[Photo: M.N. Robert]
By Jorg von Uthmann [Bloomberg.com, 26 October 2005]

Richard Wagner hated the Parisians because they had humiliated him in 1861 with noisy demonstrations against "Tannhauser.'' His opera had to be withdrawn after three performances.

Since then, the Parisians have made up for their poor behavior. While the Opera Bastille is reviving last year's production of ``Tristan und Isolde,'' the Theatre du Chatelet has just started a new "Ring des Nibelungen'' — only 11 years after its last production of the tetralogy.