The 1976 Centenary Ring: Magic Moments of Music

Uproar, disruption, violent dispute – this was the response to the much-anticipated centenary of the Bayreuth Festival in 1976, which was to be marked by a new production of Richard Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung. But before Pierre Boulez could step up to the conductor’s podium and the curtain could rise on Bayreuth’s Green Hill for Patrice Chéreau’s bold new production, the festival was rocked by artistic and political upheaval. The film tells how one of the greatest scandals in opera went on to become one of the greatest musical moments of all.