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| Prayers maybe the only way this production sees DVD release |
One does wonder about business and management decisions being made at Bayreuth. In 2012 it was announced, to some fanfare, that the highly acclaimed Herheim Parsifal from Bayreuth, would be made available on DVD and Blu-ray in April this year by Opus Arte (owned by the Royal Opera House). This date passed without said appearance or indeed any comment from Opus Arte or Bayreuth.
However, there had been some whispers of copyright difficulties and this seemed to be confirmed recently in a throwaway comment by Katharina Wagner. But now Opus Arte, without explanation, have confirmed that it will now never appear on Opus Arte or indeed, according to their Facebook account, on any label!
This seems an especially unbelievable announcement considering the performance was recorded, broadcast in cinemas, on TV and is even easily available on YouTube. Can it really be that the Bayreuth management went to all of these lengths without getting approval for the DVD release in advance from all concerned? Can it really be that one or more people have now said they will not give consent and their contracts allow it? Or are there other, even more bizarre reasons? As of yet neither Opus Arte or Bayreuth are saying. Perhaps a few emails to Bayreuth? Stay tuned.
