Even before opening night, expectations of how the themes of Richard Wagner's "Rienzi" would be handled were running high — not least because the opera had never been staged at the Bayreuth Festival. Now it has opened the festival's 150th anniversary. One aspect that fueled the debate: The close relationship between Wagner's descendants and Adolf Hitler — "Rienzi" was one of Hitler's favorite operas.
"It's a piece that's highly contaminated," director Alexandra Szemerédy told DW. "When Katharina Wagner [the festival's director] first approached us, my initial excitement was definitely a bit dampened." Nonetheless, the production received enthusiastic applause at its premiere — conductor Nathalie Stutzmann and the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra were given standing ovations, and Hungarian directors Alexandra Szemerédy and Magdolna Parditka were warmly celebrated for their interpretation of the work.
The directors tell the tale of the rise and fall of the 14th-century Roman tribune Rienzi in the present day. Rienzi, who initially seeks to free the people of Rome from aristocratic rule, is ultimately consumed by power and becomes a dictator himself.A glimpse of the surveillance state: Everyone knows everything about everyone elseImage: Enrico Nawrath
