Thursday, July 8, 2010

Broadcast from Salzburg and Bayreuth

Like every year, this year's 'important' festivals are those in Glyndebourne, Aix, Munich, Bayreuth and Salzburg (OK the one in Bregenz is apparently wonderful too, which I'll hopefully see a bit this year).

I very much enjoyed the Salzburger Festspiele last year and decided to return next August for about a week long stay. One of the cool things in Salzburg is that Siemens install a huge screen on the main town-square and practically every evening they show one opera for free to all the tourists and locals in town. Of course the sausages, brezels and beers are all over the place too. ;)
If you plan to go to Salzburg this summer, here is the program of free operas to see on the Town Square. Note in particular that the new production of Lulu will be live broadcast on August 1st at 8 pm (cet).


If you cannot make it to Salzburg or Bayreuth, one opera of each of the two festivals will be live broadcast via Siemens website. Last year I saw the premiere of Cosi fan tutte on that site, before actually going to Salzburg, and the quality was impeccable. You should just buy a ticket prior to the webcast,  which then allows you to see the show live and as many times as you want within 30 days following the live broadcast. They also provide you with libretto in three languages... They will update their website sometimes next week and if you're interested check out here.
The two operas to be broadcast this year are:
  1. SALZBURG: Lulu on August 1st, at 20:00 19:00 (cet)*. This new production should be good not only because Vera Nemirova will direct it but also because Patricia Petibon will sing the title role. If you can see it live in Salzburg it should be great because it will take place in the Felsenreitschule which is very wide but not too deep a theater, so wherever you're seated you're always near the stage.
  2. BAYREUTH: Die Walküre on August 21 at 16:00 (cet). I didn't see the Tankred Dorst's show (not my fave director), but I bet it will be very well sung. Christian Thielemann conducting the brilliant Bayreuther orchestra must be a treat too (this Ring from Bayreuth is released on CD, I listened to it several times and it's very good, imho)
* Just received a mail from Salzburger Festspiele saying:
Please be informed that all performances of Lulu will begin one hour earlier than previously planned (at 7.p.m. instead of 8.p.m.) due to the scheduled performance duration of 4 hrs. including 2 intervals.
 The longer duration of the performance is a result of our decision to present a version which includes a third act created by Friedrich Cerha.

Moreover...

as we're all interested in the new production of Lohengrin in Bayreuth, and unfortunately we won't be able to see Hans Neuenfels' show, major good news is that BR-KLASSIK will live broadcast the premiere. Both Jonas Kaufmann and Andris Nelsons will make their Bayreuth debut, so it's a must :)

The other operas from Bayreuth will also be live broadcast on BR-KLASSIK, and the schedule looks like this:
One more radio broadcast that may interest Muti fans (?) is that  Orphée et Eurydice from Salzburg, will be on France Musique, on July 31 at 20:00 (cet)

You're very welcome :)

6 comments:

  1. anyword on the broadcast of the Elektra from Salzburg? that is of most interest to me

    ReplyDelete
  2. Elektra will be in the Grosses Festspielhaus, where they don't normally film the shows. Since they will give new Lulu, I believe they'll try to cash on Elektra as much as possible. Maybe there will be some radio broadcast at some point ?! If I find out anything on the site (I'll be in Salzburg from August 7) I'll let you know. Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  3. OK, I was told that these webcasts will come at a fee, but i do not see anything about this here. Where can we go to find out about them?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi schmup53! Last year it was 15-ish euros, but you can split that in at least two if you find someone interested in sharing the thing with you (like, you see it live and then you let the person you shared the price of ticket with see it later - or vice versa).

    Lindoro, I guess I answered your question too (?) Last year it was about 15 euros per opera (which you can see live and as many times you wish after the live webcast). How much exactly it will cost this year we'll know in a few couples of days from now on the following address: http://www.siemens.com/entry/cc/en/festivalnight.htm

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for all these great tips! I have one question though: do you know if the Salzburg's Norma will be broadcast on the radio? It's a concert version, and I tried to find out if they were planning to broadcast it, but had no luck. As a great DiDonatot's fan, I'd love to hear her Adalgisa... Many thanks if you can help me (and even if you can't ;-))

    ReplyDelete