When the opera festivals took place for the first time in Bayreuth in 1876, in Salzburg in 1920 and in Aix-en-Provence in 1948, such events were promises of a different, unusual art world. These festivals meant breaking out of everyday economic and artistic life. Not least because they were held away from the metropolises and their big stages in small towns steeped in history but still sleepy today.
Opera: The big festivals are nice – but boring – culture
