The chairs in the Bayreuth auditorium are considered one of the many endurance tests for the audience. Made entirely of wood and therefore undoubtedly ideal acoustically, nothing should distract from the enjoyment of art; this is what Richard Wagner wanted in his Festspielhaus. Except maybe your own aching buttocks or your back, which is hardly supported by the short armrests. But at least the seating – almost 150 years of festival history prove it – can be considered stable.
Apparently that can’t be said of the ones that stage designer Andrea Cozzi came up with for the new production of “Ring des Nibelungen”. Wotan had hardly sat down after his first appearance in the second act of “Valkyrie” when the backrest of his chair broke off in the premiere and yanked the father of the gods roughly to the ground. An early end for Tomasz Konieczny, who was able to cover up the painful situation before he was replaced in the third act. After all, unlike many other singers, Konieczny learned to act at the film academy in his hometown of Łódź. He only discovered his singing voice when he had to audition for the entrance exam. He later studied singing in Warsaw, then in Dresden, but also shot for film and television. He actually became a singer, Konieczny once said in an interview, because you earn more there than as an actor. At least in this respect, the subsidized German opera business can be considered reasonably stable, where Konieczny rose through permanent engagements in smaller, then larger houses – the classic ox tour.
His voice also lends itself to playing villains
The acting character is still noticeable today in that the 50-year-old is considered a good cast for the villains, for Don Pizarro in Beethoven’s “Fidelio”, the corrupt sheriff Jack Rance in Puccini’s “La fanciulla del West” or Friedrich von Telramund in Wagner’s “Lohengrin”, with which he made his Bayreuth debut in 2018. Of course, it could also have something to do with the color of the voice, which tends towards an abysmal blackness. His bass-baritone is not considered beautiful in the classical sense, critics often complain about the lack of a range of expression, and sometimes also about the difficulty in understanding the text. For a long time, Konieczny’s star role in the “Ring” was the greedy night albe Alberich, who was trampled on in a pathetic manner by Rhinemaidens and gods alike.
The fact that he has meanwhile worked his way up to become the much more complex Wotan also shows how difficult it is to cast this role, which appears in at least three operas in the “Ring”. At the Bayreuth Festival she was initially supposed to take over Günther Groissböck, who gave her back last year. Possibly also because of the particularly strict corona measures in Bayreuth, against which Groissböck has an almost divine anger. Less than two months ago, John Lundgren gave up as well. Konieczny is considered a singer who reaches out vigorously and therefore always comes through the orchestra.
The Bayreuth Festival cannot pay particularly well, but at the same time it has to compete with all the theaters in the world for the few outstanding Wagner voices. The fact that stars have repeatedly canceled in recent years, often at short notice, shows that the festival has lost a lot of its appeal under its current director Katharina Wagner.
The great Wagner singer Birgit Nilsson, who had Bayreuth experience, was once asked what was most urgently needed for a Brünnhilde in the “Ring”. “Good shoes,” she replied succinctly. From now on one may add: and good chairs. After all, Tomasz Konieczny should be able to appear again this Wednesday in “Siegfried”, where Wotan is playing the role of a “Wanderer”. One can hope that he will be spared further unfavorable seating.