There's barely time for this quick hello I'm not dead, yet.
The Bayreuth experience is quite extraordinary. There's the experience of the Festival, the town, the people, the opera glitterati, the dressing up and showing off, the intervals, the drinks, the gardens, the dinners afterwards, the late nights. And this year there is the installation "Silenced Voices" in the gardens of the Festspielhaus.
Then there are the performances. We didn't see Dutchman (but went to Nurenberg for an exceptional Elektra that night).
Sequentially we saw Tristan, Lohengrin, Tannhaüser, and Parsifal. It's the things which affect me most that I find the hardest to describe and with just a few exceptions I have never been more affected by performance. The week was a high point I may not ever again reach, and I am quite happy with that.
So from New York, on the way home - hello, I'm not dead yet. Just quickly, I always thought New York a city constantly renewing itself, a surviving living organism. Now (here for the first time since the first election of GWB) I wonder if it is struggling to keep up with itself. That is a very superficial judgement. It is as always palpably the 'entry point' where people come and cling on, hoping to survive.
And there is much still to impress.
6 comments:
So, there you are, in my own New York City, though I suspect but for a fleeting moment. I have now read all the posts from your trip, flying along with you on this exuberant venture. Thank you so much for giving us a glimpse. You know how to live, that is sure. I am trying to stay offline this month, but I will look in to see what you write about the performances.
And Bamberg?
Yes Susan, 5 nights in your town, based at Washington Square, and tired feet hardly touching the ground. Thanks for staying with me. I've had a quick peep at Pru's. How was the STC? I'm off to Book of Mormon tonight and The Best Man (Vidal now dead) tomorrow.
M, would I have dared not get to Bamberg? No way. I drove with friends (K was exhausted and rested up) early-ish on the Saturday of Tannhaüser, was shown around by Germans friends, crawled through several of the beautiful antique shops, bought a little (contemporary) piece of pottery, lunched with Wolfgang F (ex SSO), and thought of you.
STC was brilliant, though it was not good to be as high up as I was. Just the same, I was glad to be there. Something else occurred to me: so is this why you were studying German?
So glad you thought of me amidst such a social whirl, W. I hope you also managed to sink a Schlenkerla Rauchbier.
Yes Suan it was. I was hungry for learning as much as I could, the language was part of that, and I was well rewarded.
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