• 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 44 CUE INTERNATIONAL .