Thanks for the link, Reiner.
I find the economics of all this rather unconvincing. I saw the Met cinema relay of
Tristan und Isolde and, had I been paying for my ticket
, it would have cost the equivalent of €30. That was a big-screen relay in powerful (if over-inflated) sound - it provided an experience of a sort, but it certainly wasn't the same as a live experience. Bayreuth is asking €80 for a relay on a computer screen in what for most people will not be particularly good sound, and subject to the vagaries of broadband (which in my case would be Virgin Media over a Belkin router, and I have enough problems with iPlayer).
And of course all of this is in competition with commercial DVD issues: Amazon will sell me the Met
Meistersinger for about €20, and I'll get reliable pictures, good sound, a top international cast (Heppner, Morris - not my personal cup of tea but a "name" nonetheless - Allen, Mattila), and unlimited use.
So, other than the vicarious interest in witnessing an event as it happens, what am I getting for my €80? Especially in an environment where, as the Washington Post points out, users expect their material to be free at the point of use. As far as Bayreuth is concerned, I can only ever see these relays as being viable as an add-on to an activity whose business case is based elsewhere.
