Comment: Conductor comes last at Bayreuth
mainAndris Nelsons’ stunning walkout from this summer’s Parsifal illustrates a deep-seated crisis at Bayreuth. Andris loves the festival. It gave him his first international break, caused him to be spotted by Birmingham and has generally given him pleasure and professional satisfaction throughout his fast-track career.
He did not quit lightly.
From the little we know of the true cause, he was not too keen on the Parsifal production and he was even less enthusiastic about uncalled-for interventions by the festival’s music director, Christian Thielemann. Whichever of these reasons triggered the walkout, it’s unlikely Andris will be back any time soon.
Nor will Kirill Petrenko.
He announced last year that he was leaving Bayreuth because it used him as a workhorse, will scant regard for his needs and wishes. His girlfriend went on to pull out of the Ring after a clash with Thielemann.
That’s how things are at Bayreuth these days. There is a leader. You do things his way, or you find something else to do with your summer.
Nelsons and Petrenko will not go short of offers. Other maestros will steer clear.
Love that photograph!
Stunning! At first I thought it was photoshopped, but Wikipedia tells me that the Bayreuth Psychiatric Hospital has 464 beds for in-patients. Quite a capacity, but perhaps necessary for the increasing number of Ms Wagner’s victims. Then there’s always the Jobcentre! Wonderful!
Saxon state government are you paying attention for Thielemans’s contract negotiations? Never give Thielemann executive power beyond his own productions and concerts, never ever! Never unleash the beast.
Bayreuexit?
love it!
technically BayrAusfahrt…
Bay-bye ?
Anja Kampe and Petrenko have not been an item for years, and certainly weren’t one when she pulled out of Isolde. Petrenko’s comments about Bayreuth have been the subject of another thread and have more to do with the strain under which he puts himself, rather than the fact of conducting three Ring cycles in five weeks, which is what every designated Ring conductor has done in Bayreuth for decades.
Nonetheless, Nelsons’ departure is maybe a portent for common practice to come, now that CT has more power than ever before.
Do we dare to hope for an announcement that ‘Christian Thielemann will conduct all performances of Parsifal’?
If so, bliss!
The quotation of Petrenko is a complete fabrication. Nonsense! And Kampes outgoing (she was recently announced as Brünnhilde in Thielemans Easter festival in Salzburg)had only one reason – the same as Nelsons: Katharina Wagner
Good for Andris. It’s about time the Amateur ‘Hitler’ was put in his place. His head’s been too big for years.
You know nothing about it; you weren’t there. Maestro Thielemann appears to be the head honcho at Bayreuth and it’s only to be expected that there would be ‘artistic differences’. There’s nothing more political and bitchy than in music circles.
Nelsons reminds me of Kleiber – same conducting technique, passion and now, it seems, temperament!! Long live Nelsons AND the memory of the great Kleiber.
What a load of twaddle. How many times have you seen Nelsons Conduct. I very much doubt if it more than the 127 times I have seen him live.
Every sensible person knows that Thielemann is a dictator.
Every ‘sensible’ person, except these!! He has been awarded an Honorary Professorship by Oxford:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfO8slw_bmk
And Hitler was Time magazin man of the year. What’s your point?
So it appears that Bayreuth is under the control of a charismatic monomaniac convinced of his own genius.
This is unprecedented, surely?
The originator WAS a genius. Today’s wanna be pocket dictator is just a minor “Kleingeist” stuck with infantile psychological disorders in comparison.
I am sorry but there is no genius at all in Bayreuth except a totally overrated horrible woman that keeps the name Wagner and a conductor with a small repertoire who is great with Wagner and Strauss but come after Kiril Petrenko whose Frau ohne Schatten was better than CT in Salzburg and whose Wagner also tops the German with no manners. Sadly he never got a proper education or like they say ‘Kinderstube’ – where ever he has worked he left and left a disaster – sorry guys this man is overall overrated and his Otello in Salzburg this year was the worst one can imagine – one year before that Cav/Pac was only a success cause the production and super start Jonas Kaufmann – Thielemann simply fails when it comes to italian repertoire and the way he casted Otello was horrible
All of this is much ado about nothing by an ever shrinking audience who mean
nothing in the scheme of world events and are full of second hand opinions.
Don’t be so hard on yourself.
By the way, when is your appointment?
No need. One of the 464 beds at the Bayreuther Nervenkrankenhaus is permanently reserved for him/her.
In Russian, Bayreuth and Beyrouth are the same word …
That explains a lot.
“His girlfriend” pulled out of Bayreuth, aye? It so happens Nelsons has been married for a few years now, so please get the facts right.
@Sue: The article refers to Anja Kampe being Petrenko’s girlfriend, not Nelsons’s. In any case, it certainly wasn’t the case any more when Frau Kampe left the Tristan production in 2014.
If you take the trouble to click on the link, you will see that Norman is referring to Petrenko’s ‘girlfriend’ Anja Kampe and not Mrs Nelsons, aka Kristine Opolais.
@ Peter: the Oxford University had Thielemann lecturing there. The Time Magazine merely featured Hitler on the cover of the magazine. There’s no similarity at all.
And I resent your conflating Hitler with Thielemann, just because the latter doesn’t conform to your bien pensant ideologies.
I have no problem with Thielemann’s ideologies. I have a problem with his erratic and psychotic behavior backstage. Wherever he works, he relies on a system of intimidation and fear.
When he has to play nice because he has no executive power, e.g. in Berlin and Wien, then the deterrence works and his disorder is under control more or less.
But beware you give him executive power, as in Bayreuth, or if Dresden is stupid he will have soon there. He is a tyrant if empowered to be in charge of other people also off-stage.
THOUGH given the 1st price of the 1984 “Bundesauswahl junger Dirigenten” we all in the
Jury saw all this BIG MOUTH style of Mr. CT born in Berlin, not in Braunau…….he is not
celebrating Reichsparteitage – only stiff musical events – – BORING… BRAVISSIMO Andris – – CARLOS KLEIBER for ever…….. Jury member Matthias Kuntzsch)