Bayreuth sales less bleak than feared
NewsA final box-office reckoning at the Wagner festival shows that dire advance predictions orchestrated by former Vienna Opera chief Ioan Holender were somewhat exaggerated.
The Ring failed to sell out – it reached 92 percent.
All other productions were full.
That said, it has been a nervy summer for the Katie Wagner team, and now the politics begins.
I said this from the beginning. Unfounded. The reports about available tickets were google searches which produced semi-criminal resellers. The Ring had tickets. For obvious reasons with that particular stage direction shitshow.
So, actually, these are very impressive ticket sales, aren’t they?
Politics aside, it surely should be celebrated and not given so such a negative spin!
Of course Bayreuth is on the ‘negative spin list’ and we all know why.
Of course. The doom messages were mainly based on the “10 years waiting list” stories of old. But they conventiently forgot to mention that Bayreuth, very sensibly, made tickets more widely available by drastically cutting the number of tickets “reserved” for Wagner clubs and other privileged groups.
A 2011 audit of the Federal Audit Office (Bundesrechnungshof), revealed that 60% (!) of the tickets were reserved for patrons, sponsors, government officials, musicians, Wagnervereine… Of course it’s hard to get in then. Nowadays, a large number of tickets are even kept to be put on sale online in the spring, long after the “waiting list people” have bought theirs.
Having attended Parsifal and Die Fliegende Holländer (the only tickets I was able to attain), I can attest to the fullness of the house. This in spite of the fact that the temperature at the 16:00 start of Parsifal was over 33 outdoors, probably warmer indoors.
And what a roaring ovation the crowd gave the lead singers for both performances! Senta in Flying Dutchman was a particular stand-out.
I admit I thought that the direction and staging in both shows was bizarre and senseless. But the power of Wagner’s music, the excellent playing by the orchestra, and the onstage cast generally giving an outstanding performance overrode any shortcomings in the production.
so just media hype. we went to 4 fabulous performances
Boy what a surprise.. SD had been led me to believe Bayreuth sales were in the toilet bowl!
Sounds like the sort of “bleak” most arts institutes would love to have these days. Why does the headline make it so negative?
I never heard of an available seat at Bayreuth. No matter what they dish up, I always thought it took years to move up the waiting list for a seat on the bench.
It just goes to prove that in the final analysis, Bayreuth will always triumph! The eternal “Spirit of Wagner” will always guarantee that!
Eternal spirit of Wagner? No reason to project him to be a quasi religious figure.
He only was a genius composer. No more, no less.
Nervy? Meaning? so 95% or more of all tickets sold this year. Yes, “less bleak” (?)
Failed to sell out. Is that a first in modern times?
I recall that one used to have to be on a waiting list for years before a ticket might become available. I presume that is no longer even close to true?
Hmm… the house got papered?
This year, the Festival made the sensible and long-overdue decision to sell tickets for individual operas in the Ring, not just complete cycles as hitherto. That enabled me to dip my toe into Schwarz’s production by attending only Das Rheingold. It was as awful as most other people had reported, but at least I had the satisfaction of making up my own mind about it.
Luckily I also had a ticket for Kratzer’s wonderful Tannhäuser, with the excellent Klaus Florian Vogt in the title role, and Manni Laudenbach and Le Gateau Chocolat repeating their witty and touching cameos. Günter Groissböck was in magnificent voice as Landgraf Hermann and Ekaterina Gubanova threw her heart and soul (and her superb voice) into the role of Venus. When Bayreuth gets it right, the results can be very satisfying.
I’m sorry to hear this. Always hoping for the worst for Bayreuth, until they get a new administration.