Photos: The World Theatre of Wagner (1982) by Charles Osborne

Macmillan, 1982. Dust jacket.

Günther Schneider-Siemssen (designer),

Herbert von Karajan (conductor and director),

Salzburg Easter Festival, 1970s. 

Götterdämmerung, 1970, Act II.

Tristan und Isolde, 1972, Act I.
From l. to r.: Christa Ludwig (Brangäne), Jon Vickers (Tristan),
Walter Berry (Kurwenal), Helga Dernesch (Isolde).

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, 1974. Above:.Act III, Scene 2.
Below left: Act III, Scene 1, the quintet. Below right: Act II.

Lohengrin, 1976, permanent set.

Parsifal, 1980, the forest scenes.

Comparison between Tannhäuser productions.

Left: Otto Schenk (director) and Günther Schneider-Siemssen (designer)

Right: Wieland Wagner (designer and producer)

Metropolitan, 1977.
Above: Act I. Below: Act III.

Bayreuth, 1954.
Above: Act I. Below: Act II.

Another exmaple of Wieland Wagner's revolutionary style:

Lohengrin, Act II, Bayreuth, 1958,
Shandor Konya (Lohengrin), Leonie Rysanek (Elsa).

Wieland Wagner himself:

Another instructive comparison:

Above: Lohengrin, Act I, Bayreuth, 1936.

Below: Lohengrin, Act II, Bayreuth, 1954.

Above: Heinz Tjeten (director), Emil Preetorius (designer).
Below: Wolfgang Wagner (producer).

Brückner's sumptuous set designs:

Lohengrin, Act II, Bayreuth, 1894.

Tristan und Isolde, Act III, Bayreuth, 1886.

Siegfried, Act III, Bayreuth, 1876.

Der fliegende Holländer, Act III, Bayreuth, 1901.

Other (more or less) contemporary ideas about Wagner production:

Die Walküre, Hunding slays Siegmund in front of Sieglinde's eyes,
drawing by Knut Ekwall, based on the 1876 Bayreuth production.

Das Rheingold, Theodor Pixis, 
engraving after his drawing, 1869.

Charles Ricketts, costumes for Parsifal, 1910.

Siegfried and Fafner, drawing from Illustrated London News,
7 June 1913, based on the Covent Garden production.

Emil Preetorius, Der fliegende Holländer,
design for Act II, Bayreuth, 1939.

Der fliegende Holländer, Act I, La Scala, 1965-6.

Patrice Chéreau’s Shavian Ring, 

designed by Richard Pedruzzi,

costumes by Jacques Schmidth,

Bayreuth, 1976-80.

Above: Das Rheingold, Scene 2.
Below: Siegfried, Act I.

Above: Das Rheingold, Scene 2.
Below: Götterdämmerung, Act III.

Die Walküre, Act III, Scene 3,
Wotan's Farewell and Magic Fire Music.

Wagner further updated?

Der fliegende Holländer, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle,
San Francisco, 1979.

Left: Siegfried*, Act III, ENO production, 1973, sets by Ralph Koltai.
Above: Siegfried, 1976 ENO revival, Jon Weaving (Siegfried) and Paul Crook (Mime).
Below: The Rheingold, ENO, 1973, Don Garrard (Wotan).
*This is written in the book, but the photo looks much more like Act III of Die Walküre.

Right: Das Rheingold, Scene 2, Covent Garden, 1973-76.
Götz Friedrich (director) and Josef Svoboda (designer). 

 Singers:

Astrid Varnay as Senta, Der fliegende Holländer, Act II,
Wolfgang Wagner's production, Bayreuth, 1955.

 

Lilli Lehmann as Isolde.

Hermann Winkelmann, the first Parsifal,
Bayreuth, 1882.

The gods in Das Rheingold, Metropolitan, 1912.

Curiosities:

Mann Auditorium, Tel Aviv, October, 1981.
No comment!

Siegfried and Kriemhilde's Revenge, 1923, UFA productions, directed by Fritz Lang.
Left top: Siegfried and Alberich. Left middle: Siegfried and Brunhild. Left bottom: Kremhilde and Brunhild with Siegfried's body. Right: King Etzel and the children at the blossoming tree.

Georges Redon, drawing of Siegfried's slaying the dragon, 
as staged in the Paris Opéra, 1902.