Bayreuth

Although I was targeting Bayreuth for only a couple of key landmarks, the rest of the city turned out to be a decent travel destination. It's bona fide Bavarian: it has its own wheat beer, the architecture is beautifully intriguing, and it's an educated university town. The sunny fall weather made everything around me seem to glow with happiness; I noticed a few families scampering in the parks, dressed in knitted hats and sweaters, gathering freshly fallen chestnuts.

In the Hofgarten

Ding-ding! For a change of pace, here's a pop quiz to guide the introduction of Bayreuth. Don't worry; there are only 5 questions and I tell you all the answers at the end.

Question #1: For starters, how is Bayreuth pronounced? 
A) Baby Ruth
B) BYE-royt
C) Beirut

Question #2: Here is Richard Wagner's grave in the garden behind his house, Villa Wahnfried. His wife is buried with him. What was her name?

A) Cosima Liszt
B) Fanny Mendelssohn
C) Marie Berlioz
D) Clara Schumann

Question #3: True or False: Wagner was born, lived, and died in Bayreuth.

Question #4: What is the following picture a part of?

A) A sauna
B) A playground
C) A world-famous opera hall
D) Paul Bunyan Amusement Park


Question #5: Which of the following street names in Bayreuth is not like the others?
A)Walkürenstraße
B) Wotanstraße
C) Parsifalstraße
D) Rheingoldstraße

Ding-ding! Congratulations, you're finished. Thanks for playing along. Here are the answers:
Answer #1: B) Standard German pronunciation.
Answer #2: A) Cosima was pianist/composer Franz Liszt's daughter. Her marriage to Wagner was her second, and they had already had three children together.
Answer #3: False. Wagner was born and educated in Leipzig. He lived in Dresden, Würzburg, Magdeburg, Riga (then part of Russia), Paris, Zurich, Munich, and Bayreuth. Towards the end of his life, he was hugely financially supported by his fan and friend, Ludwig II (Neuschwanstein Castle, died in Starnbergersee...). Wagner died in Venice from a heart attack.
Answer #4: C) Wagner's opera hall's interior is almost completely made of wood. Imagine a giant violin...that the audience gets to sit inside of. Resonant! And it kind of makes you feel like you're at summer camp.
Answer #5: B) Sorry, this question was too hard for non-Wagner buffs. All the streets are named after opera titles except for Wotanstraße, which is just the name of one of the characters, Wotan, the king of the gods. 

Bayreuth Festspielhaus
Every August, the Festspielhaus (festival theater) produces a marathon of  Richard Wagner's operas, a tradition that he began here with the premier of his Ring cycle. I would have gone to an actual production instead of just a tour, but the waiting list is 10 years long.

I have dreamed of this theater ever since I first heard about it in my Opera Literature class in college. Despite this - or because of it? - it was not exactly what I expected. The concept is exciting. Wagner's ideal was gesamtkunstwerk: a total art experience. With his operas, he was already blending a powerful mythological story, the intense visual stage, and otherworldly music. It's a five-hour immersion experience. With his personalized theater, he aimed to create the perfect viewing environment for the audience.

The Festspielhaus rests at the top of a steep, wooded hill. Paths wind through the forests on either side of the main road, leading to fountains and fantastical statues. When I finally caught my first glimpse of the theater, I was a little disappointed, since I had the grand halls of Vienna and Munich fresh in my mind's eye. Then, in a flash, I understood. And I was in love. It reminded me of a primitive pagan temple, so fitting for the romantic folklore of the operas.

Once inside, I had the vague sensation that I was in line for a ride at Disneyland:

Here's the intimate theater. Fewer than 2,000 people fit. Seats are arranged in unbroken rows, forward-facing only. The same spherical light bulbs shine inside the theater, outside the theater, and at his home on the other side of the city. You've already seen the plain wooden seats and chairs (ug...5 hours).

Most of the detail in the room was on the ceiling; here's a close up of the most intricate, near the front. It's fresh and subtle compared to other opera venues.

With all this intimacy and simplicity, how did Wagner expect to transport his audience to a different world? He used two tricks to create what he called a "mystic gulf" between the audience and the performers. One was a double proscenium around the curtain, an illusion which made the stage seem far away.

 

The other trick was an orchestra pit that sunk way back under the stage. The musicians are not even visible when they play, and it gets hot down there, so they can wear flip flops and shorts. Even the conductor can barely see the singers, so his movements are video-fed to the stage for cues. Wagner wanted the sounds from individual instruments to mix together under the stage and emerge like a monster from its pit. I think that our tour guide said (it was in German, it was an hour, and I had a tired Daisy on my hands) that the floor and chairs resonate dramatically in the audience. This multi-sensory experience even involves touch!

Bayreuth's orchestra pit

Seeing this building changed the way I see Wagner. From what I had imagined, the theater was painted with murals and draped in purple velvet. That was the only way I could imagine tying in the plot with the theater. Now that I've seen the Festspielhaus, I see the operas that he wrote on a much more human scale: we are a people, sitting around a campfire in the middle of a forest, recounting our folklore as it comes to life before our eyes. It's the mix of natural and supernatural. I dig it, Richard.