On May 22, 1872, the German composer Richard Wagner made a dream come true: He laid the foundation stone for a concert hall in the city of Bayreuth, large enough for his operas to be performed, but too small for Wagner’s operas. With the support of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and various “Wagnerian societies” scattered throughout Europe, the musician built the Festspielhaus, the venue for festivals, in the town of Bayreuth, halfway between Bavaria and Prussia.
The first edition of the renowned Bayreuth Festival took place in 1876. Even today the festival attracts thousands of people and is part of the European scholarly calendar. Besides Ludovico II, Emperor William and the Emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro II, were present at the premiere.
Richard Wagner had been dreaming about the project for 20 years. It ended up being made shortly before the completion of The Ring of the Nibelung tetralogy, consisting of the works The Gold of the Rhine (1854), The Valkyries (1856), Siegfried (1859) and Twilight of the Gods (1874).
Free festival for music lovers
Music historian and professor Hans Meyer, from the University of Tübingen, explains that the initial idea of the “revolutionary Wagner” was to build a concert hall especially for the Nibelung, preferably on the banks of the Rhine or Main. He intended to build a building for a single Wagnerian festival, which would be free for students and music lovers.
The idea, exotic for the time, remained in theory. No one wanted to finance a building that would soon be destroyed. In the mid-1860s, a virtual miracle happened: King Ludwig II of Bavaria befriended the young German composer and began to finance his project, but demanded that it be performed in Bavaria.
The choice ended up falling on Bayreuth, maintaining the idea of a practically temporary theater, which would have no refinements in the auditorium, but would have invested in scenic resources. The architect Otto Brückwald, a student of Gottfried Semper (famous for the Dresden Opera House), was commissioned to direct the project. The foundation stone was laid on May 22, 1872, the date on which Richard Wagner turned 59.
without pomp
Although it took only a year and a half to build, the first performance did not take place until August 13, 1876, due to financial problems. Wagner and his wife invested everything they had and still couldn’t make the dream come true. Until the king intervened again and allowed a basic staging. Wagner had to give up all the pomp that he had planned for his opera.
After the premiere, Wagner regretted that he could not fully realize his dream. However, the festival continues to be repeated every year, during the European summer, in the same location. Wagner fans from all over the world compete for tickets, which have been sold out years before. The high prices, however, are not in line with the composer’s original idea. What remains from that period is the type of seating: simple wooden folding chairs.
The Brazilian emperor Dom Pedro II, a great admirer of Wagner, helped build the Bayreuth concert hall. The monarch really wanted Carlos Gomes to study music in Germany. Gomes, on the other hand, preferred Italy.
Source: Terra
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