It`s Bayreuth time again

[Rivington]

Yes, I generally agree; even if it is a 'ring', it isn't Wagner's ring.

[Master Jacques]

Sir Peter Hall's Ring Cycle at Bayreuth in 1983 ... The first year's run was pretty disastrous and the production was considered a failure, only lasting four years before being replaced.

A small point, but Bayreuth productions in the post-war years have always only been allowed limited shelf-time; and although the Hall Ring suffered from following Chereau's superlative 1976 production, it only had one less revival, being performed (as you say) every year from 1983 to 1986 inclusively. The Chereau was given rests between revivals, the Hall staging was not. So four seasons, as opposed to five, hardly amounts to a "failure". It just seemed rather old-fashioned to audiences and critics at the time, as I remember.

[Nachtigall]

It just seemed rather old-fashioned to audiences and critics at the time, as I remember.

Apparently the Germans didn't like it because it lacked a "concept". It's a pity Hall's production was never recorded for posterity. We have had rather too much of directors' "concepts" in recent years.