Wagner at Bayreuth: the holy grail of summer opera? This year, the season runs through August 28, with the following productions in rotating repertory: Parsifal, with sets by Heike Scheele and costumes by Gesine Völlm; Tristan und Isolde, with stage design and costumes by Anna Viebrock; Die Meistersinger with stage design by Tilo Steffens and costumes by Michaela Barth and Tilo Steffens; Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Götterdammerung, and Seigfriedwith sets by Frank Philipp Schlößmann and costumes by Bernd Ernst Skodzig; and take a look at the size of the technical crew in Bayreuth, which almost caused a strike this season, asking for higher wages.
At The Salzburg Festival, which also runs through late August, the rep schedule includes: Theodora with lighting by Stefan Bolliger, set design by Annette Kurz, and costumes by Ursula Renzenbrink; Cosi fan tutti designed by Christian Schmidt, sets, Anna Sofie Tuma, costumes, Olaf Winter, lighting, and Alex Buresch and Kai Ehlers, video; For Al gran sole carico d'amore, sets and costumes are by Vicki Mortimer, lighting by Bruno Poet; Moïse et Pharaon has sets by Ferdinand Wögerbauer, costumes by Birgit Hutter, and lighting by Friedrich Rom; The Marriage of Figaro was designed by Christian Schmidt, sets and costumes, and Olaf Winter, lighting; and for Armida, Dirk Becker designed the sets, Bettina Walter the costumes and Olaf Winter, the lighting; The 75th Anniversary season at Glyndebourne is underway with Falstaff designed by Ultz and lighting by Mimi Jordan Sherin; Julius Caesar with sets by Robert Jones, costumes by Brigitte Reiffenstuel, and lighting by Paule Constable, who also designed lighting for Rusalka, which has sets and costumes by Rae Smith; The Fairy Queen was designed by Paul Brown with lighting by Mark Henderson; The Elixir of Love has sets and costumes by Lez Brotherston and lighting by Guisippe di Iorio; Tristan und Isolde, with sets by Roland Aeschlimann, costumes by Andrea Schmidt-Futterer, and lighting by Robin Carter. Through August 23, The Bregenz Festival on the famous floating stage at Lake Constance, the featured opera is Aida, with sets and costumes by Paul Brown, and lighting by Wolfgang Göbbel. That alone should keep opera buffs busy for the rest of the summer…
Related article: Summer Opera, Part I