BAYREUTH, Germany (AP) 鈥� Richard Wagner likely would have appreciated the cutting-edge technology, if not the reaction.
Scenery selected by artificial intelligence sparked boos at the 150th anniversary performance of Wagner鈥檚 Ring Cycle from an audience frustrated that software could integrate images but not drama.
Called 鈥�10010110鈥� 鈥� the number 150 in written in binary 鈥� the staging is subtitled 鈥淔rom Myth to Code” and was intended to portray the history of 鈥淒er Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung),” a series of four operas about the destruction of gods by humans, giants and dwarfs. It was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the full cycle’s premiere from Aug. 13-17, 1876, at the Festspielhaus theater built to Wagner’s specifications atop a Bavarian hill.
Curator Marcus Lobbes developed the concept with Nils Corte and dramaturge Andri Hardmeier, feeding computers about 1,000 images culled from the 15 prior Bayreuth Ring productions. They did not intend to produce a cohesive drama and suggested minimal blocking.
鈥淲e always communicated that it鈥檚 an experiment, it鈥檚 not stage-directed,鈥� Lobbes said.
Disgruntled by 19th century standards, Wagner demanded his own theater of innovation. Bayreuth’s 239th Ring Cycle was an encyclopedia of interpretations rather than a new one.
The audience also responded with a 17-minute ovation
Singers stood between two 20-by-60 meter (33-by-66 foot) screens, often not moving, for 14 1/2 hours over four nights. About a dozen AI models were combined and Stable Diffusion was used to start each act with 1876 scenery designed by Gotthold Br眉ckner and Max Br眉ckner from sketches by Josef Hoffmann, then select images based on text and music.
After Saturday night’s concluding 鈥淕枚tterd盲mmerung,鈥� conductor Christian Thielemann and the cast were greeted with a 17-minute ovation that wrapped around 30 seconds of boos and whistles when the production team joined for their bows.
Many Bayreuth productions are initially jeered, such as Patrice Ch茅reau’s centennial staging in 1976 that moved the action to the Industrial Revolution, then cheered years later. That production’s final appearance in 1980 ignited a 45-minute ovation.
鈥淚 know the ritual,鈥� said Lobbes, director of the Academy for Theatre and Digitality in Dortmund.
He was approached in February 2023 to stage an AI Ring for the sesquicentennial by Katharina Wagner, a great-granddaughter of the composer and current festival director.
Wagner composed the Ring over 26 years. Coders divided it into about 250 scenes of two to six minutes and loaded images from past performances and topical moments to a pair of custom-built Tower PCs with NVIDIA RTX 5090 graphics cards.
Singers led by Michael Volle (Wotan), Camilla Nylund (Br眉nnhilde) and Klaus Florian Vogt (Siegfried) wore birdlike costumes of wire mesh with black backing and laser voile designed by Pia Maria Mackert, Lobbes’ wife. The outfits shimmered in brilliant colors depending on the lighting, with gold and red most prominent.
As the narrative moved forward, so did AI’s projections.
An image of Theodor Herzl, a key figure in modern Zionism, appeared in 鈥淒as Rheingold,鈥� and one of Adolf Hitler in 鈥淒ie Walk眉re.” A sign that read: 鈥淪orry, no gas today鈥� flashed in 鈥漇iegfried” as the timeline reached the 1973 oil crisis and Br眉nnhilde awakened to sing “Heil dir, Sonne! Heil dir, Licht! (Hail to you, Sun! Hail to you, Light!)鈥�
鈥淓very year of the 150 years, we have an answer from artificial intelligence what she thinks that the audience of Bayreuth would have said is the main political topic of this year or this summer,鈥� Hardmeier said.
Many of the images provoked director name-checking in viewers’ minds 鈥� Was this from Wieland Wagner in 1951? From Frank Castorf in 2013? From Valentin Schwarz in 2020?
At other times, AI picked forms that shifted like a giant Etch A Sketch into images evoking works by Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning.
Original plans for 2026 envisioned performances of the final 10 of Wagner鈥檚 13 operas plus the Festspielhaus debut of the composer鈥檚 third, 鈥淩ienzi,鈥� until now deemed not worthy of inclusion. The AI Ring was to be presented once to coincide approximately with the original premiere dates, but caused four operas to be scrapped and replaced by two additional Rings, the first from July 27 to Aug. 1.
Singers were together for just one nine-hour rehearsal over a four-day period in which the directing team worked with cast members in small groups.
鈥淚 would wish that with a certain openness people will find some interesting correlations and will see things that maybe others don’t see,鈥� Hardmeier said. 鈥淚 hope that people go out with a very fruitful irritation 鈥� not irritation in the sense of 鈥榃hat was this about鈥� but more sort of, 鈥楬ey, interesting.鈥�”
Beethoven’s 9th starts festival
Thielemann conducted Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to open the festival. Wagner led the work at the downtown Margravial Opera House after the Bayreuth cornerstone ceremony in 1872 and it has been repeated on special occasions, such as the 1951 resumption after World War II.
A speech the following day by Michel Friedman titled 鈥淪ilenced Voices鈥� addressed Wagner’s antisemitism and his family’s support of Hitler and the Nazi party.
鈥楻ienzi鈥� a success in Bayreuth Festspielhaus premiere
A striking staging with Alexandra Szemer茅dy and Magdolna Parditka, updated to post-modern dystopian times, was greeted with extended applause when it opened on July 26 in the first of nine performances through Aug. 26.
Tenor Andreas Schager gave the title role charisma and vocal beauty, telling the story of 14th century Italian populist Cola di Rienzo.
Conductor Nathalie Stutzmann made a convincing case for an unwieldy composition whose autographed score was given by Wagner’s daughter-in-law, Winifried, to Hitler and lost in the destruction that ended World War II.
The ballet became a hilarious parody of Wagnerian cliches as a cartwheeling child wearing sneakers with rainbow lights and dressed in gold, resembling statues of the composer, presided in front of a faux Bayreuth proscenium. A procession of characters, some in winged helmets, performed silent camp references to Wagner’s renowned roles.
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