Bayreuth Festspielhaus

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Bayreuth Festspielhaus, as seen today.

Bayreuth Festspielhaus, as seen in 1882.

The Bayreuth Festspielhaus (Bayreuth Festival Theatre) is an opera house built to the north of the town of Bayreuth in Germany, dedicated principally to the performance of operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner. It is the exclusive venue for the annual Bayreuth Festival, for which it was specifically conceived and built.

The design was adapted by Wagner (without the architect's permission) from an unrealised project by Gottfried Semper for an opera house in Munich, and built under Wagner's supervision. Its construction was principally funded by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. It was first opened for the premiere of the complete four-opera cycle of Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelungs), from 13 August to 17 August 1876.

Only the entry facade exhibits the typical late 19th century ornamentation, while the remainder of the exterior is modest and shows mostly undecorated brick stone.

The most famous and significant feature of the Festspielhaus is its unusual orchestra pit. It is recessed under the stage and covered by a hood, so that the orchestra is completely invisible to the audience. This feature was a central preoccupation for Wagner, since it made the audience concentrate on the drama onstage, rather than the distracting motion of the conductor and musicians. The design also corrected the balance of volume between singers and orchestra, creating ideal acoustics for Wagner's operas, which are the only operas performed at the Festspielhaus. However, this arrangement has also made it the most challenging to conduct in, even for the world's best conductors. Not only is the crowded pit enveloped in darkness, but the acoustic reverberation makes it impossible to synchronise the orchestra with the singers. Conductors must therefore retrain themselves to ignore cues from singers. Most, if not all, of the festival's conductors have found the Festspielhaus venue the most challenging of their careers.

The Festspielhaus also features a double proscenium, which gives the audience the illusion that the stage is further away than it actually is. The double proscenium and the recessed orchestra pit create, in Wagner's term, a "mystic gulf" between the audience and the stage. This gives a dreamlike character to performances, and provides a physical reinforcement of the mythic content of most of Wagner's operas.

The Festspielhaus remains the venue of the annual Bayreuth Festival, during which Wagner's operas, such as the Ring cycle and Parsifal, are given on a repertory basis.