Christian Thielemann is no longer the music director of the Bayreuth Festival. According to the festival, the conductor’s contract expired on Jan. 1, 2021 and discussions are in the process as to whether the festival will continue to have the acclaimed conductor as its music director. In a press statement, the festival said, “He has not been a music director {…}
The Bayreuth Festival has announced programming for the 2021 season. The season will open with “Die Fliegende Hollander” with Oksana Lyniv becoming the first woman conductor to lead an opera at the festival. Dmitri Tcherniakov directs the new production, which will star Eric Cutler, Georg Zeppenfeld, Asmik Grigorian, and Marina Prudenskaya. Performance Dates: July 25 – August 20, 2021 The festival {…}
(Credit: Tobias Koch) The German federal government intends to review the structures of the Bayreuth Festival, per the German Frankenpost media. The German federal government is one of the largest shareholders of the Bayreuther Festspiele GmbH, owning 29 percent of the shares in the organization. The State of Bavaria and the Society of Friends of Bayreuth have the same stake {…}
(Credit: picture-alliance/dpa/ M. Merz) The Bayreuth Festival has reached out to OperaWire in response to the recently published article regarding statements of the Festival Director Katharina Wagner. In an e-mail to OperaWire, the Bayreuth Festival explained the circumstances around the new production of Wagner’s iconic tetralogy “Der Ring des Nibelungen.” “It is a special feature of the Bayreuth Festival that {…}
(Credit: picture alliance/Nicolas Armer/dpa) The Director of the Bayreuth Festival, Katharina Wagner, has revealed initial plans for the 2021 edition of the festival. First off, Wagner announced that the event will feature fewer performances than usual. In addition to the new production of “Der Fliegende Holländer” with Oksana Lyniv, the first female conductor in festival history, the program for 2021 includes {…}
(Credit: Ray Burmiston/Decca Classics) “I hope that we will be more grateful for the fact that we get to do what we do, that we can sit next to each other in a concert hall and have some more respect for others when they’re not feeling great or are down. We need to come out of this pandemic more supportive {…}
The Bayreuth Festival has announced that Oksana Lyniv will open the festival in 2021. In an interview with Welt, Katharina Wagner announced that Lyniv will become the first woman conductor to open the festival in a production of “Der Fliegende Holländer.” Lyniv made history when she became the first female conductor to be named chief conductor of the Graz Opera {…}
(Credit: Emelie Kroon) When COVID-19 struck a few months back, one of the final “live” performances to take the stage was a rendition of Wagner’s “Die Walküre” in Sweden. Among the performers in that production was dramatic soprano Elisabet Strid, who took on the role of Sieglinde. Strid, who has performed in such opera houses as the Teatro Real, Lyric {…}
(Credit: Dario Acosta NY) German mezzo-soprano Tanja Ariane Baumgartner is one of the most sought-after opera singers of our time. Baumgartner has been a member of the ensemble at Oper Frankfurt since the 2009-10 season. During her time in Frankfurt, Tanja Baumgartner made appearances in numerous operas including “Carmen,” “Giulio Cesare in Egitto,” “Don Carlo,” “Medea,” “Die Frau ohne Schatten,” {…}
The Bayreuth Festival has announced that it will be offering up an alternative event this summer due to the ongoing concerns over COVID-19. The company announced that it would be featuring live performances as well as broadcasting others via radio, television, and the internet. There will be a live event featuring conductor Christian Thielemann with members of the Festival Orchestral {…}
Bayreuth Festival Director Katharina Wagner is reportedly stable in her battle with a “long-term illness.” Per the Festival, “Katharina Wagner is still gravely ill though stable. The process of recovery will take several months.” A few weeks back it was announced that Wagner would be stepping down from her position in order to deal with an unknown illness. She was {…}