A unique Richard Wagner opera experience will take place at the Siemens Festival Night in Bayreuth on August 14, 2011. To mark the 100th anniversary of the Bayreuth Festival, Siemens AG – the main sponsor – is promoting a full-day programme as a means of generating enthusiasm for the world of opera among new audiences.
Siemens has doubled the size of the LED screen for the public viewing event to 180 m2. This will enable ten thousand people to enjoy the music of Wagner to the full in the open air. Two public attractions will be offered in succession: first the brand-new “Ring” for children, then “Lohengrin” for everyone. Together they provide a full-day festival event for people of all ages in a relaxed summer atmosphere on the Bayreuth Festplatz.
“With the public viewing attraction for children we are addressing tomorrow’s music lovers and with the performance of Lohengrin also fostering the wide acceptance of Richard Wagner’s work,” said Michael Roßnagl, head of the Siemens Arts Program.
The event will begin in the morning with the first showing of the 90-minute film of the “Ring des Nibelungen” production for children. Director Maximilian von Mayenburg has created a children’s opera from the tragic love story of Siegfried and Brünhilde in a magic world with beautiful water sprites and sinister dwarves, with a golden treasure guarded by a dragon.
Those who can’t make it to Bayreuth in person can take advantage of the Siemens Festival Night online at www.siemens.com/festivalnight .Opera fans around the world can follow the festival performance of Wagner’s Lohengrin by watching live on the Internet for a fee of around £13 (€14.90) with the option of calling up the recording one more time within the following 14 days.
The live online broadcast comes close to this visionary idea of Richard Wagner, who dreamed of a “festival for the masses.” The worldwide, high-definition webstream is available to anyone with a broadband Internet connection. Opera lovers can also view an on-demand broadcast from August 15 to August 30.
The technically optimised online broadcast will be offered worldwide in three levels of resolution. The price includes an exclusive report produced especially for the webstream on the new staging of “Lohengrin”.
Even if you’re not (yet) an opera fan, this is an opportunity you won’t want to miss. Discover what makes opera so fascinating, and experience “Lohengrin” in high definition. Register your interest for the live internet broadcast before Saturday, 15 August at http://live.bfmedien.de/live.html?lang=en.
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Further information and press photos are available at www.siemens.com/press/festivalnight.
About Siemens in the UK
Siemens was established in the United Kingdom 168 years ago and now employs around 16,000 people in the UK. Last year’s revenues were £4.1 billion. As a leading global engineering and technology services company, Siemens provides innovative solutions to help tackle the world’s major challenges, across the key sectors of energy, industry and healthcare. Siemens has offices and factories throughout the UK, with its headquarters in Frimley, Surrey. The company’s global headquarters is in Munich, Germany.
For more information, visit www.siemens.co.uk
Siemens UK
PR Manager
Laura Bennett
T: 01276 696374
E: laura.bennett@siemens.com
W: http://www.siemens.co.uk/healthcare
About Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a global powerhouse in electronics and electrical engineering, operating in the industry, energy and healthcare sectors. For over 160 years, Siemens has stood for technological excellence, innovation, quality, reliability and internationality. The company is the world’s largest provider of environmental technologies. More than one-third of its total revenue stems from green products and solutions. In fiscal 2010, which ended on September 30, 2010, revenue from continuing operations (excluding Osram and Siemens IT Solutions and Services) totaled €69 billion and net income from continuing operations €4.3 billion. At the end of September 2010, Siemens had around 336,000 employees worldwide on the basis of continuing operations.
Further information is available on the Internet at: www.siemens.com.
Siemens AG
Media Relations
Karlheinz Groebmair
T: +49 89 636-35181
E: karlheinz.groebmair@siemens.com
