It seems like a lot of older conductors are slowly getting a chance to make their Bayreuth Festival debuts these days. This year it is all about Plácido Domingo and his debut in “Die Walküre.” And next year will be about Russian conductor Valery Gergiev. The famed maestro is set to take on “Tannhäuser” in the summer of 2019 with {…}
The Bayreuth Festival is set to broadcast the opening night performance of “Lohengrin” on July 25, 2018. BR-Klassik will broadcast the new production by Yuval Sharon, which is set to open the prestigious festival. The production will star Piotr Beczala in his Bayreuth Festival debut as well Anja Harteros, who is also appearing at the festival for the first time in her {…}
Piotr Beczala is one of today’s biggest stars in the world. He has performed in arguably every major theater and has given historical performances in numerous signature roles. And this week he becomes the first Polish tenor to perform the role of Wagner’s “Lohengrin” at the Bayreuth Festival in his company debut. Jumping in a month before opening, Beczala will {…}
Piotr Beczala will replace Roberto Alagna at the Bayreuth Festival. According to BR-Klassik, Beczala accepted the assignment on a short notice and was forced to cancel his recital in Granada to be at rehearsals of the new production by Yuval Sharon. Beczala sang the title character of Lohengrin for the first in 2016 alongside Anna Netrebko in an acclaimed production, which {…}
Roberto Alagna has withdrawn from Wagner’s “Lohengrin” at the Bayreuth Festival. The festival announced that the tenor, who was set to make his festival debut and sing his first Wagner role, withdrew due to overload. The statement also noted that Alagna was unable to spend enough time with the role. The festival has yet to announce a replacement, but the {…}
We saw Jonas Kaufmann sing for a sick Piotr Beczala while the latter mimed onstage. We saw a stage director sub in for a sick tenor even more recently. But we’d never seen an assistant director don a wig and play Brünhilde while another singer took on the vocal challenges. Until now. As the famed “Götterdämmerung” at the Bayreuth Festival {…}
We have a conductor change at the Bayreuth Festival for the “Parsifal” performance on August 5, 2017. Per the company’s official website maestro Harmut Haenchen will be replaced by Marek Janowski due to illness. The performance of Wagner’s final opera will include RyaMcKinny as Amfortas, Karl-Heinz Lehner as Titurel, Georg Zeppenfeld as Gurnemanz, Andreas Schager as Parsifal, Derek Welton as {…}
Roberto Alagna will sing Wagner’s “Lohengrin” at the Bayreuth Festival in 2018. After speculation that the tenor would perform the role, the Bayreuth Festival announced the news via Twitter. The tenor will sing the role alongside Anja Harteros, who has performed Elsa to great acclaim around the world and Waltraud Meier, who will portray Ortrud. Tomasz Konieczny will sing Telramund {…}