Wagner festival given rapturous reception on opening night

Germany's legendary Bayreuth opera festival, dedicated to the works of Richard Wagner, got off to a rapturous start on Monday with a brand new production of the composer's last opera, "Parsifal", enthusiastically received by the first-night audience. While this year's month-long proceedings have been overshadowed by a series of deadly attacks in the country, the performers were tumultuously applauded at the end of the six-hour performance. Out of respect for those killed or wounded in attacks over the last week in Ansbach, Munich and Wuerzburg -- all in the state of Bavaria -- organisers cancelled the lavish banquet that traditionally follows the first performance of the festival.

Continue reading...