Deutsche Grammophon is pleased to announce that its pioneering global media partnership with the Bayreuth Festival will be further expanded this year. In 2022, the label launched its ground-breaking classical music platform, STAGE+, which hosted the international premiere screenings of Valentin Schwarz’s thought-provoking new production of Der Ring des Nibelungen. Now the enhanced collaboration between DG and Bayreuth will allow for an even more comprehensive and in-depth online experience of the Festival.
Highlights will include Jay Scheib’s highly anticipated Parsifal from the Festspielhaus on STAGE+ one day after its live premiere. Virtual festivalgoers will be able to watch the opera on STAGE+ from 6pm CET on 26 July 2023 and – catering to the American and Asian territories – again on 27 July from midnight and 11am CET.
Making their Bayreuth debuts in the 2023 production of Parsifal are mezzo-soprano and exclusive DG artist Elīna Garanča – who will star as Kundry alongside tenor Andreas Schager in the title role – and conductor Pablo Heras-Casado. Its director, Jay Scheib, is internationally renowned for creating genre-defying stagings that push the boundaries of physicality and make imaginative use of cutting-edge technologies in live performance. Underlining its status as one of this year’s major theatre events, his Parsifal will employ augmented reality (AR) technology. Audience members in the Festspielhaus auditorium can choose to wear specially provided AR goggles offering access to an additional and immersive digital realm, whose imagery will expand the physical space.
With the latest premiere and recent additions from the archives, STAGE+ offers the most comprehensive collection of Bayreuth Festival productions on demand. Notably, this encompasses all productions staged in the past decade since Katharina Wagner became the Festival’s sole Artistic and Managing Director, e.g. Tobias Kratzer’s Tannhäuser (2019) and Dmitri Tcherniakov’s Der fliegende Holländer (2021). From the eras of Wieland and Wolfgang Wagner, STAGE+ presents classic Bayreuth Festival stagings that made performance history, inicluding Patrice Chéreau’s legendary “Centenary Ring” cycle. Thus, a juxtaposition with the most recent Bayreuth Ring cycles by Frank Castorf, conducted by Marek Janowski, as well as by Valentin Schwarz and Cornelius Meister will be possible on STAGE+. The experience will be complemented by the rich audio heritage of the Bayreuth Festival on the Decca and Deutsche Grammophon labels, in landmark recordings by conductors such as Karl Böhm, Pierre Boulez, Wolfgang Sawallisch und Christian Thielemann. Also, STAGE+ subscribers will have access to a wide array of behind-the-scenes films and interviews from the current and past editions of the Bayreuth Festival, some of which were produced in cooperation with German broadcaster BR-KLASSIK.
Wagner fans living in Germany, Austria or Switzerland will be able to enjoy a remarkable range of TV, radio and online offerings from BR-KLASSIK throughout this year’s Bayreuth Festival. Its radio station and online destination will broadcast seven performances, including Parsifal live on the opening afternoon, interview established stars and debut artists and host critics’ forums. Also, the Bayreuth Festival will stream the opening premiere to selected cinemas across Germany.
