by Janette Griffiths / August 13, 2003

The "North American Bayreuth" gets a theatre to rival its reputation.

Seattle Opera's Speight Jenkins is surely the most enthusiastic General Director anywhere in the opera world. And one of his greatest enthusiasms is Wagner. So, when the newly renovated opera house re-opened on August 2 with a performance of Parsifal, it came as no surprise to see a Rheingold rainbow in the form of a light show playing on the metal arches and scrims that project from the façade. Jenkins wanted a"democratic hall" - a place that would invite the passing public to feel as though what happens onstage belongs to them - "not a bunker closed off from the outside world."

Jenkins got what he wanted - he usually does. In the building that has emerged from the shell of the old theatre the architects have created a west-facing foyer with a curving glass façade to catch the sunsets. The silvery grey of the foyer and the teal green seats in the auditorium itself reflect the colours and moods of the surrounding Pacific Northwest with its rains and ocean and forest.

That same natural setting has helped bring about the surprising and continued popularity of Wagner in the Pacific Northwest. Just why does the work of this difficult German genius thrive in the land of Microsoft, Starbucks, Boeing and "grunge" rock?

In the 1970s, company founder Glynn Ross, another passionate Wagnerian, realized that the region's mountains, lakes and forests were reminiscent of the Alpine landscapes that inspired Wagner. When he also realized that, apart from New York's Metropolitan Opera, no other North American house was mounting a full Ring Cycle, he took a very courageous leap and, to the astonishment of the opera establishment, launched the complete Ring of the Nibelungen in his small, geographically remote company.

The tradition grew with the arrival of Speight Jenkins and went on to encompass other Wagner operas. Today, outside of Bayreuth, Seattle Opera has become the opera house most enamoured of Wagner's work. Following the 2001 Ring Cycle, the Times Literary Supplement said that "Jenkins' version of the great Nibelungen Cycle reaffirms his company's stature as North America's pre-eminent Wagner house."

The locals have caught Jenkins' contagious enthusiasm; many even stay behind after a five hour Wagner performance to attend the question and answer sessions that Jenkins himself hosts.

Microsoft is sponsoring the new Seattle season. In his lifetime Wagner wrote a pamphlet almost every time he had an opinion. These days he would use his PC to deluge us all with "spam." He would probably be amused and not at all surprised to see the dotcom industry supporting him in the 21st century.