Since 2017, Bayreuth Festival have expanded their program to include the DISKURS BAYREUTH event series. This series aims to artistically and scientifically reflect upon and controversially discuss the cultural-historical phenomenon “Richard Wagner”. In 2017, a symposium and four concerts took place.
In 2018, on July 24, the opera “der verschwundene hochzeiter” by the renowned Austrian composer Klaus Lang will premiere in Bayreuth as part of DISKURS BAYREUTH. With this, the Festival expands its artistic spectrum, because just as the Festspielhaus was described by Wagner as a provisional arrangement whose development was yet to come, the Festival was originally conceived by him not only for the preservation and cultivation of the existing, but also to dare new things and leave well-trodden paths. Entirely in the spirit of his creative credo as “the never-satisfied spirit, always contemplating new things”.
“Lohengrin”, a 2018 new production on the stage of the Festspielhaus, and the opera “der verschwundene hochzeiter” are connected by the imposition of a rigid prohibition and its humanly understandable yet necessary transgression, from which tragic consequences result in each case.
The plot of Lang’s opera is based on an old Austrian legend and tells of a bridegroom who is invited by a stranger to his wedding. There he should enjoy himself and dance, but never longer than the music plays, warns the stranger. The bridegroom does not abide by this. When he returns home, he is horrified to realize that three hundred years have passed since his departure. He can only turn to dust.
“der verschwundene hochzeiter” will be performed at the Bayreuth cultural venue “Reichshof” in the heart of the city, a historic cinema hall from 1925 that has not been used for decades.
Director Paul Esterhazy and video artist Friedrich Zorn were secured for the production.
With the brothers Jiří and Otto Bubeníček, soloists Terry Wey and Alexander Kiechle, the Ictus Ensemble Brussels, and the Austrian vocal ensemble Cantando Admont, the opera will be realized by outstanding interpreters from the contemporary international music and theater scene.
The premiere is made possible thanks to generous support from the Oberfrankenstiftung and the Gesellschaft der Freunde von Bayreuth e.V. The composition commission is financed by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.
Premiere
der verschwundene hochzeiter
Opera by Klaus Lang
Musical Direction: Klaus Lang
Concept, Direction, Set Design: Paul Esterhazy
Video: Friedrich Zorn
Costumes: Pia Janssen
Orchestra: Ictus Ensemble Brussels
Choir: Cantando Admont (Rehearsal Director: Cordula Bürgi)
Vocal Soloists: Terry Wey (The Stranger), Alexander Kiechle (The Bridegroom)
Performers: Jiří Bubeníček, Otto Bubeníček
Premiere on July 24, 2018, 9 PM
Cultural Venue “Reichshof” Bayreuth (Maximilianstraße 28, 95444 Bayreuth)
Further performances: July 26 and 27, 2018, 9 PM each day.
Tickets can be pre-ordered immediately by email at hochzeiter@bayreuther-festspiele.de or in writing at Bayreuth Festival · Ticket Office · Keyword “Hochzeiter” · Festspielhügel 1-2 · 95445 Bayreuth.
For the registration and processing of an order, the following information is required:
First Name, Last Name
Address
Desired performance date and, if applicable, alternative date
Desired number of tickets
The tickets cost a uniform €35; visitors have free choice of seats.
Presale begins on June 4, 2018.