Women triumph on Bayreuth’s opening night
NewsOvations rang out at Bayreuth’s Flying Dutchman last night for Asmik Grigorian as Senta and Oksana Lyniv as conductors, according to our reporters in the aisles.
Asmik’s reception is said to have been the most thunderous since the tenor Klaus Florian Vogt in 2015 which, given the shunken audience of just 911 people must have taken some effort.
The third woman to receive applause – guarded and dutiful – was Angela Merkel who has making her last appearance at Bayreuth as Chancellor.
We will bring you further reports and reviews as they come in.
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photo © Bayreuth Festival / Enrico Nawrath
UPDATE: Oksana with flowers from Angela Merkel.
I watched the live stream, and Asmik Grigorian was really amazing as Senta. I think that Oksana Lyniv rushed a bit, and there was a lack of coordination between pit and chorus at several points, but it was her first year at Bayreuth. The production was booed, but I liked the story that was telling.
Half the chorus was on stage, while the other half was in the Chorus hall, singing through a loudspeaker. I give Oksana a lot of credit for surviving such a challenge.