Wagner Biographies

Pierre Boulez (1925 – 2016)

Pierre Boulez at the Bayreuth Festival: “My main goal was to get rid of the so-called tradition”

“My main goal was to get rid of the so-called tradition, which for me is unbearable. I mean, what is tradition? Tradition is really [somebody's] mannerisms, which are transmitted and transformed [into the worst] mannerism[s] because they at this point have no raison d'etre. Everyone has his own mannerisms. I am sure I have my own mannerisms, but I don't ask anyone to imitate me.”
Pierre Boulez in the documentary about the Chéreau/ Boulez Ring at Bayreuth

“I like the type of danger you experience when conducting...you have no time, you must do nothing but concentrate.”
Pierre Boulez

1966

Parsifal
Production: Wieland Wagner

1967

Parsifal
Production: Wieland Wagner

1968

Parsifal
Production: Wieland Wagner

1970

Parsifal
Production: Wieland Wagner

1976

Das Rheingold
Die Walküre
Siegfried
Götterdämmerung
Production: Patrice Chéreau

1977

Das Rheingold
Die Walküre
Siegfried
Götterdämmerung
Production: Patrice Chéreau

1978

Das Rheingold
Die Walküre
Siegfried
Götterdämmerung
Production: Patrice Chéreau

1979

Das Rheingold
Die Walküre
Siegfried
Götterdämmerung
Production: Patrice Chéreau

1980

Das Rheingold
Die Walküre
Siegfried
Götterdämmerung
Production: Patrice Chéreau

2004

Parsifal
Production: Christoph Schlingensief

2005

Parsifal
Production: Christoph Schlingensief

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How I rescued Parsifal: Pierre Boulez shocked the critics in 1966 by stripping down Wagner's most opulent work. He is back in Bayreuth this year for a repeat performance - with a twist. By Tom Service (The Guardian, 2004)

Selected Biographies

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One of the finest monuments in sound ever to have been raised to the everlasting glory of music. (Claude Debussy on Parsifal)

"The thing about Wagner is that there can be no true success in any production of his operas, only degrees of failure. There is so much in these bloody pieces, all you can do is try to live up to them." (Keith Warner, The Guardian)

"I have never come across an audience with so much hatred, so much anger, such a thirst for revenge. They take everything personally. It makes you a little bit scared, and it's really quite terrifying." (Lance Ryan on the audiences at Bayreuth)

"People sometimes complain that Wagner operas are too long, that they get stiff and sore about 10.30 because they have rushed in to hear one of his works straight from work and are not properly prepared for listening to his music. The audience, as much as the artists, must be prepared for a performance."
(Benjamin Britten to Alan Blyth, Gramophone)

"I was bowled over. It was the year after Wieland Wagner had died; to be able to see his productions was a total knock-out. These bare stagings, where everything was done with lighting. The light changed with the music, and the shadows and patterns seemed as archetypal as the music itself. Nobody had done that on the stage before. I thought it was extraordinary and wonderful."
(Patrick Carnegy to The Guardian)

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