The Siemens Festival Night on August 14, 2011, in Bayreuth is set to be a unique Richard Wagner opera experience for all spectators. As a birthday gift for the public viewing of the anniversary festival, Siemens has now doubled the new LED screen to 180 m2. This allows tens of thousands to enjoy Wagner’s music in its full beauty under the open sky. Two crowd-pullers follow one after another: first the brand-new “Ring” for children, then “Lohengrin” for everyone. They create an all-day festival event for young and old on the Bayreuth Festival grounds in a relaxed summer atmosphere.
In the morning (11:00 AM), the public viewing will premiere the 90-minute film version of “Ring des Nibelungen” for children. Director Maximilian von Mayenburg staged a children’s opera featuring the tragic love story between Siegfried and Brünhilde in a magical world, populated by beautiful mermaids and sinister dwarves with a treasure of gold guarded by a dragon. Afterward (1:00 PM), the interactive “Wagner Adventure Trail for Children” opens: At five stations, children aged 7 and up can participate behind the scenes of an opera production. Theater professionals craft, build, paint, compose, and tinker with the little ones on the elements of the children’s opera.
In the afternoon (4:00 PM), the live broadcast of “Lohengrin” follows, featuring Hans Neuenfels’ sensational staging. It promises to be an event of exceptional telegenicity. On the giant LED screen, whose illuminated surface has been doubled compared to the previous year and which is among the brightest video walls for open-air events, the visual effects are particularly highlighted. The color mixture in the individual LEDs leads to a detailed and natural reproduction. The spatial sound, specially adapted for the festival grounds on site, with a digital sound system comprising a total of 86 staggered active loudspeakers and a total output of 273,000 watts, also ensures musical delight.
At www.siemens.com/festspielnacht, you can follow Lohengrin live on the internet for a fee of 14.90 Euros and access it as a recording for 14 days.
More information and press photos are available at www.siemens.com/presse/festspielnacht
Text: Siemens CC Media Relations