Chereau's Treachery

In program for 1977 Bayreuth Festival superb photographs of '76 Ring were published alongside quotations which testified to hostility that Bayreuth productions have provoked over last 100 years: ... German people have nothing in common with this disgraceful incompetence .. . (1876); Another kind of centenary-100 years of Bayreuth under attack (1976). In his brief introductory text, Wolfgang Wagner wrote, The arguments have scarcely changed over years, except perhaps for an increase in threats of violence (murder, arson)-which a contemporary German sociologist would undoubtedly be able to explain. Three recurrent themes emerge from this narrative: a) Nationalism (including xenophobia and racism): the internationalization of Bayreuth-for which Cosima is responsible, for she is 100 percent Frenchinvolves great risk. .... Since 1888 foreigners have had upper hand at Bayreuth, while Germans are treated as if they were foreign (1896). Responsibility rests with German people to safeguard their most precious assets (1925). (Concerning Grace Bumbry in role of Venus): Of course it's not racial prejudice! Yet may I say that you have been extremely careless of those who love Wagner and, moreover, shown extraordinary bad taste by allowing a black singer to appear beneath 'these sacred vaults' and, what's more, on a German opera stage (1961

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