radical update of the work, in which Tannhäuser, an outsider to his society, is here an anarchist who forms a gang with Venus, Oskar, the dwarf from the novel The Tin Drum, by Günter Grass, and the black drag queen Le Gateau Chocolat, with whom he tours Germany in a caravan. Tannhäuser is an artist who has fled the musical establishment, and this time his colleagues, the medieval troubadours of the 12th century Wartburg, are the artists of the Bayreuth festival themselves. In this way, Kratzer ironizes Bayreuth and its establishment with "this theater within the theater" stagings. Thus, the second act is a canonical representation of the work, with a traditional staging. However, Tannhäuser will drag his friends, and Elisabeth, to their perdition in a tragic, raw and dark third act. Regarding further details of this staging, I already talked about them on my 2019 review of the premiere of this production.

However, some changes have been set during these years, and furthermore, it looks different when seen live. In the overture, the film projection of Tannhäuser's adventures is most impressive when viewed on the extremely big screen that occupies the entire stage, with images from the air of the Thuringian landscapes, some downwards and in such high resolution that gives the sensation of falling down inmediately.

During the overture, Oskar is seen, in a close up, having a toast in memory of Stephen Gould, the tenor who premiered this production and who died last year of cancer. When a photo of him is seen with his date of birth and death, the theater burst into loud applause. At the end of the first act, Venus, Oskar and Gateau perform a show in the pond on the hill, which spectators and visitors can access, interacting with the artists, who also sing popular pop songs, like Spice Girls' Wannabe, and even Gateau sings with a powerful dark bass a voice the Dich Teure Halle aria. 

In the second act, half of the stage is occupied by a screen that shows everything that happens behind the scenes, which is part of the performance, something which becomes quite distracting. During the Entrance of the Guests scene, the Tannhäuser gang is seen entering the theatre, and Gateau and Oskar pass through the corridor where the photos of all the conductors in Bayreuth History hang, which now includes Pablo Heras-Casado, Oksana Lyniv and Simone Young, as well as Nathalie Stutzmann, who conducts this performance. Since this year, for the first time in the history of the festival, there are more women conductors than men, at the maestro's exit, called "dirigent-gang", Gateau adds with a marker the feminine suffix "-innen" to the word "dirigent", which caused laughter in the hall.

There are few magical moments in Bayreuth like when the lights gradually go out, first being the stalls and finally the gallery: the play begins, with the room in total darkness except for the light coming from the orchestra pit, invisible to the audience. In the middle of that atmosphere, the clarinet begins to sound as the Overture begins, enveloping everyone in that magic aura. One sees that despite the location of the orchestra, and the fact that there are tiers within the orchestra pit, all the instruments sound as if the orchestra were at the level of the stage, even the powerful percussion, which is on the last tier of the pit.

After her debut last year at the festival with this same work, the French conductor (and former contralto) Nathalie Stutzmann reprises her work as conductor of the fabulous Bayreuth Festival Orchestra for this Tannhäuser. Her rendition is accomplished. The tempi are a little slow at times, which allows the listener to enjoy better the beautiful orchestration of the work, specially in its most intimate moments, such as the beautiful music for the woodwind between Elisabeth's aria and Wolfram's in the third act. The strings sound shining from the start. The only thing that could lag a little, and only a little behind, is the brass, but even its level is high. In the long and beautiful prelude to the third act, the strings go a little fast in the passage before the powerful intervention of brass and percussion in the central moment of the piece. But in the end the work ends with an enormous orchestral level, which shows the strength of this orchestra. The Bayreuth Festival Choir is one of the best in the world. Since this work has many choral interventions, its full power is displayed in this work. The male voices make themselves felt very strongly in their interventions, both in the pilgrims' choirs, which begin as a whisper and end up enveloping the entire room. But it is even more overwhelming when they sing offstage, especially the young pilgrims who are performed by the female choir, in an experience that gives goosebumps, like in the final chorus. 

Wagner considered the human voice to be the most precious instrument. That is why the structure of the theater not only prevents the powerful orchestra from covering up the singers' voices, but also allows them to flow and be heard throughout the room. Thus, singers whose level is not so well appreciated in recordings or in other theaters, here sound like referential performers. 

Klaus Florian Vogt is Bayreuth's leading tenor. He is able to sing and alternate several roles at each festival, which is why he has become essential for the theater and very loved by the audience. Vogt has always displayed a very youthful and bright tone in his voice, although that does not always fit with the Wagnerian roles he plays. That sound may be ideal for Lohengrin or Stolzing, but Tannhäuser, who is a man who has lived, and sinned for a long time, requires a more heroic voice. This makes Vogt's one to sound completely weak at several moments (for example when he says Elisabeth's name for the first time), especially in the first act, whose tessitura was complicated for him. However, his singing improved during acts two and three, where the voice sounded more committed and the singing sounded more convincing, especially in the second half of the second act. 

Elisabeth Teige, on the other hand, was an excellent Elisabeth, with a wonderful dramatic voice, which was also combined with an excellent performance. During her emotional defense of Tannhäuser in the second act (Ich flieh 'für ihn) and during the prayer in the third act her singing was superb.

Markus Eiche is a Wolfram who sings and phrases well. Although he has intention and dominates the character, his voice lacks more low voice. He  managed to hold his own in his third act aria, the famous song to the star.

Iréne Roberts made her triumphant debut this year in Bayreuth, in the role of Venus. This American mezzo-soprano has a delicious voice with a velvety tonee and firm vocal projection. She is also a good actress and is physically very attractive. 

Günther Groissböck was a wonderful Landgrave. It is surprising how the acoustics allow him to project so well, that this voice sounds as a formidable bass in the theater, an imposing presence and exquisite diction, as well as a powerful voice. I couldn't recognise the well sung but weak-volumed King Marke in the Tristan und Isolde streaming three weaks ago.

Likewise, the acoustics seem to benefit the Icelandic bass-baritone Olafur Sigurdarson , who despite his light tone, his brief intervention as the knight Biterolf sounds interesting, well sung and with an accomplished diction, while in recordings he does not always sound so imposing.

The excellent South African tenor Siyabonga Maqungo was a lyrical Walther von der Vogelweide, in his brief intervention. Flurina Stucki was a good shepherd boy, although her voice seems a little more robust than the light ones that usually sing this role. Tenor Martin Koch (replacing the Spaniard Jorge Rodríguez-Norton) and bass Jens-Erik Aasbø were notable in their very small roles as Heinrich and Reinmar.

Once again, the funny Manni Laudenbach as the dwarf Oskar and the black British drag queen Le Gateau Chocolat provoked laughter from the audience, although their roles were not planned by Wagner, but by the stage director.

As expected in Bayreuth, all tickets were sold. The reception of the show varied with each act. At the end of the first act loud boos were heard in the room, but the second and third acts were received with increasing enthusiasm. Standing ovations for Vogt, Teige, Groissböck, Eiche, the choir and especially for maestro Stutzmann. When leaving the theater, night has fallen and people leave the green hill both on foot and in the special buses that take them to the various hotels in the city.

Despite the discomfort and the atrocious heat, I cannot deny that I have witnessed an enjoyable performance with magical moments. And I can add that the level of the orchestra, choir, and scene, together with the devotion displayed by the cast, have made this the best Tannhäuser I have ever seen in a theater. And although I am now back to Spain, I am already thinking about returning in a few years.

Wagner's works cannot be seen and heard anywhere else as they do in Bayreuth. That is why, although the conditions are not the most ideal and the cast may not be the most suitable, George Bernard Shaw was right when he stated in "The Perfect Wagnerite": that those who go to Bayreuth never repent it.

Stage pictures by Enrico Nawrath, copyright belonging to him and to Bayreuth Festival.

My reviews are not professional and express only my opinions. As a non English native speaker I apologise for any mistake.

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