Thielemann: I like getting Covid-tested every day

Thielemann: I like getting Covid-tested every day

News

norman lebrecht

August 09, 2021

Bayreuth’s ex-music director is still around for most of the festival. He has been sharing some thoughts with the German press agency. His Bayreuth future, he says, will be determined after the end of the pandemic.

‘Everything here is so dominated by Corona that we have deliberately postponed these decisions. I thought it was right to say: Personal sensitivities are not important, we have to see that things get going again and that the festival can end safely. Everyone will breathe a sigh of relief when that is done. Positions, titles and designations are currently really of secondary importance.’

He points out that every participant is tested daily for Covid-19. ‘We like to do it, nobody feels that it is a nuisance…’ Above all, our audience is thirsting for these events.’

Comments

  • Brian says:

    Covid-29? Heaven forbid!

  • Anonymous Bosch says:

    Uh … Norman … I believe that would be “tested daily for Covid-19” unless they are on to something auf dem Grünen Hügel.

  • Novagerio says:

    Covid-29? It’s going to be a long pandemic!…

  • T. Turel says:

    Covid 29? how advanced!

    • Gustavo says:

      If mankind really wanted to combat climate change lockdown would probably need to continue for at least 50 years.

      Genetic engineers worldwide, unite!

  • John Borstlap says:

    I also like being tested every day & would regret if the pandemic would stop too soon. It compensates for the lack of personal attention I get here at my job.

    Sally

  • Petros Linardos says:

    “I like getting Covid-tested every day”: this is not stated in the article.

  • Sisko24 says:

    “….We like to do it, nobody feels that it is a nuisance…” So who is the ‘We’ he speaks on behalf of? And saying ‘nobody’ feels that it is a nuisance’ is also an unsupportable statement. I’ve met many a person who has been vaccinated and who has been tested frequently and they do feel it is a nuisance even as they acknowledge the necessity of both. Is Mr. Thielemann engaging in projection?

  • Peter San Diego says:

    “He points out that every participant is tested daily for Covid-29.”

    Wow, most of us are still hung up about Covid-19.

    • John Borstlap says:

      Wagnerian testing is always on a larger scale. Also the test sticks are considerably longer, and the suffering is greater and more intense, so that the longing for redemption through the operas is increased as well as the enjoyment of the performances.

  • Le Křenek du jour says:

    Nobody l i k e s getting Covid-tested every day.
    Not even Herr Thielemann.

    The headline is misleading; and, one must suspect, wilfully mischievious, given our host’s masterful grasp of the German language.
    The phrase used by Herr Thielemann was „Wir machen das gerne mit, niemand empfindet das als lästig.“
    „M i t machen“ is the giveaway: to take part, to participate; doing what everyone ought to be doing.
    An idiomatic translation would take into account the understated, self-deprecating ways of English colloquialisms: “We don’t mind, nobody does.”

    But Herr Thielemann stating that he does not m i n d being tested would hardly make clickworthy headlines, would it?

  • Barry Guerrero says:

    People view Thielemann as narcissistic, but what he says makes good sense to me.

  • Anon says:

    Well, I must say that this is good news and quite inspiring. Maestro Thielemann is setting an excellent example for those of us who do not like being tested. It can be very invasive.

    In my orchestra we often tear up, get bloody noses, have irritated nasal passages and really dread it. We tolerate it, but it’s very inspiring to hear from a well known Maestro about this!

    • Petros Linardos says:

      What makes you think that Thielemann likes getting tested? The article reports no such statement!

  • Gustavo says:

    But has he ever had a prostate examination?

  • WagnerJr says:

    Sure…..some people enjoy getting something up their throats on a daily basis………..

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