124-483: The Bayreuth Festival (German: Bayreuther Festspiele ) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth , Germany, at which performances of stage works by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived and promoted the idea of a special festival to showcase his own works, in particular his monumental cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen and Parsifal . Performances take place in
248-574: A film version in Swedish of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte , turned down an invitation to direct the festival. The most sensational production in Werkstatt Bayreuth was the centennial Ring cycle ( Jahrhundertring ) directed by Patrice Chéreau , who used an updated 19th-century setting, following the interpretation of George Bernard Shaw who regarded the Ring as a social commentary on the exploitation of
372-680: A French team around director Patrice Chéreau and conductor Pierre Boulez . Known as the Jahrhundertring , it was filmed. The newest production of the Ring (directed by Valentin Schwarz ) premiered in 2022 after pandemic-related delays. Schwarz's modern staging of the cycle— depicting a complex, tangled family drama spanning generations—was met with mixed reviews from audiences and the press. Historical performances of Wagner's operas at Bayreuth, available on CD, are too numerous to list. The following are
496-460: A Prussian province. The Prussian Minister Karl August von Hardenberg took over its administration at the beginning of 1792. The town centre still possesses the typical structure of a Bavarian street market: the settlement is grouped around a road widening into a square; the Town Hall was located in the middle. The church stood apart from it and on a small hill stood the castle. Some sixty years later
620-576: A composer of the new German Reich, the Societies and other fundraising channels were well short of the needed sum by the end of 1872. Wagner made another appeal to Bismarck in August 1873 and was again denied. Desperate, Wagner turned to his former patron, Ludwig II, who reluctantly agreed to help. In January 1874, Ludwig granted 100,000 Thaler and construction on the theatre, designed by architect Gottfried Semper , started shortly thereafter. A planned 1875 debut
744-622: A few outstanding examples. 49°57′36″N 11°34′47″E / 49.96000°N 11.57972°E / 49.96000; 11.57972 Bayreuth Bayreuth ( German: [baɪˈʁɔʏt] , Upper Franconian : [ba(ː)ˈɾaɪ̯t] ; Bareid ) is a town in northern Bavaria , Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains . The town's roots date back to 1194. In
868-416: A kind of concerto form (with bars 1–207 and 208–330 together making up a double exposition), or even a conflation of four symphonic movements into one (with bars 331–594 representing a Scherzo, and bars 595–654 a slow movement). The reason these arguments are interminable is that each interpretation contributes something to the understanding of the movement, but does not represent the whole story. Cook gives
992-458: A massive coda that takes up nearly a quarter of the movement, as in Beethoven's Third and Fifth Symphonies . A performance of the first movement typically lasts about 15 minutes. The second movement is a scherzo and trio . Like the first movement, the scherzo is in D minor, with the introduction bearing a passing resemblance to the opening theme of the first movement, a pattern also found in
1116-601: A melody that foreshadows "Ode to Joy". Although most of Beethoven's major works had been premiered in Vienna, the composer planned to have his latest compositions performed in Berlin as soon as possible, as he believed he had fallen out of favor with the Viennese and the current musical taste was now dominated by Italian operatic composers such as Rossini . When his friends and financiers learned of this, they pleaded with Beethoven to hold
1240-473: A performance by the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra under conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, followed by the first post-war performance of Wagner's Parsifal . Under the direction of Wieland Wagner, the "New Bayreuth" ushered in an era that was no less than revolutionary. Gone were the elaborate naturalistic sets, replaced with minimalist modern productions. In comparison,
1364-531: A piece of land available to him, an undeveloped area outside the town between the railway station and Hohe Warte, the Grüner Hügel ("Green Hill"). At the same time Wagner acquired a property at Hofgarten to build his own house, Wahnfried . On 22 May 1872 the cornerstone for the Festival Hall was laid and, on 13 August 1876, it was officially opened (see Bayreuth Festival ). Planning and construction were in
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#17328440153311488-520: A result, brought a time of peace to the Frankish kingdom. 1742 saw the founding of the Frederick Academy , which became a university in 1743, but was moved that same year to Erlangen after serious riots because of the adverse reaction of the population. The university has remained there to the present today. From 1756 to 1763 there was also an Academy of Arts and Sciences. Roman Catholics were given
1612-447: A second festival the following year, and travelled to London to conduct a series of concerts in an attempt to make up the deficit. Although the festival was plagued by financial problems in its early years, it survived through state intervention and the continued support of influential Wagnerians, including King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Following the financial failure of the initial Bayreuth Festival, as well as Wagner's death in 1883, there
1736-416: A series of variations on the "Joy" theme. But this is rather a loose formulation, at least by comparison with the way in which many twentieth-century critics have tried to codify the movement's form. Thus there have been interminable arguments as to whether it should be seen as a kind of sonata form (with the "Turkish" music of bar 331, which is in B ♭ major, functioning as a kind of second group), or
1860-491: A specially designed theatre, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus . Wagner personally supervised the design and construction of the theatre, which contained many architectural innovations to accommodate the huge orchestras for which Wagner wrote as well as the composer's particular vision about the staging of his works. The Festival has become a pilgrimage destination for Wagnerians and classical-music enthusiasts. The origins of
1984-401: A way that, when coupled with the tempo, makes it sound as if it is in quadruple time . While adhering to the standard compound ternary design (three-part structure) of a dance movement (scherzo-trio-scherzo or minuet-trio-minuet), the scherzo section has an elaborate internal structure; it is a complete sonata form. Within this sonata form, the first group of the exposition (the statement of
2108-497: A well-known Jewish woman). Winifred's influence with Hitler was so strong that at her behest, he wrote a letter to anti-fascist Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini , inviting him to lead the festival. Toscanini, who had conducted there in 1930 and 1931, refused in 1933. From 1933 to 1942, the festival was conducted principally by Karl Elmendorff . It was in Nazi Germany that the festival made its first break from tradition, abandoning
2232-455: Is a choral symphony , the final complete symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven , composed between 1822 and 1824. It was first performed in Vienna on 7 May 1824. The symphony is regarded by many critics and musicologists as a masterpiece of Western classical music and one of the supreme achievements in the history of music. One of the best-known works in common practice music , it stands as one of
2356-458: Is given to members of the Society of Friends of Bayreuth (financial donors), famous patrons, and to regional and international Wagner societies, which are distributed to their own members through lottery or the willingness to pay a high contribution. However, in 2013 tickets for one opera production were offered exclusively online, on a first come first served basis with no preferential eligibility. It
2480-464: Is in four movements . The structure of each movement is as follows: Beethoven changes the usual pattern of Classical symphonies in placing the scherzo movement before the slow movement (in symphonies, slow movements are usually placed before scherzi). This was the first time he did this in a symphony, although he had done so in some previous works, including the String Quartet Op. 18 no. 5 ,
2604-492: Is reported that they sold out within seconds. This offer was repeated for the 2014 season, with tickets being available for eight performances including one complete Ring cycle. As of 2014, retail ticket prices ranged from €320 for a front row stalls seat to €45 for a gallery (third level) back row seat. The Festival authorities assiduously police the traffic of tickets, and monitor sites such as eBay . On admission patrons may be required to show photographic identification matching
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#17328440153312728-437: Is very difficult to get tickets, because demand (estimated at 500,000) greatly exceeds supply (58,000 tickets); the waiting time is between five and ten years (or more). The process entails submitting an order form every summer; applicants are usually successful after about ten years. Failure to make an application every year results in being placed at the back of the queue. Although some tickets are allocated by lottery, preference
2852-500: The Hammerklavier piano sonata , written a few years earlier. At times during the piece, Beethoven specifies one downbeat every three bars—perhaps because of the fast tempo—with the direction ritmo di tre battute (rhythm of three beats) and one beat every four bars with the direction ritmo di quattro battute (rhythm of four beats). Normally, a scherzo is in triple time . Beethoven wrote this piece in triple time but punctuated it in
2976-631: The "Archduke" piano trio Op. 97 , the Hammerklavier piano sonata Op. 106 . And Haydn , too, had used this arrangement in a number of his own works such as the String Quartet No. 30 in E ♭ major , as did Mozart in three of the Haydn Quartets and the G minor String Quintet . The first movement is in sonata form without an exposition repeat . It begins with open fifths (A and E) played pianissimo by tremolo strings. The opening, with its perfect fifth quietly emerging, resembles
3100-637: The Bayreuth Festival Hall . Bayreuth was to have received a so-called Gauforum , a combined government building and marching square built to symbolise the centre of power in the town. Bayreuth's first Gauleiter was Hans Schemm , who was also the head ( Reichswalter ) of the National Socialist Teachers League , NSLB, which was located in Bayreuth. In 1937 the town was connected to the new Reichsautobahn . Under Nazi dictatorship
3224-690: The Margravial Opera House with its richly furnished baroque theatre (1744–1748), the New 'Castle' and Sun Temple (1749–1753) at the Hermitage, the New Palace with its courtyard garden (1754 ff) to replace the Old Palace which had burned down through the carelessness of the margrave, and the magnificent row of buildings in today's Friedrichstraße . There was even a unique version of the rococo architectural style,
3348-460: The Ring cycle, is presented every five to seven years, following a year in which no Ring is presented. In years in which the Ring is staged, three other works are also presented. When no Ring is staged, five other works are presented. Tickets for the Ring are normally sold only as a complete set for all four performances. The Ring produced for the Festival's centenary in 1976 was produced by
3472-702: The Royal Shakespeare Company , Götz Friedrich of the Deutsche Oper Berlin , Harry Kupfer of the Berlin State Opera in the former communist East Germany and Heiner Müller of the Berliner Ensemble . In the end, Wolfgang's decision to bring in experimental directors helped rejuvenate Bayreuth and restore its reputation as the world leader in Wagnerian opera. There was uncertainty over how
3596-453: The Wagner festival and tried to turn Bayreuth into a Nazi model town. It was one of several places in which town planning was administered directly from Berlin, due to Hitler's special interest in the town and in the festival. Hitler loved the music of Richard Wagner, and he became a close friend of Winifred Wagner after she took over the festival. Hitler frequently attended Wagner performances in
3720-539: The counts of Andechs-Merania . After they died out in 1260 the burgraves of Nuremberg from the House of Hohenzollern took over the inheritance. As early as 1361 Emperor Charles IV conferred on Burgrave Frederick V the right to mint coins for the towns of Bayreuth and Kulmbach. In 1398 Bayreuth was partitioned from Nuremberg, becoming the Principality of Bayreuth ( German : Fürstentum Bayreuth ). Until 1604, however,
3844-673: The synagogue of the Jewish Community in Münzgasse was desecrated and looted on Kristallnacht but, due to its proximity to the Opera House it was not razed. Inside the building, which is once again used by a Jewish community as a synagogue, a plaque next to the Torah Shrine recalls the persecution and murder of Jews in the Shoah , which took the lives of at least 145 Jews in Bayreuth. During
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3968-422: The tenor and bass / baritone parts, respectively. Although the performance was officially conducted by Michael Umlauf , the theatre's Kapellmeister , Beethoven shared the stage with him. However, two years earlier, Umlauf had watched as the composer's attempt to conduct a dress rehearsal for a revision of his opera Fidelio ended in disaster. So this time, he instructed the singers and musicians to ignore
4092-448: The 2021 festival, which went ahead with a limited audience capacity and testing/vaccination requirements. The 2022 festival went ahead as normal, including the new production of the Ring . In 2023 the festival had mixed opinions due to the use of AR goggles and 3D glasses to enhance the experience. The festival has attempted to modernize to aid with low ticket sales. The festival draws thousands of Wagner fans to Bayreuth every summer. It
4216-864: The 20th century, an instrumental arrangement of the chorus was adopted by the Council of Europe , and later the European Union , as the Anthem of Europe . In 2001, Beethoven's original, hand-written manuscript of the score, held by the Berlin State Library , was added to the Memory of the World Programme Heritage list established by the United Nations , becoming the first musical score so designated. The Philharmonic Society of London originally commissioned
4340-537: The 21st century, it is the capital of Upper Franconia and has a population of 72,148 (2015). It hosts the annual Bayreuth Festival , at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. The town is believed to have been founded by the counts of Andechs probably around the mid-12th century, but was first mentioned in 1194 as Baierrute in a document by Bishop Otto II of Bamberg . The syllable -rute may mean Rodung or "clearing", whilst Baier- indicates immigrants from
4464-622: The Ansbach line of Frankish Hohenzollerns, followed the childless Frederick Christian, and Bayreuth was reduced to a secondary residence. Charles Alexander continued to live in Ansbach and rarely came to Bayreuth. In 1775, the Brandenburg Pond ( Brandenburger Weiher ) in St.Georgen was drained. Following the abdication of the last Margrave, Charles Alexander, from the principalities of Ansbach and Bayreuth on 2 December 1791 its territories became part of
4588-473: The Bavarian region. Already documented earlier, were villages later merged into Bayreuth: Seulbitz (in 1035 as the royal Salian estate of Silewize in a document by Emperor Conrad II ) and St. Johannis (possibly 1149 as Altentrebgast ). Even the district of Altstadt (formerly Altenstadt ) west of the town centre must be older than the town of Bayreuth itself. Even older traces of human presence were found in
4712-602: The Bayreuth Festival and its assets were transferred to a newly created Richard Wagner Foundation . The board of directors included members of the Wagner family and others appointed by the state. As chairman, Wolfgang Wagner remained in charge of administration of the festival. While Wolfgang Wagner continued to administer the festival, beginning in the 1970s, production was handled by a number of new directors in what Wolfgang called Werkstatt Bayreuth (Bayreuth Workshop). The idea
4836-700: The Bohemian Chronicle, page 450" . By 1528, less than ten years after the start of the Reformation , the lords of the Frankish margrave territories switched to the Lutheran faith. In 1605 a great fire, caused by negligence, destroyed 137 of the town's 251 houses. In 1620 plague broke out and, in 1621, there was another big fire in the town. The town also suffered during the Thirty Years' War . A turning point in
4960-595: The Breitkopf edition, some of which were "remarkable". David Levy , however, criticized this edition, saying that it could create "quite possibly false" traditions. Breitkopf also published a new edition by Peter Hauschild in 2005. The symphony is scored for the following orchestra. These are by far the largest forces needed for any Beethoven symphony; at the premiere, Beethoven augmented them further by assigning two players to each wind part. Woodwinds Brass Percussion Strings The symphony
5084-870: The Festival in the hands of his English-born wife Winifred Wagner , with Heinz Tietjen as artistic director. In the 1920s, well before the rise of the Nazi Party , Winifred Wagner became a strong supporter and close personal friend of Adolf Hitler ; her correspondence with Hitler has never been released by the Wagner family. She and other festival leaders were members of Nazi chief ideologue Alfred Rosenberg 's Kampfbund für deutsche Kultur , which actively suppressed modernist music and works by "degenerate" artists. The festival maintained some artistic independence under Nazi rule . Ironically, Hitler attended performances that included Jewish and foreign singers, long after they had been banned from all other venues across Germany (including homosexual heldentenor Max Lorenz , married to
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5208-466: The Festival itself lie rooted in Richard Wagner's interest in establishing his financial independence. A souring of the relationship with his patron, Ludwig II of Bavaria , led to his expulsion from Munich, where he had originally intended to launch the festival. Wagner next considered Nuremberg, which would have reinforced the thematic significance of works such as Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg . On
5332-494: The Festival was to be managed after the retirement of Wolfgang Wagner at the end of August 2008. In 2001, the Festival's 21-member board of directors had voted for his daughter, Eva Wagner-Pasquier , to succeed him. Wolfgang Wagner, however, proposed to hand control over to his second wife, Gudrun, and their daughter Katharina. Gudrun died in 2007. No successor was named at that time, but it was speculated that Wagner-Pasquier and Katharina would eventually be named as joint directors of
5456-602: The Franconian Festival Weeks developed. In 1949 the Festival Hall was used for the first time again and there was a gala concert with the Vienna Philharmonic led by Hans Knappertsbusch . In 1951, the first post-war Richard Wagner Festival took place under the leadership of Wieland and Wolfgang Wagner . Wieland Wagner's fresh and non-traditional stagings "restored credibility to a theater that had been totally ruined by Nazi ideology." In 1949, Bayreuth became
5580-614: The French occupation from 1806 to 1810 Bayreuth was treated as a province of the French Empire and had to pay high war contributions. It was placed under the administration of Comte Camille de Tournon , who wrote a detailed inventory of the former Principality of Bayreuth. On 30 June 1810 the French army handed over the former principality to what was now the Kingdom of Bavaria , which it had bought from Napoleon for 15 million francs. Bayreuth became
5704-613: The German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck to obtain funds, Wagner embarked on a fundraising tour across Germany, including Leipzig and Frankfurt. An initial public subscription proved disappointing until Wagner, at the suggestion of his friend and admirer Emil Heckel, launched a number of Wagner Societies to increase participation in the Festival's subscription. Societies were established in Leipzig, Berlin, Vienna and other places. Despite making direct appeals based on Wagner's role as
5828-506: The Hussites from Bohemia attacked / Culmbach and Barreut / and committed great acts of cruelty / like wild animals / against the common people / and certain individuals. / The priests / monks and nuns they either burnt at the stake / or took them onto the ice of lakes and rivers / (in Franconia and Bavaria) and doused them with cold water / and killed them in a deplorable way / as Boreck reported in
5952-463: The Jewish singers at the Bayreuth Festival who had been murdered in concentration camps. A plaque was finally installed honouring Ottilie Metzger-Lattermann and Henriette Gottlieb after Winifred's death. Two-thirds of the town of Bayreuth were destroyed by American bombing in the final days of World War II, taking with it the rotunda, living room and guest room of Wahnfried , though the theatre itself
6076-591: The Margrave Opera House, whose great stage seemed fitting for his works. However, the orchestra pit could not accommodate the large number of musicians required, for example, for the Ring of the Nibelung and the ambience of the auditorium seemed inappropriate for his piece. So, he toyed with the idea of building his own festival hall (the Festspielhaus ) in Bayreuth. The town supported him in this project and made
6200-419: The Ring just as they had been in Wagner's day, defending any proposed changes with appeals to her son Siegfried : "Was this not how Papa did it in 1876?" During her era of leadership, the festival became increasingly associated with antisemitism . After Cosima's retirement in 1906, Siegfried Wagner took over management of the festival, introducing new staging and performance styles. His early death in 1930 left
6324-690: The Second World War, a subcamp of the Flossenbürg concentration camp was based in the town, in which prisoners had to participate in physical experiments for the V-2 . Wieland Wagner , the grandson of the composer, Richard Wagner , was the deputy civilian director there in late 1944 and early April 1945. Shortly before the war's end branches of the People's Court ( Volksgerichtshof ) were to have been set up in Bayreuth. On 5, 8 and 11 April 1945 about one third of
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#17328440153316448-485: The Vienna Music Society ( Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde ), and a select group of capable amateurs. While no complete list of premiere performers exists, many of Vienna's most elite performers are known to have participated. The soprano and alto parts were sung by two famous young singers of the day, both recruited personally by Beethoven: Henriette Sontag and Caroline Unger . German soprano Henriette Sontag
6572-529: The advice of Hans Richter , however, the focus fell upon Bayreuth which enjoyed three distinct advantages. First, the town boasted a splendid venue: the Markgräfliches Opernhaus built for Margrave Frederick and his wife, Friederike Sophie Wilhelmine (sister of Frederick the Great ) in 1747. With its ample capacity and strong acoustics, the opera house seemed a good match for Wagner's vision. Second,
6696-435: The air, hats, and raised hands, so that Beethoven, who they knew could not hear the applause, could at least see the ovations. The first German edition was printed by B. Schott's Söhne (Mainz) in 1826. The Breitkopf & Härtel edition dating from 1864 has been used widely by orchestras. In 1997, Bärenreiter published an edition by Jonathan Del Mar . According to Del Mar, this edition corrects nearly 3,000 mistakes in
6820-524: The almost completely deaf Beethoven. At the beginning of every part, Beethoven, who sat by the stage, gave the tempos. He was turning the pages of his score and beating time for an orchestra he could not hear. There are a number of anecdotes concerning the premiere of the Ninth. Based on the testimony of some of the participants, there are suggestions that the symphony was under-rehearsed (there were only two complete rehearsals) and somewhat uneven in execution. On
6944-719: The audience to experience the full psychosocial aspects of the drama without the baggage and distraction of elaborate set designs. Others have speculated that by stripping Wagner's works of their Germanic and historic elements, Wieland was attempting to distance Bayreuth from its nationalistic past and create productions with universal appeal. Over time, many critics came to appreciate the unique beauty of Wieland's reinterpretation of his grandfather's works. Wieland's innovative productions invited comparison to Wolfgang's, which critics unanimously found to be uninspired. If Wieland's productions were radical, Wolfgang's were regressive. Although still minimalist in approach, Wolfgang resurrected much of
7068-489: The audience's cheers and applause. According to the critic for the Theater-Zeitung , "the public received the musical hero with the utmost respect and sympathy, listened to his wonderful, gigantic creations with the most absorbed attention and broke out in jubilant applause, often during sections, and repeatedly at the end of them." The audience acclaimed him through standing ovations five times; there were handkerchiefs in
7192-566: The cancelled 2020 season.) Then came the first performance of Das Rheingold . Present at this unique musical event were Kaiser Wilhelm , Dom Pedro II of Brazil, King Ludwig (who attended in secret, probably to avoid the Kaiser), and other members of the nobility, as well as the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche who committed much effort to helping his then good friend Wagner establish the festival, and such accomplished composers as Anton Bruckner , Edvard Grieg , Pyotr Tchaikovsky , Franz Liszt , and
7316-494: The capital of the Bavarian district of Mainkreis , which later transferred into Obermainkreis and was finally renamed as the province of Upper Franconia . As Bavaria was opened up by the railways, the main line from Nuremberg to Hof went past Bayreuth, running via Lichtenfels, Kulmbach and Neuenmarkt-Wirsberg to Hof. Bayreuth was first given a railway connexion in 1853, when the Bayreuth–Neuenmarkt-Wirsberg railway
7440-472: The co-directorship leaving, in accord with her father's will, Katharina in sole charge. On the 31 March 2020 it was announced that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting restrictions, the 2020 festival (due to take place from 25 July to 30 August) would be cancelled. The new Der Ring des Nibelungen production planned for that festival would be postponed until at least 2022. Restrictions were eased for
7564-416: The complete second movement is about 14 minutes when two frequently omitted repeats are played. The third movement is a lyrical, slow movement in B ♭ major —the subdominant of D minor's relative major key, F major . It is in a double variation form , with each pair of variations progressively elaborating the rhythm and melodic ideas. The first variation, like the theme, is in 4 time,
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#17328440153317688-625: The concert in Vienna, in the form of a petition signed by a number of prominent Viennese music patrons and performers. Beethoven, flattered by the adoration of the Viennese, premiered the Ninth Symphony on 7 May 1824 in the Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna along with the overture The Consecration of the House ( Die Weihe des Hauses ) and three parts (Kyrie, Credo and Angus Dei) of the Missa solemnis . This
7812-407: The conclusion of the 2008 Festival. They were chosen ahead of the pair of their cousin, Nike Wagner , and Gerard Mortier , who had placed a late bid for the directorship on 24 August. The conductor Christian Thielemann has agreed to act as chief adviser to the new directors, effectively taking the role of music director of the Festival. In 2014 it was announced that Eva would be stepping down from
7936-420: The deteriorating 19th century sets created by Richard Wagner. Many protested at the changes, including prominent conductors such as Toscanini and Richard Strauss , and even some members of the Wagner family. In their view, any change to the festival was a profanation against "the Master" (Wagner). Nevertheless, Hitler approved of the changes, thus paving the way for more innovations in the decades to come. During
8060-407: The ending of allocations to Wagner Societies (but not including the Society of Friends of Bayreuth as they make a substantial financial contribution) and a reduction in the proportion reserved for travel agents and hotels. As a result, the proportion of tickets available to the general public would increase to about 65 percent of the total available. A new production of Der Ring des Nibelungen , or
8184-401: The festival from 1876 to 1901, conducted Tristan und Isolde there in 1886. Until the 1920s, performances were strictly in accordance with the traditions established under King Ludwig's patronage. Not a note was "cut" from any of the enormous scores; no concessions were made to the limits of human patience on the part of the audiences. Cosima Wagner preserved the productions of Parsifal and
8308-399: The festival in its early history. From its inception, the festival has attracted leading conductors and singers, many of whom performed without pay. Among these was Hans Richter , who conducted the premiere of the Ring Cycle in 1876. Another was the talented conductor Hermann Levi , who was personally chosen by Richard Wagner to conduct the debut of Parsifal in 1882 with the assistance of
8432-400: The festival restaurant next to the Festival Hall housed some 500 people. In 1945, 1,400 men were conscripted by the town council for "essential work" (clean-up work on damaged buildings and the clearing of roads). A significant number of historic buildings were demolished post-war but cultural life was soon back on track: in 1947 Mozart festival weeks were held in the Opera House, from which
8556-452: The festival. Directors have stated that preference will be given to descendants of Richard Wagner, and that a non-descendant would have to be a clearly better candidate. On 1 September 2008, Wolfgang Wagner's daughters, Eva Wagner-Pasquier and Katharina Wagner , were named by Bavaria's culture minister, Thomas Goppel , to take over the Festival. They were to take up their duties immediately, since their father had announced his retirement at
8680-427: The finale is the longest of the four movements. Indeed, it is longer than several entire symphonies composed during the Classical era . Its form has been disputed by musicologists, as Nicholas Cook explains: Beethoven had difficulty describing the finale himself; in letters to publishers, he said that it was like his Choral Fantasy , Op. 80, only on a much grander scale. We might call it a cantata constructed round
8804-435: The first electric street lights; in 1908 a municipal electricity station, and, in the same year, the first cinema. In 1914–15, one section of the northern arm of the Red Main was straightened and widened after areas along the river had been flooded during a period of high water in 1909. After the First World War had ended in 1918, the Workers' and Soldiers' Council took power briefly in Bayreuth. On 17 February 1919, there
8928-426: The first theme (bars 19-20 of the first movement). The fourth subdivision that follows develops bars 1-4 of the second theme (bars 80-83 of the first movement) for three times: first in A minor, then to F major twice. At the outset of the recapitulation (which repeats the main melodic themes) in bar 301, the theme returns, this time played fortissimo and in D major , rather than D minor . The movement ends with
9052-410: The following table describing the form of the movement: In line with Cook's remarks, Charles Rosen characterizes the final movement as a symphony within a symphony, played without interruption. This "inner symphony" follows the same overall pattern as the Ninth Symphony as a whole, with four "movements": Rosen notes that the movement can also be analysed as a set of variations and simultaneously as
9176-670: The future symphony. The Choral Fantasy , Op. 80, composed in 1808, basically an extended piano concerto movement, brings in a choir and vocal soloists for the climax. The vocal forces sing a theme first played instrumentally, and this theme is reminiscent of the corresponding theme in the Ninth Symphony. Going further back, an earlier version of the Choral Fantasy theme is found in the song " Gegenliebe " ("Returned Love") for piano and high voice, which dates from before 1795. According to Robert W. Gutman, Mozart 's Offertory in D minor, "Misericordias Domini", K. 222, written in 1775, contains
9300-416: The hamlets of Meyernberg : pieces of pottery and wooden crockery were dated to the 9th century based on their decoration. While Bayreuth was previously (1199) referred to as a villa ("village"), the term civitas ("town") appeared for the first time in a document published in 1231. One can therefore assume that Bayreuth was awarded its town charter between 1200 and 1230. The town was ruled until 1248 by
9424-570: The hands of the Leipzig architect, Otto Brückwald , who had already made a name for himself in the building of theatres in Leipzig and Altenburg. In 1886, the composer Franz Liszt died in Bayreuth while visiting his daughter Cosima Liszt , Wagner's widow. Both Liszt and Wagner are buried in Bayreuth; however, Wagner did not die there. Rather, he died in Venice in 1883, but his family had his body brought to Bayreuth for burial. The new century also brought several innovations of modern technology: in 1892,
9548-409: The hustle and noise or the distractions of a large city; he sought a place remote from the usual theatrical world where it was so quiet so that the hearers could concentrate their whole attention on the work offered, and could in the pauses refresh themselves in natural surroundings." In April 1870, Wagner and his wife Cosima visited Bayreuth. On inspection, the opera house proved to be inadequate. It
9672-441: The instruments and sing all the chorus parts. —The actual direction was in [Louis] Duport's hands; we musicians followed his baton only. Reportedly, the scherzo was completely interrupted at one point by applause. Either at the end of the scherzo or the end of the symphony (testimonies differ), Beethoven was several bars off and still conducting; the contralto Caroline Unger walked over and gently turned Beethoven around to accept
9796-627: The liberation of Vienna which had been besieged by the Turks. To commemorate this feat, he had the Margrave Fountain built as a monument on which he is depicted as the victor of the Turks; it now stands outside the New Palace ( Neues Schloss ). During this time, the outer ring of the town wall and the castle chapel ( Schlosskirche ) were built. Christian Ernest's successor, the Crown Prince and later Margrave, George William , began in 1701 to establish
9920-521: The low strings. Following this, the "Ode to Joy" theme is finally introduced by the cellos and double basses. After three instrumental variations on this theme, the human voice is presented for the first time in the symphony by the baritone soloist, who sings words written by Beethoven himself: '' O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!' Sondern laßt uns angenehmere anstimmen, und freudenvollere .'' ("Oh friends, not these sounds! Let us instead strike up more pleasing and more joyful ones!"). At about 25 minutes in length,
10044-458: The main melodic themes) starts out with a fugue in D minor on the subject below. For the second subject, it modulates to the unusual key of C major . The exposition then repeats before a short development section , where Beethoven explores other ideas. The recapitulation (repeating of the melodic themes heard in the opening of the movement) further develops the exposition's themes, also containing timpani solos. A new development section leads to
10168-435: The means due to the elaborate lifestyle of his predecessor, because the buildings and the salaries of the mainly foreign artists had swallowed up a lot of money. For example, the court – which under George Frederick Charles had comprised around 140 people – had grown to about 600 employees by the end of the reign of Margrave Frederick. By 1769 the principality was close to bankruptcy. In 1769, Margrave Charles Alexander , from
10292-521: The most frequently performed symphonies in the world. The Ninth was the first example of a major composer scoring vocal parts in a symphony. The final (4th) movement of the symphony, commonly known as the Ode to Joy , features four vocal soloists and a chorus in the parallel key of D major. The text was adapted from the " An die Freude (Ode to Joy) ", a poem written by Friedrich Schiller in 1785 and revised in 1803, with additional text written by Beethoven. In
10416-488: The name on the ticket, with any not matching being refused admission to the performance. In 2011 it was revealed that the German Bundesrechnungshof (federal audit office) were investigating the situation where, for a publicly subsidised event, only 40 percent of the tickets were actually available to the general public. Early in 2012 it was announced that changes would be made to the allocation system, including
10540-644: The naturalistic and romantic elements of pre-war productions. Thus, when Wieland died prematurely from lung cancer in 1966, many wondered if Bayreuth had a future. They began to question Bayreuth's primacy among German opera houses, and some suggested that more interesting productions were being staged elsewhere. Around this time (1955), in order to broaden its audience, the whole Bayreuth Festival company conducted performances in Paris and Barcelona, performing Parsifal , Die Walküre and Tristan und Isolde . In 1973, faced with overwhelming criticism and family infighting,
10664-503: The new capital stagnated due to the Thirty Years' War , but afterwards many baroque buildings were added to the town. After Christian's death in 1655 his grandson, Christian Ernest , followed him, ruling from 1661 until 1712. He was an educated and well-travelled man, whose tutor had been the statesman Joachim Friedrich von Blumenthal . He founded the Christian-Ernestinum Grammar School and, in 1683, participated in
10788-418: The other hand, the premiere was a great success. In any case, Beethoven was not to blame, as violinist Joseph Böhm recalled: Beethoven himself conducted, that is, he stood in front of a conductor's stand and threw himself back and forth like a madman. At one moment he stretched to his full height, at the next he crouched down to the floor, he flailed about with his hands and feet as though he wanted to play all
10912-458: The participation of Reichswehr units. Among the guests were mayor Albert Preu as well as Siegfried and Winifred Wagner , who invited keynote speaker Adolf Hitler to Wahnfried house. There he met writer Houston Stewart Chamberlain , son-in-law of Richard Wagner and anti-semitic race theorist . Also on that day, Hans Schemm met Hitler for the first time. In 1932, the provinces of Upper and Middle Franconia were merged and Ansbach
11036-421: The pre-war changes seemed tame. For the first time in its history, the Bayreuth audience booed at the end of productions. Wieland was particularly derided for his 1956 production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg . Stripped of its pageantry, conservatives viewed the breaking of this "sacred German tradition" as an outrage. Wieland defended the changes as an attempt to create an "invisible stage" that would allow
11160-635: The princely residence and the centre of the territory was the castle of Plassenburg in Kulmbach and as such the territory was officially known as the Principality of Kulmbach. The town of Bayreuth developed slowly and was affected time and again by disasters. Bayreuth was first published on a map in 1421. In February 1430, the Hussites devastated Bayreuth and the town hall and churches were razed. Matthäus Merian described this event in 1642 as follows: "In 1430
11284-423: The repeat of the recapitulation, and the scherzo concludes with a brief codetta . The contrasting trio section is in D major and in duple time. The trio is the first time the trombones play. Following the trio, the second occurrence of the scherzo, unlike the first, plays through without any repetition, after which there is a brief reprise of the trio, and the movement ends with an abrupt coda. The duration of
11408-516: The right to set up a prayer room and Jewish families settled here again. In 1760 the synagogue was opened and in 1787 the Jewish cemetery was dedicated. Countess Wilhelmina died in 1758, and although Margrave Frederick married again, the marriage was short-lived and without issue. After his death in 1763, many artists and craftsmen migrated to Berlin and Potsdam, to work for King Frederick the Great, because Frederick's successor, Margrave Frederick Christian had little understanding of art. He also lacked
11532-592: The seat of the government of Upper Franconia again. In 1971, the Bavarian State Parliament decided to establish the University of Bayreuth and, on 3 November 1975, it opened for lectures and research. There are now about 10,000 students in the town. In May 1972, a serious accident occurred at the folk festival in the town, when an overcrowded carriage derailed and several people were thrown out. Four died and five were injured, some seriously. At that time, it
11656-437: The second in 8 . The variations are separated by passages in 4 , the first in D major, the second in G major , the third in E ♭ major , and the fourth in B major . The final variation is twice interrupted by episodes in which loud fanfares from the full orchestra are answered by octaves by the first violins. A prominent French horn solo is assigned to the fourth player. A typical performance of
11780-412: The so-called Bayreuth Rococo which characterised the aforementioned buildings, especially their interior design. The old, sombre gatehouses were demolished because they impeded transport and were an outmoded form of defence. The walls were built over in places. Margrave Frederick successfully kept his principality out of the wars being waged by his brother-in-law, Frederick the Great, at this time, and, as
11904-453: The sound of an orchestra tuning up , steadily building up until the first main theme in D minor at bar 17. Before the development enters, the tremolous introduction returns. The development can be divided into four subdivisions, with adheres strictly to the order of themes. The first and second subdivisions are the development of bars 1-2 of the first theme (bars 17-18 of the first movement) . The third subdivision develops bars 3-4 of
12028-457: The symphony in 1817. Beethoven made preliminary sketches for the work later that year with the key set as D minor and vocal participation also forecast. The main composition work was done between autumn, 1822 and the completion of the autograph in February, 1824. The symphony emerged from other pieces by Beethoven that, while completed works in their own right, are also in some sense forerunners of
12152-554: The then independent town of St Georgen am See (today, the district of St Georgen) with its castle, the so-called Ordensschloss , a town hall, a prison and a small barracks. In 1705 he founded the Order of Sincerity ( Ordre de la Sincérité ), which was renamed in 1734 to the Order of the Red Eagle and had the monastery church built, which was completed in 1711. In 1716 a princely porcelain factory
12276-451: The third movement lasts around 15 minutes. The choral finale is Beethoven's musical representation of universal brotherhood based on the " Ode to Joy " theme and is in theme and variations form. The movement starts with an introduction in which musical material from each of the preceding three movements—though none are literal quotations of previous music —are successively presented and then dismissed by instrumental recitatives played by
12400-587: The town (at that time a tiny village) became subordinate to the Hohenzollern state, and when this state was divided, Bayreuth ended up in the County of Kulmbach . In 1804, the author Jean Paul Richter moved from Coburg to Bayreuth, where he lived until his death in 1825. The rule of the Hohenzollerns over the Principality of Kulmbach-Bayreuth ended in 1806 after the defeat of Prussia by Napoleonic France. During
12524-478: The town of Bayreuth was located outside those regions where Wagner no longer owned the rights to the performance of his own works, which he had sold off in 1864 in order to alleviate pressing financial concerns. Finally, the town had no cultural life that could offer competition to Wagner's own artistic dominance. The Festival, once launched, would be the dominant feature of Bayreuth's cultural landscape. In addition, "Richard Wagner did not want his works interpreted amid
12648-474: The town's history came in 1603 when Margrave Christian , the son of the elector, John George of Brandenburg , moved the aristocratic residence from the castle of Plassenburg above Kulmbach to Bayreuth. The first Hohenzollern palace was built in 1440–1457 under Margrave John the Alchemist . It was the forerunner of today's Old Palace ( Altes Schloss ) and was expanded and renovated many times. The development of
12772-499: The town, including many public buildings and industrial installations were destroyed by heavy air strikes, along with 4,500 houses. 741 people were also killed. On 14 April, the U.S. Army occupied the town. After the war Bayreuth tried to part with its ill-fated past. It became part of the American Zone . The American military government set up a DP camp to accommodate displaced persons (DP), many of whom were Ukrainian . The camp
12896-508: The war, the festival was turned over to the Nazi Party, which continued to sponsor performances for wounded soldiers returning from the front. These soldiers were forced to attend lectures on Wagner before the performances, and most found the festival to be tedious. However, as "guests of the Führer", none complained. During the 1970s Winifred Wagner was repeatedly petitioned to install a memorial to
13020-549: The working class by wealthy 19th-century capitalists. The audience reaction was initially split between those who saw the production as an offence and those who considered it the best Ring Cycle ever produced. The ensuing conflict, short only of outright riot, between supporters and detractors was unprecedented in the history of the festival. Later, the performances proved influential for the concept of Regietheater . Other notable directors to have participated in Werkstatt Bayreuth included Jean-Pierre Ponnelle , Sir Peter Hall of
13144-399: The young Arthur Foote . Artistically, the festival was a success. ("Something has taken place at Bayreuth which our grandchildren and their children will still remember", wrote Tchaikovsky , attending the Festival as a Russian correspondent.) Financially, however, the festival was a disaster and did not begin to make money until several years later. Wagner abandoned his original plan to hold
13268-409: The young Engelbert Humperdinck . Following Wagner's death, his widow Cosima continued running the festival at one or, more frequently, two-year intervals. She gradually introduced the early operas which complete the Bayreuth canon of Wagner's last ten mature works. Levi, the son of a rabbi , remained the festival's principal conductor for the next two decades. Felix Mottl , who was involved with
13392-559: Was 18 years old when Beethoven asked her to perform in the premiere of the Ninth. 20-year-old contralto Caroline Unger, a native of Vienna, had gained critical praise in 1821 appearing in Rossini's Tancredi . After performing in Beethoven's 1824 premiere, Unger then found fame in Italy and Paris. Italian opera composers Bellini and Donizetti were known to have written roles specifically for her voice. Anton Haizinger and Joseph Seipelt sang
13516-530: Was Beethoven's first onstage appearance since 1812 and the hall was packed with an eager and curious audience with a number of noted musicians and figures in Vienna including Franz Schubert , Carl Czerny , and the Austrian chancellor Klemens von Metternich . The premiere of the Ninth Symphony involved an orchestra nearly twice as large as usual and required the combined efforts of the Kärntnertor house orchestra,
13640-531: Was a political discourse of Wagner's works involving a disenchantment with the Reich that led to a cultural lull of the festival. The declining popularity of the current centralized government created an artistic shift away from Richard Wagner who had preemptively popularized his works amongst the German government in an attempt to gain mass popularity and recognition. This consequently led to a general lack of public interest in
13764-464: Was a three-day coup, the so-called Speckputsch , a brief interlude of excitement in the otherwise rather staid town. In a series of völkisch and nationalist "Deutscher Tag" (German Days), the NSDAP organised the event in Bayreuth on 30 September 1923. More than 3,300 military and civilian people gathered (equivalent to 15% of the inhabitants), although Minister of Defence Otto Gessler had forbidden
13888-477: Was built at the town's expense. It was followed in 1863 by the line to Weiden , in 1877 by the railway to Schnabelwaid , in 1896 by the branch line to Warmensteinach , in 1904 by the branch to Hollfeld and in 1909 by the branch via Thurnau to Kulmbach , known as the Thurnauer Bockala (which means something like "Thurnau Goat"). On 17 April 1870 Richard Wagner visited Bayreuth, because he had read about
14012-399: Was built to accommodate the baroque orchestras of the 18th century and was therefore unsuited for the complex stagings and large orchestras that Wagner's later stage works required. Nonetheless, the burgermeisters proved open to assisting Wagner with the construction of an entirely new theatre, and the Festival was planned to launch in 1873. After a fruitless meeting in the spring of 1871 with
14136-550: Was chosen as the seat of government. As a small compensation, Bayreuth was given the merged state insurance agency for Upper and Middle Franconia. Unlike the provincial merger, the merger of those institutions was never reversed. A stronghold of right-wing parties since the 1920s, Bayreuth became a center of Nazi ideology. In 1933, it was made capital of the Nazi Gau Bavarian Eastern March ( Bayerische Ostmark , in 1942 Gau Bayreuth ). Nazi leaders often visited
14260-522: Was converted after World War II into a Wagner Museum. In the northern part of Bayreuth is the Festival Hall , an opera house specially constructed for and exclusively devoted to the performance of Wagner's operas . The premieres of the final two works of Wagner's Ring Cycle (" Siegfried " and " Götterdämmerung "); the cycle as a whole; and of Parsifal took place here. Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven) The Symphony No. 9 in D minor , Op. 125,
14384-429: Was elected for the first time. The end of October saw the opening of the long-planned bus station and its associated office building on the newly created Hohenzollernplatz . The town is best known for its association with the composer Richard Wagner , who lived in Bayreuth from 1872 until his death in 1883. Wagner's villa, " Wahnfried ", was constructed in Bayreuth under the sponsorship of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and
14508-479: Was established in St. Georgen. The first 'castle' in the park of the Hermitage was built at this time by Margrave George William (1715–1719). In 1721, the town council acquired the palace of Baroness Sponheim (today's Old Town Hall or Altes Rathaus ) as a replacement for the town hall built in 1440 in the middle of the market place and destroyed by fire. In 1735, a nursing home, the so-called Gravenreuth Stift ,
14632-497: Was founded by a private foundation in St. Georgen. The cost of the building exceeded the funds of the foundation, but Margrave Frederick came to their aid. Bayreuth experienced its Golden Age during the reign (1735–1763) of Margrave Frederick and Margravine Wilhelmina of Bayreuth , the favourite sister of Frederick the Great . During this time, under the direction of court architects, Joseph Saint-Pierre and Carl von Gontard , numerous courtly buildings and attractions were created:
14756-433: Was postponed for a year due to construction and other delays. Since its opening in 1876, the Bayreuth Festival has been a socio-cultural phenomenon. The inauguration took place on 13 August 1876, with a performance of Beethoven 's "Choral" Symphony , which is occasionally programmed during the festival. (It was played at the post-war reopening in 1951, and subsequently in 1953, 1954, 1963, 2001, and had been planned for
14880-596: Was staged. When the Festival House was handed over to the city of Bayreuth in 1946, it was used for concerts of the Bayreuth Symphony Orchestra and the performances of such operas as Beethoven's Fidelio , d'Albert's Tiefland , Puccini's Madama Butterfly , and Verdi's La traviata and talks about reopening of the Wagnerian Festival started. Finally, it reopened on 29 July 1951 with, as always,
15004-474: Was supervised by the UNRRA . The housing situation was very difficult at first: there were about 53,300 inhabitants in the town, many more than before the war began. This increase was primarily due to the high number of refugees and expellees. Even in 1948 more than 11,000 refugees were counted. In addition, because many homes had been destroyed due to the war, thousands of people were living in temporary shelters, even
15128-453: Was the worst disaster on a roller coaster since the Second World War. In 1979, US Army serviceman Roy Chung disappeared from the area and allegedly defected to North Korea via East Germany . In 1999, the world gliding championship took place at Bayreuth municipal airport. In 2006, Bayreuth chose its first CSU member and mayor, the lawyer, Michael Hohl, and, in 2007, a Youth Parliament , consisting of 12 young people, aged 14–17 years,
15252-439: Was to turn the festival into an opportunity for directors to experiment with new methods for presenting the stage works. The change came out of necessity, as it was impossible for Wolfgang to both administer and direct the festival. It also provided an opportunity for Bayreuth to renew itself with each production, rather than continue to present the same stage works in the same way, year after year. Ingmar Bergman , who famously made
15376-548: Was undamaged. Following the war, Winifred Wagner was sentenced to probation by a war court for her support of the Nazi Party. The court also banned her from administration of the Bayreuth Festival and its assets, which fell eventually to her two sons, Wolfgang and Wieland . During American occupation of the region after World War II, the theatre was used for army recreation and religious services for American soldiers. Only popular concerts and mixed entertainment were allowed: comedy, dancing, acrobatics, and then only Die Fledermaus
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