Above is an image from Hans Neuenfels's rat-infested production of Lohengrin, which opened at Bayreuth earlier today. The customary explosion of boos greeted the directing team when they made their bows. On the webcast one could also hear, oddly, a few boos for Andris Nelsons, who, I thought, conducted with pulsing energy and palpable musical authority. Chancellor Angela Merkel was in the audience, and, amid the clamor, she was observed to direct applause in Neuenfels's direction. "Das war wunderbar," she said afterward, according to Die Welt. Perhaps the rats spoke to her allegorically....
