Katharina’s ex-factotum knocks on the bush
Rosenmontag is a fitting day to refer to a new publication for the wagner year, which will probably also be classified as one of the most curious at the end of the year – like the brochure "mutter brunnhilde" published in 1906 from dr. Moritz wirth, who seriously attempts to extract from the score of "gotterdammerung to prove that brunnhilde was pregnant and thus, among other things, a certain note figure as "milchdrusen- oder lusttriole" to be defined.
One has quite so much fun reading "mein wagner. In richard’s footsteps by alexander busche not (grebennikov verlag, 166 pp., 16,90 €). Which simply has to do with the fact that the author takes the embarrassing approach of linking the previous stages of his 34-year life with the biography of richard wagner. Even the cover of his album is, as music journalist dieter david scholz found in his review on deutschlandradio, a "grotesque case of self-dramatization.
Which in turn has to do with the profession of alexander busche. He is katharina wagner’s ex-assistant and PR man, was previously, among other things, press spokesman at the deutsche oper berlin, and is currently employed in this function at the tiroler festspiele, where there is not only wagner, but in the meantime a brand-new festival house, the history of whose development is certainly reminiscent of bayreuth.
"The myth of bayreuth and thus somehow also richard wagner’s works live today in large part from scandals", busche states in his prologue and confesses that he is not a wagnerian, but: "like the tide that conquers the wadden sea, wagner crept into my life and inexorably penetrated my life in the form of the wagner-genes, which were at first gentle and then hit all the harder." Which somehow makes the linguistic quality of the book self-explanatory.
Otherwise, the author, katharina wagner "buschi", chats about it names, gladly from the near box. He was close enough for years, at times even living in the garden house of wolfgang wagner’s villa near the festspielhaus. Bushy has made his boss, among other things, the "supreme sanctuary of her own consumerism", accompanied to louis vuitton headquarters in paris, was public relations manager for their "meistersinger"-debut in bayreuth, conceived and wrote the first children’s opera of the festival, wrote some of katharina’s director’s books and was her scenic collaborator, established public viewing and festival marketing at BF medien gmbh. Until his boss suddenly drops him like a hot potato.
As far as the content is concerned, i will summarize the essentials in question form. All those responsible at bayreuther festspiele gmbh, its subsidiary BF medien gmbh and the richard wagner foundation are responsible for responding:
1.) why was a collective agreement reached with the technical staff in 2009, which apparently runs counter to the realities of the festival business and inevitably has a negative impact on the artistic level??
2.) what need has the BF medien gmbh now, when according to busche it is apparently only created as "priceless leverage in the fight for the succession to the festival"? And was used as such with success?
3.) why is max bruckner’s painting of klingsor’s magic garden after "parsifal"?-design by paul von joukowsky, which according to busche is in the office of BF medien gmbh, not owned by the richard wagner foundation? Has anything ever been recorded that should still belong in a museum??
What alexander busche doesn’t describe in his book are his two latest coups as a networking PR pro: first, he established katharina wagner as a media darling, among other things via model photo shoots. And by arranging for her to receive a journalist’s award. At the gala, she was presented to the assembled, predominantly male decision-makers in TV, radio and print editorial departments in such a chic style that katharina wagner was a topic everywhere from then on. It works until today.
Busches youngest coup has robert braunmuller in his book review of "mein wagner aptly described in the munchner abendzeitung as follows: "a pity remains that busche’s comeback on the grunen hugel is only mentioned in a side sentence: last summer he was the press officer of the tattooed russian evgenij nikitin. According to the square meter number of printed paper this campaign was certainly a success."
Helau, alaaf! In the mood for carnival, the first performance of gaetano donizetti’s "regiment’s daughter" was still to be looked forward to 1840 in paris and giuseppe verdi’s "I lombardi 1843 in milan on 11. February, to the birthdays of gotthilf fischer (*1928) and mary quant (*1934), the latter of which was certainly pleased with the birthday on 11. February 1963 recorded the first album of the beatles "please please me could have looked forward to.
