The final performance of “Götterdämmerung” at the Bayreuth Festival saw Irene Theorin stick up her middle finger to the audience after boos erupted during her final curtain call.

According to reports, “first there were some boos for her and then pointing to people in the audience with a finger. She then raised her middle finger and the whole house booed back.”

Audience members who witnessed the account were in shock and some took to Twitter to say it was an inelegant gesture and unjustified.

This season the Bayreuth festival opened a new production of The Ring Cycle by Valentin Schwarz to mixed reviews and saw many critics note it was a muddle. OperaWire noted that the production ended in confusion and went nowhere.

Ce soir, #IréneTheorin s’est prise pour Maurice Pialat en nous gratifiant d’un doigt d’honneur, ce qui a enflammé un public déjà chauffé à blanc par la mise en scène de Valentin Schwarz . Un geste bien peu élégant. @WagnerFestival #Bayreuth https://t.co/lENFDYjtCB

— Marc Freymuth (@marc_freymuth) August 30, 2022

Bayreuth, End of Götterdämmerung and the booing immense – also the acclaim. Something I’ve never seen before – at the curtain call the Brünnhilde, Irene Theorin gave the worst of the booers the middle finger. It was GREAT.

— Philip Hensher (@PhilipHensher) August 30, 2022