Performer: Manuel Braun

Tobias Kratzer's prelude to this new Ring cycle exceeds all expectations and scores a musical-theatrical success.

This revival of Kratzer’s production forces the audience to confront where personal responsibility starts and stops for acting under a tyrannical regime, while bringing Beethoven’s only opera to life – with a few twists.

Yesterday, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, where devotees of Richard Wagner converge annually from all over the world, opened its doors again for this year’s festival. Traditionally presented on the first evening, the new production for this season was Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg (to use the opera’s full name), presented to a capacity audience.