FILE - Visitors walk the grounds of the festival opera house “Festspielhaus” in Bayreuth The German festival devoted to composer Richard Wagner attributed the decision to its employees’ public-service sector labor contracts and an inability to increase revenue the festival said it will limit its 2026 schedule to “Rienzi” along with the four-opera “Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung),” which inaugurated the festival in 1876; Wagner’s final opera “Parsifal,” which premiered at the house in 1882; and “Der Fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman),” Wagner’s fourth opera and what is considered the first of his mature works Bayreuth dropped planned 2026 revivals of “Tannhäuser,” “Lohengrin,” “Tristan und Isolde” and “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.” The 2026 Ring Cycle will be a special production and not the Valentin Schwarz staging that debuted in 2022 and is to be staged for the final time in 2025 Bayreuth said it will announce the “Rienzi” director next summer and that 2026 will be the only time it presents “Rienzi.” The 2026 season will open as planned with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony which was conducted by Wagner following the foundation stone ceremony in 1872 and was later played at the 1951 postwar reopening of Bayreuth you might have heard a sentence like this from the presenter: “...She has appeared on the world’s leading opera stages and New York.” What is this locale that’s included among a litany of world-renowned cities A Google search will reveal that Bayreuth (buy-royt) is a town about the size of Arlington with about one-third of its population (about 75,000) The Bayreuth Festival opened in 1876 with Wagner’s Ring cycle and has significantly impacted the performance and reception of Wagner’s music dramas in the past century and a half The Festival typically presents eight of Wagner’s ten mature operas each year in July and August.  As we approach the 150th anniversary of the Bayreuth Festival in 2026 we’ll share articles here on Classical Score that explore the festival's historical importance We’ll also introduce you to other notable classical institutions in this small but musically significant town in Northern Bavaria.  But today, I’ll focus on the 2024 Bayreuth Festival, starting with the opera we will broadcast on WETA Classical on October 19th at 1pm: Tristan und Isolde. (Learn more ways to listen here.) describing the dramatic concept and staging of the performance is somewhat irrelevant Bayreuth is notorious for its outlandish productions I’ll share a few press photos: Isolde’s magnificent dress and the cluttered set perhaps representing the state of the characters’ thoughts.  One of the great benefits of listening to a radio broadcast is the ability to pay close attention to the musical elements We are enjoying the happy convergence of the best Wagnerian singers (Camilla Nylund instrumentalists (drawn from the premiere German orchestras) it is the acoustics of the Bayreuth Festival Theater that raise this performance to the highest level a combination of the theater's dimensions and the orchestra pit's unique layout make this space ideal for Wagner’s music dramas was Wagner’s intent in creating his own theater.   The orchestra pit is entirely obscured from the audience and opens only slightly to the stage The result is a wonderfully blended and tempered sound The orchestra can play at full force without covering up the singers; in the quieter sections it can engage in intimate dialogue with them If our ears have been attuned to Wagner through recordings we might not realize how unlike a live performance those WAV files often are one need only compare the experience of sitting in the opera house to the commercial release of that performance.  I invite you to listen to our broadcast of Tristan und Isolde knowing that you’re hearing an unusually similar balance and intensity of sound to what attendees heard in the Bayreuth Festival Theater I can attest to this since I sat a few rows from the back of the house a few weeks after the performance we’re broadcasting (I hope you find a more comfortable seat than Bayreuth offers…) I can offer these points of interest as the broadcast unfolds from 1:00pm to 5:12pm on the 19th.  We often stereotype Wagner’s music as larger-than-life with large doses of blaring brass But Wagner devotes plenty of time to the opposite spectrum with intimate orchestration allowing a skilled conductor to craft wonderfully expressive moments We notice this immediately in the prelude to the first act Listen to the nuanced dynamics and the fluid tempo achieved by Bychkov And remember them because these subtleties appear throughout the opera when these themes are interlaced with the singers’ melodies.   The larger-than-life Wagner first appears shortly after the prelude with an outburst from Isolde (in her larger-than-life dress) which you’ll hear between 1:17pm and 1:20pm yet the orchestra is not holding back in its volume It is a wonderfully thrilling interweaving of orchestra and voice that isn’t easy to replicate in most opera houses the orchestra often overpowers even voices larger than Nylund’s or minimizes its effectiveness by underplaying.  These two characteristics pervade the performance Here are a few other notable sections:  so I’ll briefly mention the other operas I had the great fortune to attend at Bayreuth this summer I’ll do so in the context of staging since that’s an important aspect of the Bayreuth experience.   Few modern-day Bayreuth productions follow the exact storylines that Wagner’s libretti indicate The departures can be quite extreme and usually result in mixed critical reviews and plenty of boos from the audience Here are some notable elements of this summer’s productions that might surprise those accustomed to traditional stagings If you’re not familiar with the storylines of these operas You’ll need that context to see how far these productions stray from the original.  The next article in this series will focus on the Ring cycle, which Wagner completed 150 years ago, in November 1874, and its relation to Bayreuth, where it premiered in 1876. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions about this series, please email us classical@weta.org.  Stream tens of thousands of hours of your PBS and local favorites with WETA Passport whenever and wherever you want Catch up on a single episode or binge-watch full seasons before they air on TV WETA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders Complete digital access to quality analysis and expert insights complemented with our award-winning Weekend Print edition Terms & Conditions apply Discover all the plans currently available in your country See why over a million readers pay to read the Financial Times A special Ring Cycle will be performed for the 150th anniversary Bayreuth Festival in 2026 the annual Richard Wagner showcase said as this season’s schedule ended with sellouts for all 30 performances In conjunction with the end of this season on Tuesday night Bayreuth announced its new production of “Die Meistersinger von Nuremberg” will open the 113th festival next July 25 Valentin Schwarz’s 2022 staging of the four-night “Der Ring des Nibelungen” will be revived for the final time next summer and the 2026 Ring will be “not purely a concert version,” according to festival spokesman Hubertus Herrmann will reveal more details next year and there will be a new staging of the Ring in 2028 The 150th anniversary festival will feature Bayreuth’s first production of “Rienzi,” Wagner’s third opera along with all 10 of his mature works that have traditionally been performed at the opera house built in Bavaria to the composer’s specifications It also will include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony conducted by Wagner at the concert following the foundation stone ceremony in 1872 and played at the 1951 reopening of Bayreuth following World War II Bayreuth said 58,000 people attended this season’s performances overall attendance dipped to 97% for 31 performances and just 92% of tickets were sold for the three Ring cycles “Meistersinger” next year will be conducted by Daniele Gatti and directed by Matthias Davids and the cast will include Georg Zeppenfeld It replaces Barrie Kosky’s 2017 production Next season 29-performance schedule also includes revivals of Jay Scheib’s 2023 staging of “Parsifal” (opening July 28) Yuval Sharon’s 2018 production of “Lohengrin” conducted by Christian Thielemann and starring Piotr Beczala (Aug 1) and Thorleifur Örn Arnarsson’s 2024 production of “Tristan and Isolde” (Aug Simone Young will return to conduct the Schwarz Ring in two cycles from July 26-31 and Aug based at the 18th century Margravial Opera House in Bayreuth will be going to Venice for the 2025 festival next year's festival will feature a new production of Cavalli's 1666 opera Pompeo Magno countertenor Max Emanuel Cenic will direct and sing the title role with Sophie Junker as Giulia In the pit will be Cappella Mediterranea under its music director there will be recitals from soprano Julia Lezhneva and countertenor Franco Fagioli [see image below] with the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal under Stefan Plewniak countertenor Carlo Vistoli with Cappella Mediterranea and Leonardo García Alarcón and countertenor Rémy Bres-Feuillet (see image above) with with I Porporini and Gerd Amelung The the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal under Andrés Gabetta return for a second concert with mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano Malena Ernman will explore the theme of nature in music with L’Arpeggiata under Christina Pluhar Full details of the 2025 festival from the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival's website. HomeDestinationsInterestsTop Places to Travel by MonthSearchMenuBest time to go to Bavaria Feel the atmosphere of the most prestigious opera festival dedicated to a single composer–Richard Wagner A notable feature this year is the "Wagner for Children" project, which will present a version of "The Flying Dutchman" specially adapted for young audiences. This initiative aims to introduce Wagner’s music to a new generation, with performances scheduled from July 25 to August 3, 2024. Tickets for the Bayreuth Festival are known for being highly sought after, with demand far exceeding supply. For the 2024 festival, prices vary based on the performance and seating category. For instance, tickets for "Tristan und Isolde" range from €15 to €459, while prices for "Parsifal" without augmented reality technology range from €114 to €432. BAYREUTH, Germany (AP) — Thorleifur Örn Arnarsson’s phone rang in his Icelandic highlands cabin back in January 2022. Katharina Wagner, the Bayreuth festival director and great-granddaughter of composer Richard Wagner, wanted to get in touch. She invited Arnarsson to create a new production of “Tristan und Isolde” to open the 2024 festival. He listened to Carlos Kleiber’s 1982 recording on Spotify that night and accepted the next day. “The skies are clear and stars are so bright and the northern lights are very common,” he said. “I can’t imagine a better place to sit down and close your eyes and listen to ‘Tristan und Isolde’ than in that place. I immediately had a very strong, almost visceral personal reaction because I understood their struggles so well to try to understand what was going on inside of themselves.” Arnarsson’s staging, starring Andreas Schager and Camilla Nylund and conducted by Semyon Bychkov, opened July 25 in a run of seven performances through Aug. 26. Video from opening night can be streamed on Stage+. Along with the traditional tragic love story, this “Tristan” is a psychoanalytic examination of self-loathing and burdensome expectations. The intellectually dense production with sets by Vytautas Narbutas and costumes by Sibylle Wallum is so layered with symbolism that a study guide would be helpful. Nylund, who made her role debut two years ago in Zurich, said Arnarsson’s aim was to make these legendary characters “very human-like.” “What they have gone through and what they are experiencing, what they are saying, what they are telling, that’s something that everybody can find themselves in, also in the audience,” she said. “Tristan is caught in his world. He’s quite depressed and Isolde cannot get to him in this depression.” Nylund is in a giant white dress — think Billie Eilish’s Oscar de la Renta at the 2021 Met Gala — when the curtain rises, and she scribbles the libretto on it with a quill. Tristan’s garment was conceived as oxblood colored, a metaphor for dried blood and wounds. Arnarsson jettisons the specified love potion and Tristan and Isolde obsess over a death draught — they struggle for it and it falls to the floor, she holds it up to admire and he places it at the lip of the stage. Tristan poisons himself instead of getting stabbed by Melot, who knocks the bottle away from Isolde. She will drink the elixir, too, following Tristan’s death and will succumb as she concludes the Liebestod. In Arnarrson’s view, Tristan and Isolde fell in love before the opera starts, when he was wounded while killing her fiance Morold and Isolde healed him with herbs and spells. Just before the Liebesnacht duet in the second act, Tristan cuts his hand with a sword and Isolde snatches the spear, holds it to Tristan’s chest and pulls back the blade. They start singing of their ardor 20 feet apart before Tristan gets the courage to draw near for an embrace and extended kiss. He wanders away from Isolde to caress a framed photo of his mother and stare in a mirror — which he puts a fist through when Melot bursts in. “It has to do with his loneliness that he’s felt his whole life,” Arnarsson said. “He cannot dare to meet Isolde at face level as himself but he knows that he cannot longer live as the hero.” “The set is not a ship but cosmic monster,” Narbutas wrote in an email. “Inside of it ribs are body organs, pipes, intestines, big machine — heart, wheels, lungs and etc., which devours civilization and nature, which is represented by various artifacts, tools and objects of nature.” Sascha Zauner’s stark lighting can get eerie. He illuminates the stage in a yellow glow for a portion of the third act with discontinued sodium-vapor lamps that take five minutes to reach full intensity. Schager struggled through the third performance on Aug. 6 and wound up mouthing part of the third act while cover Tilmann Unger sang from the side of the stage. Bychkov had no advance word and noticed the change while conducting from his chair in the famous covered orchestra pit. Schager returned three days later in good voice. Nylund’s eyes were bug-eyed for much of the night Friday, emphasizing a never-ending love-hate in a captivating performance. Christa Mayer was a standout as Isolde’s maid Brangäne in a cast that included Olafur Sigurdarson as Tristan’s servant Kurwenal, Günther Groissböck as Marke and Birger Radde as Melot. Bychkov conducted his first fully staged “Tristan” at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2000. He led a sumptuous performance from the intensity and spacing of the opening motif. “In one given performance or in a in a lifetime, none of us can realize everything that there is there at once,” he said. “We’ll realize certain elements of it, but not the whole thing because the whole thing is unrealizable — completely.” Stay secure and make sure you have the best reading experience possible by upgrading your browser! DG artist Elīna Garanča starred as Kundry opposite Andreas Schager in the title role The production was conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado enjoying his own “triumphant debut” (BR-KLASSIK) at the Festspielhaus For the first time since becoming the Festival’s exclusive audiovisual partner in 2015 DG will present both audio and video recordings of the opera The latter (2 Blu-rays) offers three sound formats and comes with a booklet with full details about the work and production Even without the AR elements that were available to some members of the Bayreuth audience the filmed version offers viewers a breathtaking audiovisual experience which includes a second booklet containing the full German libretto and an English translation will be available digitally and as a 4-CD set Both versions will be released on 28 June 2024 while the Prelude to Act Three and Kundry’s aria “Ich sah das Kind an seiner Mutter Brust” will be issued as digital taster tracks on 31 May and 14 June respectively Wagner’s final music drama was written specifically (and originally exclusively) for the Bayreuth Festspielhaus Drawing on the composer’s own love of technical and aesthetic innovation American director Jay Scheib sets his version of Parsifal in an apocalyptic future intensive mining practices have laid waste to the natural environment while the quest for the Holy Grail has become a pursuit of the mineral cobalt an essential part of many electronic devices who is also a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has used cutting-edge technologies in his work for many years working closely with his long-time collaborator and MIT colleague Joshua Higgason – designer of the opera’s video projections and AR elements Adding to the visual impact of the staging are Mimi Lien’s sets An exceptional team of performers was assembled for the production headed by Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado who consistently succeeded in realising his artistic vision in “one of the most remarkable Bayreuth debuts of recent years” (Die Welt) BR-KLASSIK observed that “he accomplishes something from the start that other more famous conductors have repeatedly failed to do the soloists and the fantastic chorus to really breathe together” The Neue Zürcher Zeitung also paid tribute to Heras-Casado’s “impressive Bayreuth debut” noting that “he absolutely seduces you into listening – the delicacy of orchestral and dynamic detail he achieves is unparalleled revealing a stylistic confidence honed through his long experience of historically informed performance practice” The chorus (directed by Eberhard Friedrich) was hailed by The New York Times as “poised and powerful” There were rave reviews too for each and every member of an exceptional cast stepping in at short notice for an indisposed Joseph Calleja was praised by the Financial Times for singing the title role with “breathtaking strength mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča was “dazzling” (Opera) her voice hailed as “luxurious – lean yet velvety” (New York Times) bass Georg Zeppenfeld’s Gurnemanz was “spellbinding his long narrations thrillingly told” while bass-baritone Derek Welton’s Amfortas “[looked] fragile but [sounded] robust Baritone Jordan Shanahan (Klingsor) was “menacing and took full advantage of Bayreuth’s acoustics to show it” (The New Criterion) and “the bronze voice” of bass Tobias Kehrer (Titurel) “made an impact every time he sang” (Forum Opéra) With the Bayreuth Festival brand coming to Shanghai for the first time, the city is set to host the festival's only residency program in Asia and stage three masterpieces by the notable German composer Richard Wagner (1813-83) from 2025 to 2027, offering both domestic and international audiences a Wagnerian opera feast. The Bayreuth Festival and Shanghai Grand Theatre unveiled a three-year opera plan Tuesday in Shanghai. Named "Bayreuth in Shanghai", it will present Wagner's three major works Tristan and Isolde, Die Walküre (The Valkyries) and Tannhauser, as well as a series of education activities and special editions of operas made for children in the next three years. Launched by Richard Wagner in 1876, the Bayreuth Festival is one of the top summertime art festivals in Europe, focusing on presenting the composer's last 10 works including The Flying Dutchman and Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). Taking place in July and August at the Bayreuth Festival Theatre, in which the composer was involved in the design, the festival has been continuously drawing classical and Wagner's music fans from across the world over the past 112 editions. She pointed out that the three works to be staged in Shanghai represent Wagner in different styles and different periods. Among them, the Roland Schwab's production of Tristan and Isolde in 2022 will be the first to meet audiences at Shanghai Grand Theatre from July 4 to 6 next year, making the opera's debut in the city.\ this audio is not yet available or has expiredBrought to you by Join Nina Korbe at the opera this Saturday night for a production from this year’s Bayreuth Festival – Richard Wagner’s Das Rheingold: the first opera in his epic cycle “The Ring,” conducted by Australia’s very own Simone Young “It must be like when an Aussie cricketer walks out onto Lords for the first time or an actor plays Hamlet at Stratford.” Except most legendary cricketers don’t have to wait 147 years to play at Lords That’s how long it took for Bayreuth to choose a female conductor and current chief of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra to direct Wagner’s sprawling tetralogy The Ring Simone made history as the first Australian to conduct in the house when she was Daniel Barenboim’s young assistant and took on Siegfried Despite having conducted The Ring in the meantime in Vienna Hamburg and Berlin; “the grand slam” as she puts it and thus the most accredited female conductor as far as Wagner is concerned “Until last year I thought conducting it at Bayreuth had passed me by.”  As she famously put it in the recent documentary: Knowing the Score “What does being a woman have to do with conducting there are 3 female conductors out of a total of 5 First in the hallowed pit was Ukranian Oksana Lyniv in 2021 closely followed by Nathalie Stutzmann in 2023 “Already at Bayreuth they’re looking at the next generation” says Simone finally conducting there feels like I’m closing a circle It feels right and strangely enough it feels like the right time I feel remarkably comfortable and peaceful and at home here I somehow doubt that would have been the case 15 years ago.”  In her first audience on July 28 this year was Simone’s long-time colleague and friend Australian mezzo Deborah Humble who first sang Wagner with her as Erda in the Hamburg Ring cycle “When I saw Simone was conducting at Bayreuth I knew I had to be there for this momentous occasion.”  “Walking up the hill towards the Festspielhaus I felt the excitement and anticipation of this historic moment The first Australian and the first female to conduct a Ring on the Green Hill I knew this was going to be a very special experience and I felt quite nervous on her behalf.”  After the closing notes of Das Rheingold I held my breath for a long moment This is my third visit to Bayreuth and one never knows how the audience will react But there was no doubt the full house thoroughly approved Simone is very much a ‘singers’ conductor too She breathes the music with you at all times and it was obvious the performers had a great rapport with her.” “I ‘bravoed’ very loudly and had to resist the overwhelming urge to shout ‘Aussie oi.’ It was a thrill and a proud moment to see my friend and mentor fulfilling her ambition to conduct Wagner in this iconic house.”  This opera was premiered at the National Theatre of Munich on the 22nd September 1869 and received its first performance as part of the cycle at the Bayreuth Festival in August 1876 Live performance recording from the Bayreuth Festival Part I of ‘The Ring of the Nibelungs’ (Der Ring des Nibelungen) Wellgunde)Marie Henriette Reinhold (mezzo-soprano Flosshilde)Bayreuth Festival ChorusBayreuth Festival OrchestraSimone Young (conductor)Valentin Schwarz (director) Read the synopsis here (via The Metropolitan Opera) Conductor of this year's performances of Richard Wagner's "The Ring" at the Bayreuth Festival, Australian Simone Young.(Artist's website: Monika Ritterhaus) Arts, Culture and Entertainment, Opera and Musical TheatreTracklist10:03Played at 10:03Das Rheingold [151'22]Composer Bayreuth Festival Orchestra + Bayreuth Festival Chorus + John Daszak (tenor) + Okka von der Damerau (contralto) + Nicholas Brownlee (bass-baritone) + Evelin Novak (soprano) + Marie Henriette Reinhold (mezzo-soprano) + Tomasz Konieczny (bass-baritone) + Christa Mayer (mezzo-soprano) + Ólafur Sigurðarson (baritone) + Jens-Erik Aasbø (bass-baritone) + Tobias Kehrer (bass) + Mirko Roschkowski (tenor) + Christina Nilsson (soprano) + Natalia Skrycka (soprano) + Ya-Chung Huang (tenor) The Brandenburg Consort + Rachel Brown (flute) + Roy Goodman (fortepiano & director) Eddy Vanoosthuyse (clarinet) + Central Aichi Symphony Orchestra Hindemith | Van der Roost | Strauss, 8.579010 Philip Glass Etudes for Solo Piano - Sally Whitwell, ABC 481 6592 Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra + Slava Grigoryan (guitar) Published: 26 Apr 2025Sat 26 Apr 2025 at 10:00am Published: 19 Apr 2025Sat 19 Apr 2025 at 10:00am Published: 12 Apr 2025Sat 12 Apr 2025 at 10:00am Download the ABC listen app for free music podcasts and playlists The cast of Ifigenia in Aulide at Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival © Clemens Manser Photography This new production of Nicola Porpora’s Ifigenia in Aulide (to a libretto by Paolo Antonio Rolli) was heard as part of the fifth edition of the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival Although Les Talens Lyriques and Christophe Rousset staked their claim to Porpora via their contribution to the soundtrack of the film Farinelli (‘Alto Giove,’ from Polifemo here their adherence flowered as part of their Bayreuth residency Porpora’s importance to opera in England is worth mentioning: he offered the rival camp to Handel via his ‘Opera of the Nobility’ Porpora’s music is more ‘modern’ than Handel’s full of lyricism as well as dramatic dynamism Il Senesino and Il Porpoino and Senesino sang Achille and Farinelli Agamemnone in Ifigenia and Porpora’s 1738 opera Carlo il Calvo was produced in Bayreuth in 2020/1 while Polifemo (1735) was heard in a concert version in 2021 The revivification of Ifigenia is significant and it would be difficult to imagine a more perfect setting than the lush Margravial Opera House in Bayreuth First heard in London in 1735 at the King’s Theatre it touched on a popular subject also set by composers such as Gluck Porpora's opera  received five initial London performances The plot of Ifigenia is not for the faint-hearted with animal and human slaughter being vital parts of the story It could be argued the opening scene was not for milquetoasts given director Max Emmanuel Cenčić’s depiction of pagan/warrior revelry via male nudity that revealed all And while we do not see the final death of Ifigenia taxidermically prepared stag seems to tell us all we need to know The cast included the incredibly experienced countertenor Max-Emaniel Cenčić dominating the stage as Agamemnon (Agamennone) with stage space and lighting used to fine effect The cast overall was balanced between experience and the new Countertenor Maayan Licht took the part of Achille (Achilles) and impressed in one of the most famous arias from the opera ‘Le limpid’onde’ and the highly ornamented ’Nel già bramoso petto’ The opposition duet between Achilles and Calcante in Act 2 ‘Per cader,’ was convincingly done (with Riccardo Novaro) Cenčić brought the full weight of experience to his role throwing himself fully into the incendiary aria ‘Tu spietato non ferai’ (more so than on his Decca recording) Jasmin Delfs took the title role and that of Diana Mary-Ellen Besi was an appropriately fearsome Clittenestra Although I have seen academic commentary questioning the inspiration for the libretto (and indeed Porpora’s response) Rousset’s vital direction completely dispelled any doubts Some unexpected Porpora enriched the previous evening: male soprano Bruno de Sá stepped in for an indisposed Jakub Jósef Orliński and (with Il Pomo d’Oro) sang ‘Parto ti lascio’ from Germanico in Germania Rousset's Ifigenia will be available on arte Concert and BR Klassik from September 15  If you are an existing subscriber to Gramophone, International Piano or Choir & Organ and would like to upgrade, please contact us here or call +44 (0)1722 716997. A malfunctioning chain carousel at the Bayreuth Spring Festival injured five, four of them minors. A technical defect is suspected; the investigation is underway to improve amusement park safety. A frightening incident unfolded at the Bayreuth Spring Festival on April 21, 2025, when a Kettenkarussell (chain carousel) malfunctioned, injuring five people. The accident, which occurred around 6 PM, sent shockwaves through the festive atmosphere and raised serious questions about amusement park safety. This incident underscores the importance of rigorous safety standards within the amusement industry, even with regular inspections. While Germany boasts high safety standards, as highlighted by Albert Ritter, President of the German Association of Showmen, accidents remain a possibility. The Bayreuth incident, while serious, isn't unprecedented. Similar, though less severe, incidents have occurred at other large-scale events like the Oktoberfest. Five people were injured in the incident at the Bayreuth Spring Festival. Four of the injured were minors. A technical malfunction of the chain carousel is suspected as the cause of the accident. A full investigation is underway to determine the precise cause and prevent future incidents. The carousel involved was a chain carousel, also known as a Kettenkarussell. These carousels use chains to move the carriages. The accident occurred at the Bayreuth Spring Festival in Bayreuth, Germany. An investigation is underway to determine the exact cause of the malfunction. The aim is to improve amusement park safety regulations and procedures to prevent similar accidents in the future. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners All rights reserved @ 2025 Nishtya Infotech (India) Ltd. Julia Lezhneva and Max Cenic performing in Flavio, in 2023. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. FILE - Katharina Wagner, artistic director of the Bayreuth Wagner festival, answers questions during a press conference in Munich, southern Germany, on Wednesday, July, 22, 2009. The Bayreuth Festival announced on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, that the organization is retaining Katharina Wagner as the director of the festival celebrating her great-grandfather’s works for another five years. (AP Photo/Uwe Lein, File) BERLIN (AP) — The Bayreuth Festival in Germany announced on Tuesday that it is retaining Katharina Wagner as its director for another five years. Wagner, who turns 46 on May 21 and is a great-granddaughter of Richard Wagner, became co-head of the festival in September 2008, along with her half-sister Eva Wagner-Pasquier. Katharina then took over as sole head in 2015. The festival announced an agreement with government officials in which a manager will be hired to run business operations, leaving the festival director to make artistic decisions within the budget set by the shareholders. The German and Bavarian governments, and the Society of Friends of Bayreuth each have a 29% share in the festival, and the city of Bayreuth a 13% share. “I am very pleased that together we have found a way to strengthen artistic autonomy,” Wagner said in a statement. “My entire focus can now be purely on my creative work.” Launched by Richard Wagner in 1876 at an opera house built to his specifications, the Bayreuth festival is devoted to the composer’s last 10 operas. This year’s festival runs from July 25 to Aug. 27. Join Nina Korbe at the opera this Saturday night for a production from this year’s Bayreuth Festival - Richard Wagner's third opera from his Ring cycle Siegfried conducted by Australia’s very own Simone Young “I know teenagers who go to Wagner and they come out saying ‘wow – it’s the heavy metal of the classical world’ The Wagner family has had a strangle-hold on the Bayreuth festival for its whole history the great-granddaughter of the composer is the artistic director and some commentators are already suggesting it’s time for Bayreuth to be run by someone outside the family and perhaps to showcase operas by other composers than Wagner during the rest of the year Attempts to modernise the festival have been controversial too The new Parsifal last year directed by Jay Scheib Sadly there was not enough money for all the ticketholders to get glasses so this supposedly breathtaking piece of art was only available to a lucky few The Ring production Simone Young is conducting It was created by young régisseur Valentin Schwartz and it took risks including staging the last opera The production was broadly panned by the critics and booed by some of the baffled audience Wagner’s music divides music lovers into two rival camps: believers and non-believers He’s a composer people either love or hate Simone suggests newbies start with Act One of Die Walküre plenty of drama with an extraordinary structure that is pretty perfect from go to whoa I think people are intimidated by the idea that the works are so long “and there is something that’s very immersive about the lengths of the work so you really commit yourself: This day is about Wagner And we say Wagner –but the works are very different.” “Rheingold is kind of chatty; Siegfried is for me brilliant – like a multi-faceted diamond and Götterdämmerung should be just overwhelming You should walk out feeling like you’ve experienced a whole life; something you’ve never experienced before and may never again…” I think we can underestimate who Wagner will appeal to it’s all politically appalling and if that generates discussion all-encompassing and talk about the most important aspects of the human experience.” This opera was premiered at the Bayreuth Festival Theatre on 16 August 1876 as part of the first complete performance of The Ring cycle Live performance recording from the Bayreuth Festival on 31 July 2024 courtesy of Euroradio Part III of ‘The Ring of the Nibelungs’ (Der Ring des Nibelungen) Waldvogel)Bayreuth Festival ChorusBayreuth Festival OrchestraSimone Young (conductor) Read the synopsis here (via The Metropolitan Opera) Wagner tenor Klaus Florian Vogt stars as Siegfried.(Hilbert Artists Management GMBHL: Harald Hoffmann) Arts, Culture and Entertainment, Opera and Musical TheatreTracklist10:02Played at 10:02Siegfried: Act I [80'27]Composer Bayreuth Festival Orchestra + Klaus Florian Vogt (tenor) + Bayreuth Festival Chorus + Okka von der Damerau (contralto) + Catherine Foster (soprano) + Alexandra Steiner (soprano) + Tomasz Konieczny (bass-baritone) + Ólafur Sigurðarson (baritone) + Tobias Kehrer (bass) + Ya-Chung Huang (tenor) A Romantic Christmas: Piano Music by Tchaikovsky, Liszt, Grainger and Bach, 476 4689 "One of the biggest things that excites me is getting an opportunity to further my basketball career and play in Europe at the pro level," said Baker "I'm also really looking forward to a change in scenery and culture I've never been to Europe so I look forward to new experiences." 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Mairi Nicolson brings you back to this year’s Bayreuth Festival -  for the final instalment of Richard Wagner's Ring cycle Götterdämmerung conducted by Australia’s very own Simone Young “I have had a serious case of imposter syndrome But I’ve loved it and feel very fulfilled by it.”  Wagner’s music has been part of Simone Young’s life since she saw Sir Charles Mackerras conduct a concert performance of Die Walküre in Melbourne in 1981 In 1990 she took over from Stuart Challender for Neil Armfield’s production of Tristan and Isolde and then came Hamburg between 2008-2010; a production that drew more than 400 Australians to see it She reminds listeners to the broadcasts that “Wagner wrote the Ring backwards He started by writing Brünnhilde and Siegfried – I’m talking about the poems Then he needed to go further back and we get Die Walküre and then he decided on a prologue to the whole thing: Rheingold…and then he went back to the end of 2nd act of Siegfried and 3rd act of Siegfried - so the musical style of the 3rd act of Siegfriend is much closer to later operas like Tristan.”  Her own approach to conducting the cycle at Bayreuth she says is best described as: “Informed I read the music as passionate but also as intellectual but the best performances are spontaneous and I think that drawing on thirty years of experience I can put that together Always at the end of a performance I am unsure They are monster works and at the end of every act it’s very hard to judge to act how good it was This makes me go back to the score and study it again before I do it again Australians booking for her current Ring cycle with the SSO will she say get a little of the Bayreuth experience “I’m bringing a number of singers who’ve graced the Bayreuth stage and of course in Sydney you get to see the orchestra and the singers so that helps appreciate the wealth of detail in Wagner’s scores.” mulling over her first Bayreuth experience she says: “The biggest surprise has been how overwhelmingly positive the reception and reviews have been I feel greatly humbled that I’m getting ovations every night and the reviews wonderful across the board I had not expected that; I had expected more controversy But I’ve loved it and feel very fulfilled by it The orchestra were very happy and that makes me happy.” Written by Mairi Nicolson (with big thanks to Genevieve Lang who interviewed Simone Young) This opera was premiered at the Bayreuth Festival Theatre on 17 August 1876 as part of the first complete performance of The Ring cycle Live performance recording from the Bayreuth Festival on 2 August 2024 courtesy of Euroradio Part IV of ‘The Ring of the Nibelungs’ (Der Ring des Nibelungen) Siegfried)Michael Kupfer-Radecky (baritone Flosshilde)Bayreuth Festival ChorusBayreuth Festival OrchestraSimone Young (conductor) Read the synopsis here (via The Metropolitan Opera) Soprano Catherine Foster plays Brünnhilde in Wagner's Götterdämmerung at the 2024 Bayreuth Festival.(Hilbert Artists Management GMBH: Uwe Arens) Arts, Culture and Entertainment, Opera and Musical TheatreTracklist09:03Played at 09:03Götterdämmerung: Act I [119'09]Composer Bayreuth Festival Orchestra + Klaus Florian Vogt (tenor) + Bayreuth Festival Chorus + Catherine Foster (soprano) + Mika Kares (bass) + Michael Kupfer-Radecky (baritone) + Evelin Novak (soprano) + Marie Henriette Reinhold (mezzo-soprano) + Christa Mayer (mezzo-soprano) + Ólafur Sigurðarson (baritone) + Noa Beinart (contralto) + Christina Nilsson (soprano) + Natalia Skrycka (soprano) + Alexandra Ionis (mezzo-soprano) + Gabriela Scherer (soprano) Chopin: 24 Préludes & Polonaise-Fantaisie, 19075874322 The red carpet is fixed in front of the Festspielhaus for the opening of the Bayreuth Richard Wagner Festival in Bayreuth Germany (AP) — The Bayreuth Festival intends to present “Rienzi” for the first time in 2026 for its 150th anniversary going outside the canon of Richard Wagner’s final 10 operas for the first time Wagner’s family still runs the festival in Bayreuth Germany and until now has limited it to only what are considered his mature works a great-granddaughter who directs the festival announced future plans during a Zoom news conference on Monday “Rienzi” will be staged along with the 10 other operas in 2026 opened in 1842 and is based on the 14th century Italian politician Cola di Rienzo Wagner said the 2024 festival will feature a new staging of “Tristan und Isolde” directed by Thorleifur Örn Arnarsson conducted by Semyon Bychkov and starring Andreas Schager and Camilla Nylund The 2025 festival will have a new production of “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg)” directed by Matthias Davids conducted by Daniele Gatti conducting and starring Georg Zeppenfeld and Michael Spyres Wagner supervised the building of the Festspielhaus that opened for performances in 1876 for his “Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung),” his four-night epic Philippe Jordan will conduct next year’s revival of Valentin Schwarz’s 2022 Ring Cycle staging