The building's exterior construction originally was devised as a temporary structure, to be replaced at a later date with a solid and monumental frame. However, it never was replaced until the deteriorated state of the building's exterior made renovation works extremely urgent in the 1960's.
The Bayreuth festival today
Today the Bayreuth Festival prospers under the management of Wolfgang Wagner. Wagner's theatre, always surrounded with a cult-like atmosphere, is a kind of sanctuary for the devotees. Even to the less devoted, the theatre is a place to be seen, and there is some prestige involved in getting Festival tickets. Like in the old days the Festival takes place from the end of July until the end of August.
The Bayreuth Festival is certainly one of the most popular operatic festivals in the world if measured by the immense difficulty in acquiring a ticket. There are several hundreds of thousands of applicants every year and only some seven to ten percent of them will actually get a ticket. Some applicants have to wait for years, if indeed they ever get a ticket.
The Festival performances start in the afternoon, at three or four o'clock (except for Rheingold which starts at five or six o'clock). In the morning, there are lectures about the staged musical dramas. Between the acts there are long intervals during which the auditorium is closed and the spectators are free to stroll or to refresh themselves. The Festspielhaus can also be visited during the rest of the year, daily between 10.00-10.45 in the morning, and 14.15-15.00 in the afternoon, except when main rehearsals or probes take place. |
