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Diary

Denis MacShane

Wednesday, 5th September 2007

A lifetime’s ambition is fulfilled as I get to hear and see Wagner in Bayreuth...

Bayreuth
A lifetime’s ambition is fulfilled as I get to hear and see Wagner in Bayreuth. After 1945 it was touch and go whether enough support could be found to get the Bayreuth Festspielhaus back on its feet for the month-long festival of Wagner operas. It was the German trade unions who stepped in to support the reopening of the festival despite Bayreuth’s Nazi connections. As a result, 4,000 tickets at £50 a head are still reserved for trade unionists and German labour friends get me a ticket for the Die Meistersinger. As we take our seats my host whispers, ‘Just behind is the box where he sat. You know, the F— word.’ Her husband bellows out, ‘You mean der Führer!’ and the audience sighs with history.

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