Over 10,000 people crowded into a square in central Bayreuth earlier today to watch a free transmission of Lohengrin, live from the Festspielhaus just up the road. A 180-square-foot video wall provided a crystal-clear picture for spectators, who came equipped with folding chairs, picnics and blankets - and umbrellas of course.
Images from nine remote cameras were complemented by close-ups pre-recorded during the July dress rehearsal. 86 speakers dotted around the square provided Festspielhaus-style surround sound.
Around 40,000 more people (including yours truly) watched the live webstream - pictures and sound were excellent, and Manuel Brug's perceptive interviews with the cast and production team filled the long intervals.
Those who watched the delayed live stream on the ARTE TV channel weren't so lucky. The picture broke up after 25 minutes and the broadcaster switched to an old Anna Netrebko documentary while they sorted things out. Oops.
It was only for 5 minutes or so... Thank you ARTE anyway! A SUPERB SHOW. No garbage from the big opera houses. It gets close to what we could see in Herheim's Lohengrin in Berlin. Only this production is quite narrative... it follows closely the libretto except for the last twist (which I thought was the [shocking] cherry on the cake ;) )
Cheers
Posted by: opera-cake | 14 August 2011 at 10:05 PM
Bought my ticket and will see this as a delayed stream sometime in the next week. They check the Internet connection by showing the last bit of Walkure. A treat.
Posted by: Sheila | 15 August 2011 at 03:52 AM
Wow. In my country only sport draws this kind of crowd.
Posted by: Rose-Mary Hyslop | 15 August 2011 at 10:30 AM
I think the whole performance is now on youtube, just started to watch anyway.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io5CBLeTaQk&feature=player_embedded&list=PL0E79A2DF51E15D8C
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Intermezzo replies - already removed - as I suspect any other copy will be.
Posted by: Samuel | 15 August 2011 at 11:41 PM