Solti in Bayreuth: Where do I go to shul on Friday night?

Solti in Bayreuth: Where do I go to shul on Friday night?

Opera

norman lebrecht

March 10, 2023

The Canadian cantor Charles Heller, in an anthology titled Shul Going, has a fascinating reminiscence of Georg Solti conducting the Ring at Bayreuth in Peter Hall’s production in 1983.

Solti looked around and saw three Jewish condcutors there that summer – himself, Barenboimwith Tristan and Levine with Parsifal.

He asked if the town had a functioning synagogue. Inquiries were made and it turned out the keys were in the hands of the police chief.

Solti demanded he unlock it for a Friday night service. Two newspaper critics, Harold Rosenthal and Max Loppert, agreed to help make up a minyan of ten men. All was set fair when a singer dropped out at the Festspielhaus and Solti was called to deal with the enduing crisis.

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