[Report] Pietari Inkinen's Bayreuth Festival Debut in July 2021 (Hirose Daisuke)
Pietari Inkinen's Bayreuth Festival debut in July 2021
Report: Daisuke Hirose
In 2020, amid the raging COVID-19 pandemic, the Bayreuth Festival halted its operations for the first time since the war, bringing the seriousness of the situation we find ourselves in to the forefront for many music fans, and of course for me as well. What we had always believed in and never doubted could one day suddenly disappear. And we had to face the sad truth that, in such a situation, the arts would be the first to be sacrificed.
However, if we, the listeners, are feeling this much sadness, it is easy to imagine the frustration and helplessness felt by those performing the music. Pietari Inkinen, the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra's chief conductor and a staunch lover of Richard Wagner's art, was scheduled to conduct the Ring Cycle tetralogy at the Bayreuth Festival, Wagner's hall of fame, in 2020. Even though it was an inevitable fate, he must have felt a great deal of disappointment. Therefore, the fact that this year's festival was able to go ahead, even if it was limited to a limited audience of 911, must have been met with cheers not only from music fans but also from performers. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the resumed Bayreuth Festival in person, but I would like to follow Pietari Inkinen's Bayreuth debut through various news reports and radio broadcasts.
Inkinen has also performed Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen" with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra at crucial times, powerfully conveying his love for Wagner to Japanese fans. It may seem like just recently, but his stunning performance of Act 1 of "Die Walküre" was eight years ago, in 2013. He invited top-class singers like Simon O'Neill to create a thunderous Wagner sound from the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, which was far from accustomed to opera. His performance remains legendary. In his inaugural concert as chief conductor in 2016, he performed excerpts from "Siegfried" and "Twilight of the Gods," polishing the former to the point of recording it with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern. Finally, in 2017, he performed the entire "Das Rheingold." It was likely each of these activities that secured him a ticket to Bayreuth.
In a world where the COVID-19 pandemic has yet to be fully eradicated, I cannot express enough my gratitude to those in the music industry for making every effort to prevent the spread of infection. Of course, the Bayreuth Festival, which resumed after a year-long hiatus, is no exception. Performances at the Festspielhaus, which lacks air conditioning and ventilation, are likely even more challenging than those in concert halls equipped with modern facilities. Even so, as mentioned above, even as an amateur in epidemiology, I can imagine to some extent that every possible measure would be necessary to hold a performance with an audience of 911 (almost half of capacity). Admission to the Festspielhaus requires proof of two vaccinations or a negative PCR test certificate within 48 hours (in German or English, of course). Cloakrooms are unavailable (perhaps the same as in Japan), and the theater's restrooms have been closed and installed outside the theater. Ironically, this may be exacerbating the stoic, even more so than usual, atmosphere of "going only to listen to Wagner."
Due to the current situation, the original plan to stage the entire tetralogy under the direction of Valentin Schwarz has been postponed until next year, and this year's performance will consist of only one work, "Die Walküre." This has also been changed to an "action performance" by Austrian performance artist Hermann Nitsch, making extensive use of paint. This performance was performed in the backstage, while the singers sang in the foreground, as if in a concert format. Wagner's music and the emotions of the characters were "transformed" into various colors, and the sight of paint being splattered on the stage likely evoked a certain synesthesia in the audience.
As for the singers, Günter Groisböck, who was scheduled to sing the role of Wotan for the first time, announced his withdrawal at the last minute and was replaced by veteran Tomasz Konieczny. Konieczny, along with Irene Theorin as Brünnhilde and Klaus Florian Vogt as Siegmund, are considered veterans, while the younger singers are Lise Davidsen as Sieglinde, who achieved great success as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser in 2019, and Dmitri Belosselskiy, who is already active in the world's top opera houses and is making his debut as Hunding. At the opening performance on Thursday, July 29th, Davidsen's musical richness was particularly striking. In the third act, when Sieglinde sings a soaring tribute to Brünnhilde for saving her, the salvation motif is heard for the first time in the entire work, and Davidsen's sharp yet warm and beautiful voice resonates. This scene also gave a glimpse of conductor Inkinen's strong intention to emphasize the importance of this motif, which reappears in the final "Twilight of the Gods" when the world is saved.
Inkinen's conducting, which leads the Festival Orchestra, composed of Wagner specialists, at a relaxed tempo throughout the performance, has received mixed reviews. Jan Brachmann of the Frankfurter Zeitung praised Inkinen, saying that he liberated the music of Die Walküre from all its oppressive qualities and that his superb conducting allowed the singers to sing freely. Meanwhile, Reinhard J. Brembeck of the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that the chamber-like progression of the music did not mesh well with the stage, leading to booing. Bernhard Neuhoff of BR-Klassik also commented, "While Bayreuth audiences can certainly be harsh, it's actually quite unusual to see so many boos directed at a conductor." However, Inkinen's controversial journey with Bayreuth has only just begun. We look forward to the day when the enthusiasm that has gripped Japanese audiences erupts in Bayreuth.
From the official website of the Bayreuth Festival: "Die Walküre" cast list
https://www.bayreuther-festspiele.de/programm/auffuehrungen/die-walkuere/
Stage photos of "Die Walküre" from the BR-Klassik homepage
https://www.br-klassik.de/themen/bayreuther-festspiele/spielplan/diskurs-bayreuth-ring-2021-die-walkuere-100.html
From the BR-Klassik website: Performance recording of "Die Walküre" (July 29, 2021, Bayreuth Festival Theater)
https://www.br-klassik.de/programm/radio/ausstrahlung-2518326.html
(Last accessed: August 2, 2021)
