Tenor Piotr Beczala impressed audiences with his performances

Less than 41 hours after his final bows for singing the title role of "Lohengrin" at Munich's Bavarian State Opera, Piotr Beczała was 241 kilometres away at the Bayreuth Festpielhaus for a different production of the same Wagner opera.

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Wagner's roles are among the most punishing in classical music, and breaks of two or three days between performances are customary to allow for vocal recovery. Beczała earned thunderous ovations on Wednesday in Munich and Friday at Bayreuth.

"I was a little under pressure because Christian Thielemann is coming back to Bayreuth for this production," the 58-year-old Polish tenor said, citing his desire to please the conductor. "We did it in 2018 and '19 so, yeah, I agreed with this crazy schedule." Beczała and the cast for the revival of Yuval Sharon's 2018 Bayreuth production arrived on July 12 for four hours of blocking at a studio, then had a 7 1/2-hour final dress rehearsal the following day in the auditorium built to Wagner's specifications. He travelled to Munich on July 14 for a recital four days later at the 150th Munich Opera Festival followed by "Lohengrin" in Kornél Mundruczó’s 2022 staging on July 27 and 30. Beczała drove back to Bayreuth the next morning for a 3 p.m. music rehearsal with Thielemann, who led Beczała’s first Lohengrin in 2016. There were three more performances at Bayreuth through Aug. 9.