Q & A: Phil Hagen Jungschlaeger on Digital Art & Creative Technology for Bayreuth Festival’s ‘Ring 10010110’

(Photo: Enrico Nawrath) The Bayreuth Festival celebrates its 150th year anniversary of Richard Wagner’s “The Ring” with an experimental concept that embodies an archive of the past designed to usher opera into the future – Artificial Intelligence unleashed. The creative team for this historical project includes artistic and technical concept by Curator Marcus Lobbes and Nils Corte, Digital and AI {…}

Jul 24, 2026

Michael Spyres, Elsa Dreisig, Vida Miknevičiūtė, Klaus Florian Vogt & Piotr Beczała Lead Bayreuth Festival’s 2027 Season

The Bayreuth Festival has announced its 2027 season. The season opens with a new production of “Lohengrin” featuring Georg Zeppenfeld, Michael Spyres, Elsa Dreisig, Jordan Shanahan, and Judit Kutasi. Tarmo Peltokoski conducts the production by Ilaria Lanzino. Performance Dates: TBA Michael Volle, Mika Kares, Piotr Beczała, Christopher Sokolowski, and Michele Losier star in “Parsifal” with Christian Thielemann conducting a new {…}

Jul 15, 2026

Bayreuth Festival to Screen ‘Rienzi’ in Cinemas

On July 26, the Bayreuth Festival is set to present “Rienzi” live in cinemas. The opera will be shown all over Germany and abroad, marking the first time the festival performs the rare Wagner opera. The new production by Alexandra Szemerédy and Magdolna Parditka will be conducted by Nathalie Stutzmann. The opera will star Andreas Schager, Gabriela Scherer, Andreas Bauer {…}

Dec 3, 2025

Bayreuth Festival Sells Out Entire 2026 Season

(Courtesy of Bayreuth Festival) The Bayreuth Festival has announced that its entire 2026 season is completely sold out. The company announced “all remaining tickets for the Anniversary Season 2026 were completely sold out in less than one and a half hours. We are thrilled by the overwhelming demand, which clearly demonstrates the strong interest our audience has in our program.” {…}

Aug 18, 2025

Cast Change: Michael Volle to Jump into Production of ‘Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg’

The Bayreuth Festival has announced a new cast change for its August 19 performance of “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.” The company said that “Axel Kober will conduct instead of Daniele Gatti, while Michael Volle will sing the role of Hans Sachs instead of Georg Zeppenfeld and Ya-Chung Huang will take over the role of David for Matthias Stier.” Kober made his Bayreuth debut in 2013 and has since conducted {…}

Aug 16, 2025

Cast Change: Günther Groissböck to Perform in ‘Parsifal’ Replacing Georg Zeppenfeld

(Credit: © Gerhard Ringhofer) The Bayreuth Festival has announced a new cast for its production of “Parsifal” on August 17. The company said, “Unfortunately, Georg Zeppenfeld is unable to sing in tomorrow’s performance of ‘Parsifal’ due to illness. Thankfully, Günther Groissböck will be stepping in to take over the role of Gurnemanz.” Groissböck, who made his Bayreuth debut in 2011, {…}

Aug 14, 2025

Cast Change: Bayreuth Festival Announces Changes for ‘Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg’ Performance

The Bayreuth Festival has announced a cast change for its August 14 performance of “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.” The company said that “Georg Zeppenfeld is unable to take on the role of Hans Sachs due to illness. He will perform the role scenically; Nicholas Brownlee will sing the part.” Meanwhile, “Matthias Stier is also unable to perform for health reasons. The role {…}

Aug 8, 2025

Bayreuth Festival 2025 Review: Lohengrin

(© Enrico Nawrath) A well-loved conductor at the Bayreuth Festival, Christian Thielemann, who made his début on the Green Hill in 2000 overseeing a dynamic performance of “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg,” served Bayreuth as its music director from 2015 to 2020. Therefore, it is good to see him back this year conducting “Lohengrin” which he originally took charge of in {…}

Aug 6, 2025

Bayreuth Festival 2025 Review: Parsifal

(© Enrico Nawrath) First seen on the Green Hill in 2023, the director of “Parsifal,” 55-year-old Jay Scheib, professor of music and theatre arts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an American of international standing in the hi-tech world, is a technological wizard like no other! A couple of his credits include Thomas Adès’ “Powder Her Face” (New York {…}

Jul 24, 2025

Klaus Florian Vogt, Andreas Schager, Camilla Nylund, Asmik Grigorian, Michael Volle & Elza van den Heever Lead Bayreuth Festival’s 2026 Season

The Bayreuth Festival has announced its 2026 season. Nathalie Stutzmann conducts “Rienzi” with Andreas Schager, Gabriela Scherer, Jennifer Holloway, Michael Nagy, and Matthias Stier. Magdolna Parditka and Alexandra Szemeredy direct the rarely performed work. Performance Dates: July 26-August 26, 2026 Christian Thielemann will conduct The Ring Cycle, which Marcus Lobbes will curate. Michael Volle, Alexander Grassauer, Klaus Florian Vogt, Anna Kissjudit, Evelin Novak, Christa {…}

Jul 23, 2025

Bayreuth Festival to Stream Opening Night of ‘Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg’

On July 25, the Bayereuth Festival is set to open with a new production of “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.” The production will be streamed on Deutsche Grammophon’s STAGE+ platform and will also have a delayed screening of the inaugural performance across Germany as part of the “Wagner im Kino” initiative. The July 25 premiere will also be televised on a {…}