Vor Wagner war schon Wagner

150 Jahre musste „Rienzi“ auf sein Bayreuth-Debüt warten. Nun trifft Wagners frühe Grand Opéra auf Fake News, Macht und Massenverführung – musikalisch überwältigend mit Andreas Schager und Nathalie Stutzmann, szenisch zwischen Aktualität und Bilderflut. Vor Wagner war eben schon Wagner.

There was Wagner Before Wagner

It took 150 years for Rienzi to make its Bayreuth debut. Now Wagner’s early grand opéra meets fake news, power and mass manipulation – musically overwhelming with Andreas Schager and Nathalie Stutzmann, theatrically caught between contemporary relevance and visual overload. Before Wagner, there was already Wagner.

Bayreuth Festival: Wagner’s Vision Enhanced: Parsifal in the Age of AR

Jay Scheib’s 2024 Bayreuth Festival production of Wagner’s Parsifal boldly merges tradition with augmented reality, pushing opera’s boundaries. Viewers wearing AR headsets are immersed in a fantastical world where virtual elements intertwine with live performance, transforming Wagner’s work into a multi-layered experience. While occasionally overwhelming, moments of poetic brilliance emerge. With an outstanding cast led by Andreas Schager and Ekaterina Gubanova, supported by Pablo Heras-Casado’s nuanced conducting, this Parsifal raises pivotal questions about opera’s future and technology’s role in classical performances, demonstrating the art form’s power to adapt and captivate in the digital age.