When Richard Wagner’s Festspielhaus opened in Bayreuth in 1876, it boasted the latest in theater technology. From its covered orchestra pit to its state-of-the-art lighting and stage machinery, the theater’s technical innovations were meant to mirror the composer’s experimentations with harmony, structure, and form. The Bayreuth Festival was inaugurated with the first complete performance of Wagner’s “Ring” cycle; since then, there have been 15 different productions of the work. 


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…writes about classical music and science, and is currently based in New York.