Parsifal 2023 (Bayreuth Festival) - Reviews and background

For the first time in Bayreuth, a production made use of AR glasses to give the audiences an augmented reality experience.

Reviews

Augmented reality-infused production of Wagner’s `Parsifal’ opens Bayreuth Festival (By RONALD BLUM, Associated Press): ‘AR use was at times visually busy: insects and starbursts appeared tangential to the action, and there were a few instances of slight judder. Many digital visuals were impactful, such as arrows shot at the audience. A spear through an ear referenced Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights.”’

Background

The New York Times: The Bayreuth Festival’s production of “Parsifal” will feature augmented reality. Securing the equipment set off a financial and philosophical dispute.

Parsifal AR FAQ…

ar glasses, augmented reality

Screenshot from Bayreuth Festival AR introduction video

Conductor: Pablo Heras-Casado
Director: Jay Scheib
Stage design: Mimi Lien
Costumes: Meentje Nielsen
Video: Joshua Higgason
Chorus master: Eberhard Friedrich

Amfortas: Derek Welton
Titurel: Tobias Kehrer
Gurnemanz: Georg Zeppenfeld
Parsifal: Andreas Schager
Klingsor: Jordan Shanahan
Kundry: Elīna Garanča / Ekaterina Gubanova
1. Gralsritter: Siyabonga Maqungo
2. Gralsritter: Jens-Erik Aasbø
1. Knappe: Betsy Horne
2. Knappe: Margaret Plummer
3. Knappe: Jorge Rodríguez-Norton
4. Knappe: Garrie Davislim
Klingsors Zaubermädchen: Evelin Novak, Camille Schnoor, Margaret Plummer, Julia Grüter, Betsy Horne, Marie Henriette Reinhold
Altsolo: Marie Henriette Reinhold

Social Media

One of the finest monuments in sound ever to have been raised to the everlasting glory of music. (Claude Debussy on Parsifal)

"The thing about Wagner is that there can be no true success in any production of his operas, only degrees of failure. There is so much in these bloody pieces, all you can do is try to live up to them." (Keith Warner, The Guardian)

"I have never come across an audience with so much hatred, so much anger, such a thirst for revenge. They take everything personally. It makes you a little bit scared, and it's really quite terrifying." (Lance Ryan on the audiences at Bayreuth)

"People sometimes complain that Wagner operas are too long, that they get stiff and sore about 10.30 because they have rushed in to hear one of his works straight from work and are not properly prepared for listening to his music. The audience, as much as the artists, must be prepared for a performance."
(Benjamin Britten to Alan Blyth, Gramophone)

"I was bowled over. It was the year after Wieland Wagner had died; to be able to see his productions was a total knock-out. These bare stagings, where everything was done with lighting. The light changed with the music, and the shadows and patterns seemed as archetypal as the music itself. Nobody had done that on the stage before. I thought it was extraordinary and wonderful."
(Patrick Carnegy to The Guardian)

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