The harder the fall of the gods will be.
The premiere of the new production of
The Valkyrie
directed by Valentin Schwarz and conducted by Cornelius Meister, played at the Bayreuth Festival, ended badly on Monday for Polish bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczny, as reported by the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
The lyrical singer, who interprets the role of Wotan,
sat “heavily”
in an armchair, the back of which gave way.
His injury, at first imperceptible, turned out to be painful.
While he had continued to sing until the end of the second act, the Polish singer had to withdraw for the third.
He was replaced, at short notice, by the German baritone Michael Kupfer-Radecky, as announced to the public by the festival's communication officer, Hubertus Herrmann, at the time of the resumption.
A production that brings bad luck
Luck is not at the rendezvous of this highly anticipated new cycle of the
Ring,
as the German daily points out.
Michael Kupfer-Radecky is “
already the fifth master of the gods
” exhausted by production.
The first Wotan was to be the Austrian Günther Groissböck (bass), but he withdrew from the production.
His replacement, Swedish baritone John Lundgren then canceled in June.
The Latvian bass-baritone Egils Silins replaced him in the first part of the Ring Cycle
,
Rheingold
.
It was therefore Tomasz Konieczny who was responsible for singing the role for
The Valkyrie
and
Siegfried,
before being replaced on Monday evening.
On Tuesday, however, the Bayreuth festival gave reassuring news, explaining that the Polish bass-baritone was already doing better.
He should be back on stage Wednesday night for the premiere of
Siegfried
.
A few years ago, another story of a broken wheelchair made headlines in Bayreuth.
During an intermission, a seat had given way under Chancellor Angela Merkel, a great music lover and regular at the festival.
Fortunately, without too many consequences.
