Bayreuth - Opera Festspiel

One thing on Eric's bucket list of lifetime adventures was to attend the Bayreuth Festival to watch Wagner's Ring Cycle. 

Eric, Catie, Rebecca and I just finished this historic trip. It was quite the adventure. 

The Ring Cycle includes 900 minutes of opera music (15 hours) over 4 days with 6-one-hour-long intermissions. 

 If you want to learn more about the Ring in A Nutshell check out this LINK 

 -------- 

 Now for the Jarvis Ring Experience in a nutshell. Here we are eating dinner before the first night.

We ate at this lovely gasthaus in the village of Weissenbach. That is where we found our emergency housing! Our airbnb in Bayreuth, that I had booked 9 months earlier, sent us a message the day we arrived in Germany that our accommodations were cancelled. That was a shocker since we had a week of opera planned and were basically homeless. Lucky for us we found emergency housing in Weissenbach that was absolutely amazing and only a short 40 minute drive to Bayreuth. 

 ---------- 

DAY 1 photo at the Festspiel. 

Here we are inside Wagner's famous opera house where the 100+ piece orchestra is hidden under the stage.

----------- 

 Day 2 photo. 

 You might confuse it with day 1 since we are all wearing the same clothes, except I've added a different necklace and Eric has changed his tie.  We actually did go home and sleep between part 1 and part 2.

DAY OFF - Between operas 2 and 3 of the Ring Cycle you get a "day off". 

Rebecca used the day to study Greek and Latin for her upcoming placement test prior to starting her Masters in Classics. 

Catie, Eric and I went to Nurumberg to see the Documentation Centre (Hitlers World Capital Site). 

This was my second visit there, and worth a second look. I think I'll need another blogpost to describe that adventure. 

 -------------- 

 Day 3 of the Ring.

One fun thing about watching The Ring is listening to the brass section play on the outdoor balcony at the front of the opear house.  Between acts and just 15 minutes before the next act, they announce it is time to take your seat by sending the brass to play a few bars from the upcoming act. It is usually one of the leitmotifs. 

 For more on lietmotif's check out this LINK. Here is a photo of the brass on the outside balcony

 

At the opera house, they also post signs like this one in the restrooms and outside the theatre so you know when you have to be back to your seat. 

The sign has the names of the singers and production team, but most importantly, the time that each act begins.

They are very serious about being on time and if you miss getting into your seat on time you miss the entire act - no late arrivals. Each row of seats across the entire theatre is continuous, so there is no centre aisle. When you purchase the centre seats, it means you have to climb over everyone to access your seat. 

Basically, the whole row has to remain standing until everyone is in place, then you all sit down together. The seats fold down, and if you are lucky, you remember to get a free cushion at the coat check to put on your seat or along the back of the wooden chairs. They certainly make it uncomfortable enough that you'll stay awake. 

BREAKS

Between every act you get a 1 hour break. You need it. 

 Most acts are 1-2 hours long. You can purchase food inbetween acts like these amazing bratwurts. (Sausages on a baguette).

------------------ 

Another Day Off

We got another day off between opera 3 and 4.

This time we went to visit Little Berlin - Mödlereuth .  It is a town that was split in half by the Berlin Wall near Bayreuth. It tells the important story of how the wall divided Germans.

 

The drive to Mödlereuth was notable for the hundreds of wind turbines and solar farms along the way.  

Over 50% of all the energy produced in Germany is from renewable sources with wind being the number one source.

--------------

Back to the Opera.

DAY 4  - Here we are at the final performance.

What an experience!

Below is a picture of the final curtain call after the last opera.

Curtain calls are a serious production.  They give each performer at least 3. Instead of just clapping their hands, if the audience really liked someone's performance, then stamp there feet.  It makes a very loud noise.

This photo shows the second to the last group curtain call.  I've put this one here so you can see the two men on the left side.  They are the stage director and set designer.  This was a controversial production of the Ring and although the singers were given grand bravos, when those two joined the curtain call, the audience started yelling ---booo.  It was shocking.  It made me laugh because it was so uncomfortable.

The audience was not shy to express their displeasure

Well, glad to have seen The Ring at Bayreuth and will remember it as a controversial version that generated a lot of conversation.