• NEWS e INFORMATION T NEUIGKEITEN
GERMANY/PRODUCTION LOHENGRIN AT BAYREUTH
I do not transportany movietricks greateffect in his majormovies, into the opera form,"claims film such as Fitzcarraldo,whose hero directorWerner Herzog. Best buildsan opera housein a knownfor his directionof such Brazilianbackwater . Germanfilms as Wcryzeck, Herzogdefers to his designerin Nosferatuthe Vampyre,and discussingthe stagingconcept of ; Fitzcarraldo,Herzog has directed Lohengrin.ln fact,both agreethat ~ RichardWagner's opera, Herzogcame to Bayreuthprimarily c :t Lohengrin,which will enter its becausethe challengewas some ~ third seasonat the BayreuthFestival thingvon Gierkelonged to accept. ~ in July 1989.Despite Herzog's em "Whenthere were problems,"says ~ phaticdisclaimer, reviewers insist the designer,"he'd pointto me and ~ theysee cinematicelements in his say,'You got us into this."' I operawork . Andsince Herzogdoes VonGierke 's designsare in i not read musicand had onlystaged spiredby the cycleof the seasons one opera, Busoni'sDok/or Faust, and the circleof the year,which is lnJuly of89 the Bayreuth beforehe was invitedto work at visuallyemphasized as scenespass Festival will present its third Bayreuth,it wassuspected that fes fromone winterto the next.Her season of Werner Herzog's tivaldirector Wolfgang Wagner was zogand von Gierkewanted to ex production of Lohengrin, with sets and costumes by seekingpublicity by this choice. tend this cyclemetaphor to a circle Henning von Gierke. The Nevertheless,with Herwg's of stonesoutside the theatre,with a concept of the design is the thoughtfulstaging and the stunning laser beamcrossing the valleyof cycle of the seasons, depicted settingsof his longtimedesigner Bayreuth,reflecting eight miles as scenes pass from one win collaborator,Henning von Gierke , back to the FestivalHouse . Al ter to the next. thisLohengrin has provedan artis thoughthe festivalvetoed this, von tic success.It has also led to fur Gierkedoes use lasers for the mag ther opera productioninvitations ical appearanceand transformation for the team.Herwg sayshe re of the swan-boy. mainsprimarily a filmmaker, but he lovesmusic . He is proud to GLENN LONEY pointout that he uses musicto
GERMANY/ARCHITECTURE RESTORING MUNICH'S PRINCE-REGENT THEATRE
It was entrepreneurialknow-how, will. In the early80s, Frau Ger- the restorationand the equipment and the restorationfrom this and a sentimentallegacy, that saved trude Proebst, daughterof MaxLitt- beinginstalled is not currently vantage. Munich's historicPrince-Regent mann,left 3 millionDM (UK£ .9 available, it is clear that the resto- Withthe facadeand most of the Theatrefrom the wrecker'sball . million,US $1.62 million) to re- rationhas been movingahead- interiorrestored, Everding has one Constructedin 190I by architect store her father's masterpiece.The slowlyand methodically.Rather moremission. He cannotbegin MaxLittmann, the I ,OOO-plusseat problemwas that if it was not used than rush aheadon all fronts,Ev- modernisationof the stageuntil an· theatrebecame a great musichall, by a certaindate, the moneywould erdingdecided-after basicstabil- other 40 millionDM (UK £12.3 housingthe BavarianState Opera. pass to a churchgroup . Stillthat isingof the building-that the first million,US $21.6 million) is Noone wantedto see the lightsgo wasnot nearlyenough to evenbe- major restorationshould occur in raised.Currently, plays are being out in the Prince-Regent,but in the gin work. the second-floorsalon-suite. Artist offeredin the auditoriumon a tern- early60s the statewas supporting EnterAugust Everding, director ElmarAlbrecht supervised this job, porarystage over the orchestrapit. twoopera houses,an operetta of the BavarianState Theatres in recreatingthe designsthat had de- TheMunich Residence Theatre is house,a drama theatre,with the Munich. Everdingspun into action, terioratedover the years.With the temporarilybased at the Prince- requisiteensembles , alongwith the unwillingto lose the funding.He salonrestored , it provideda vivid Regentuntil reconstructionof their Prince-Regent.Only a fewmonths convincedthe BavarianParliament demonstrationof what the Prince- theatreis completed.Everding is after the opera ensembledeserted to grant39 millionDM (UK £12 Regentcould look like whenfin- expectingthe remainingfunds to it in the early6os, state authorities million,US $21 million)for the ished. Privatecontributions helped comefrom the BavarianState and closedthe theatreas unsafe. Some proposedrestoration, which would restorethe GardenSalon. Once privatecontributions and is target- spaceswere later used for storage, be matchedin the privatesector . decoratedwith tropical flora on its ing 1990as completionof the ren- construction,and rehearsals,but Aggressivefundraising succeeded . archedceiling, it had been severely ovation. the Prince-Regentslowly deterio- Everdingboasts scores of sponsor- damagedby bombingin World rated,inside and out. Therewas ships,all of whomare properly WarII. GLENN LONEY talk of turningit into a hotel or a notedby plaquesthroughout the Everdingdisplayed his continued restaurant. theatre. devotionto the projectby moving Almostat the last minute, it was Whiledetailed information re- into the space. Todayhe oversees savedby the peculiarprovision of a gardingthe companiesinvolved in both the BavarianState Theatres
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