Author Archive: Peter Jakobsen
Wahnfried
(19 August 2026) Quoth Richard Wagner: “Here where my delusions have found peace, let this place be named Wahnfried.” Haus Wahnfried was a brisk walk from our hotel, on the corner of Richard-Wagner-Sraße and Wahnfried Staße, and includes a modern renovated building containing costumes, dioramas and other artefacts from Wagner’s operas, together with the villa itself, renovated after WWII and supplemented by further work after Wolfgang and Winifred Wagner gave Wahnfried to the city of Bayreuth in 1973. Financed by King Ludwig II (his bust fronts the house), Wahnfried was built from 1872 to 1874. Wagner and his family moved…
Continue Reading →150th Bayreuth Festival
(18, 19 & 20 August 2026) The Varnished Culture finally got into Bayreuth (two trains, one bus via Pegnitz) and stayed at the funky Liebesbier Urban Art Hotel. The original Festival took place from 13 to 17 August 1876. The beautifully-mad King Ludwig funded the Festspielhaus. Wagner, writing in his autobiography (Volume 2), said “the dangerous road along which fate beckoned me to such great ends was not destined to be clear of troubles and anxieties of a kind unknown to me heretofore, but I was never again to feel the weight of the everyday hardships of existence under the protection…
Continue Reading →Vale Sam Neill
14 September 1947 – 13 July 2026 By all accounts from those who knew him, Sam Neill was a thoroughly decent chap, a movie star without any of the trappings of ego or narcissism. He was a dependable leading man (‘Dead Calm’), or second-in-command (‘The Hunt for Red October’), but he was quite accomplished in villainous or morally ambiguous roles as well (‘The Piano’, ‘Event Horizon’). For example, as Old Scratch in ‘The Final Conflict,’ he manages to give quite a good performance, despite the prevailing silliness. He made a lot of films and television shows we’ve never seen, but…
Continue Reading →Return of Split Enz
(Adelaide Entertainment Centre, 25 May 2026) Split Enz arrived in Australia in 1975, at that stage more-or-less a New Zealand cabaret act [‘art rock’ as Glenn A. Baker and Stuart Coupe termed it in their book, The New Music (1980)]. Wonderfully weird, their oddball appearance and intricate songs gave them a certain cachet, but after some musicians moved on, the original line-up that included Tim Finn, Eddie Rayner and Noel Crombie were joined by Tim’s brother Neil (later of Crowded House fame, and, briefly, and surprisingly, Fleetwood Mac). Melody Maker opined that “they are one of the few bands with…
Continue Reading →Faust 2026 – Co-opera
"Faust" by Jean-Paul Laurens
Adelaide, 24 May 2026 (Directed by Nicholas Cannon) We had last caught Gounod’s rather strange take on the Faust legend in Sydney over 10 years ago. Co-opera is somewhat of a boutique company, formed in 1990, that takes the art form on the road and provides opportunities for young aspirants. At the rather unusual venue of the observatory on Hackney Road, the auditorium more apt for dinner theatre than opera, a group of young players (see credits below) belted out Gounod’s pretty music with gusto. Very ably supported by a solitary piano (kudos to Sachiko Hidaka), and with innovative use…
Continue Reading →