Bayreuth, operatic shrine erected by Richard Wagner to himself, is getting ready for its first wide-open festival since 1939—and this time under the direction of grandsons Wieland Wagner, 33, and Wolfgang Wagner, 31, both sharp-nosed images of Grossvater. Last week they had workmen hammering & sawing away on the vast stage of the red brick festival house. By July, brand-new sets will be ready for six operas: Parsifal, Die Meistersinger and the Ring.
Bayreuth can count on plenty of festival fans. There are still purists who consider Wagnerian opera just brassy, pretentious twaddle about supermen, but they are a musical minority. Bayreuth...