Production Photos from the Bayreuth Festival's Siegfried

...Wolfgang Koch, who continues his smarmy, drunken, sleazy, seedy Wotan with most admirable gusto and believability, certainly shows that it’s not for lack of will or skill on his part… seeing that he gets plenty to do in the third act, when he summons Erda. It’s perhaps the most touching moment of this Siegfried, when the washed-up Wotan, ex-lover, gets together with Erda, his aged, long-time favorite ho, for a spaghetti dinner and too much wine, in a scene full of recriminations and regrets and make-up blow jobs. When Wotan-Wanderer is supposed to pay up (the waiter catching Erda in flagrante), he realizes he’s just a bit short on cash and with the words “Dort seh’ ich Siegfried nahn!“ (“Woha, I think Siegfried approaches!”) he’s off, properly welshing and leaving Erda with the bill and the audiences in stitches. It’s not the only moment that garnered laughter, but there could have still been more, seeing that Siegfried is supposed to be a comedy and that Castorf certainly has the irreverent streak that lends itself to comedy....

Full review on Forbes.com. Click on excerpted images below to find a higher resolution version of the full picture.

All images courtesy Bayreuth Festival, © Enrico Nawrath