It’s not exactly unusual for the summer opening of the Richard Wagner Festival in Bayreuth to be lit by lightning. On the contrary, a flurry of flashbulbs is even guaranteed. That was also the case on Tuesday, when the celebrities were chauffeured up the Green Hill to the Festspielhaus. However, and this was different than usual: It wasn’t just the cameras of the photographers that flashed, but also the sky. It thundered. It poured. Three planters flew. And up there, a traffic jam formed because Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) did not want to get out of his car in this weather.
After a few minutes of waiting, he did and then followed the new production of “Parsifal” at the opening of the 147th Bayreuth Festival, the tickets for which are selling unusually slowly this year. 330 of the approximately 2000 viewers at the opening saw the performance with augmented reality glasses (the budget did not allow for more glasses). In view of this technical revolution, director Jay Scheib had previously promised a “more than four hour long Pixar film”.
There is now a considerable distance between Grüner Hügel and Hollywood Hills, at least geographically, but Bayreuth did not have to hide from the guests present on Tuesday. Actress Maria Furtwängler, for example, was present and a lot of political celebrities: In addition to Söder, former Chancellor and regular guest Angela Merkel (CDU) also attended the opening; she came in a blue-green shimmering dress with a matching blazer, husband Joachim Sauer – and umbrella, of course.
Didn’t get out of the limousine for a few minutes because of the heavy rain: Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder with his wife Karin.
(Photo: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa)
Doubly protected: Former Chancellor Angela Merkel and her husband Joachim Sauer are permanent guests on the Green Hill.
(Photo: CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP)
Under one umbrella: Green Party leader Ricarda Lang (right) and Bavarian Green Party leader Katharina Schulze.
(Photo: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa)
The Bavarian cabinet, in turn, used the performance for a kind of company outing: in the morning it met less than ten minutes by car from the Green Hill in the New Palace, in the afternoon most of the ministers walked up to the Festspielhaus. Also visiting Bayreuth was EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (CDU), who had also attended the cabinet. “Rain Queen!” exclaimed an enthusiastic gossip reporter at the sight of her light blue evening dress in the downpour.
In the dark gray of the hill, there were also Greens, namely party leader Ricarda Lang, Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth (blue dress, pink hair) and the Bavarian party leader Katharina Schulze. In contrast to the colleagues from the other parties, however, the Greens did not travel in black limousines, but demonstratively squeezed themselves into a white small electric car – from which, unlike Söder, they quickly got out due to lack of space.