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Home›Orchestra opera›Bayreuth Festival: Opera offers an escape | cultural | Report on arts, music and lifestyle in Germany | DW

Bayreuth Festival: Opera offers an escape | cultural | Report on arts, music and lifestyle in Germany | DW

By George M. Ortiz
July 26, 2022
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The premiere of Richard Wagner’s opera ‘Tristan and Isolde’ at the opening of the Bayreuth Festival on July 25 was greeted with thunderous applause from the audience, including former Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Director Roland Schwab set Wagner’s drama about love and death against a spartan, futuristic backdrop, giving way to themes of love and music.

Already after the first act, the audience gave a standing ovation to soprano Catherine Foster as Isolde and tenor Stephen Gould as Tristan, who had sung solo or in duo for long periods of time.

#MeToo allegations and protests

Shortly before the premiere, the world-famous annual festival was overshadowed by allegations of sexual assault. Among the victims are Katharina Wagner, director of the festival and great-granddaughter of Richard Wagner.

Katharina Wagner (with face mask) with festival guests Angela Merkel and her husband Joachim Sauer (left), and Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder

Meanwhile, climate campaigners hung a banner through the trees on the way to Festival Hall reading: ‘The world can’t afford the rich’. The group had occupied the trees to demonstrate for more climate protection.

Successful premiere

At the state reception after the premiere, Katharina Wagner told guests she was “pretty happy” considering the short prep time for the festival.

“We brought this production to the stage in a very short time, and I want to thank all the contributors,” she said.

State Minister for Culture Claudia Roth told the German Press Agency that a war is underway, which is also a war against culture. “Russia is also attacking cultural institutions in Ukraine,” she said.

The man in black stands in front of a towering building

Director Roland Schwab focused on the power of love

The war also played a role for Roland Schwab. “The war in Ukraine was in the back of my mind the whole time,” the director told DW. “That’s why I wanted to stage this utopia of love, love as a basic human need and escape into another world.”

Schwab sees Wagner’s “Tristan and Isolde” as an “unconditionally positive piece” in these “times of disillusion”.

Opera kept in backup

The musical theater director was only hired to direct the opera based on a tragic romance in a Celtic legend last December.

Katharina Wagner had added the opera to the program as a backup, so to speak. In the event of possible new COVID restrictions, operas with large choirs such as “The Flying Dutchman”, “Lohengrin” or “Tannhäuser” could not have been performed. In fact, the COVID incidence rate is currently very high in Bayreuth.

A woman in a long white dress sits on the floor and looks up

Catherine Foster as Isolde looks up to the sky while lamenting her heartache

A week ago, it was announced that the conductor of “Tristan und Isolde”, Cornelius Meister, would have to replace his colleague Pietari Inkinen, who had contracted COVID and could not conduct for “The Ring of the Nibelung ” by Wagner. The baton was passed to Markus Poschner for “Tristan und Isolde” instead.

“Of course, it was not easy for me to adapt to a new chef in such a short time,” said Roland Schwab. “After all, I had worked everything out with Cornelius Meister in many rehearsals.”

However, despite the COVID setback, Poschner and the orchestra were also enthusiastically applauded.

  • Angela Merkel in a light green dress next to her husband Joachim Sauer in Bayreuth

    Opening of the Bayreuth Festival

    Back in apple green

    Former Chancellor Angela Merkel is a regular at the annual Bayreuth festival. She and her husband Joachim Sauer (pictured right) are said to be big fans of Richard Wagner. Her fashion choices at the premiere are often fodder for the tabloid press. After rocking an orange two-piece outfit last year, she opted for an apple green ensemble this year – which some say she also wore to the 2019 premiere.

  • Scenography of Tristan and Isolde with white lines in the background

    Opening of the Bayreuth Festival

    between love and death

    A Roland Schwab-directed production of Richard Wagner’s opera “Tristan and Isolde” received enthusiastic applause on the festival’s opening night. Stephen Gould as Tristan and Catherine Foster as Isolde delivered thrilling vocal performances. Schwab wanted to stage the opera as a “utopia of love”, he said, partly in response to the horrors of war in Ukraine.

  • A woman and a man dressed in white.  The woman looks at the man who is sitting and looks distressed

    Opening of the Bayreuth Festival

    “Tristan and Iseult”

    It’s clear from the start: these two shouldn’t become a couple. Tristan has killed Isolde’s fiancé, and Isolde is to marry Tristan’s uncle. But then they unknowingly drink a love potion – and it’s over for both of them. The minimalist scenography kept the focus on Wagner’s tragic love story and music.

  • Two men in tuxedos flank a woman in a dark evening dress with a face mask.  She is holding a bouquet of orange flowers

    Opening of the Bayreuth Festival

    Guests of the premiere in evening dress

    The Bayreuth Festival traditionally opens with great fanfare. Figures such as Bavaria’s Chief Minister Markus Söder (left), festival director Katharina Wagner (middle) and Bayreuth Mayor Thomas Ebersberger (right) pose here for the press.

  • A smiling woman in a red and black dress greets another woman in a sari who has her back to the camera.  A smiling man in a dark suit looks

    Opening of the Bayreuth Festival

    Roth “deeply moved”

    German Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth also visited Bayreuth. “My heart is deeply moved by this evening,” she commented at the opening of the Festival. The Green Party politician spoke about the conflict in Ukraine and its consequences for culture. “A war is going on, which is a war on culture,” she said.

  • Image of conductor Cornelius Meister

    Opening of the Bayreuth Festival

    Response due to COVID

    Cornelius Meister (pictured), general music director of the Stuttgart State Opera, was originally to be the conductor of “Tristan und Isolde”. But shortly before the premiere, Finnish conductor Pietari Inkinen, who was due to conduct another opera, contracted COVID and Meister stepped in for him. Markus Poschner of the Linz Bruckner Orchestra then accepts to conduct “Tristan und Isolde”.

  • Photo of a gloomy looking blonde woman who is Katharina Wagner

    Opening of the Bayreuth Festival

    Difficult season in Bayreuth

    About 80 members of the Bayreuth Festival team had fallen ill with COVID in recent months. In addition, allegations of sexism were made shortly before the premiere, which Katharina Wagner — artistic director and great-granddaughter of composer Richard Wagner — wants to clear up as soon as possible. Additionally, expensive renovations to the festival building are underway.

  • Conductor Valentin Schwarz stands in a blue blazer and white shirt

    Opening of the Bayreuth Festival

    Conductor of “The Ring”

    In addition to “Tristan und Isolde”, the new production of “The Ring of the Nibelung” is eagerly awaited. It’s directed by Valentin Schwarz, who has said he also wants to stage the “Ring” as a big family saga in the form of a Netflix series – much to the chagrin of some critics. The 33-year-old Austrian director, however, claims that Richard Wagner’s music calls for a film adaptation.

  • Building with scaffolding against its facade

    Opening of the Bayreuth Festival

    In construction

    The Bayreuth Festival is sold out again in 2022. Around 13.8 million euros ($14.1 million) will be generated from the 29 performances in total. However, only 1,771 of the 1,944 seats can be filled by representation this year. The village hall is being renovated and will be equipped with an elevator and a new sprinkler system. This construction work will be completed by summer 2023.

    Author: Gaby Reucher


The Bayreuth Festival will take place from July 25 to September 1. After a few muted years due to the pandemic, this year more opera than ever will be performed. The festival is a cultural institution in Germany and throughout Europe. It focuses on the work of 19th century German composer Richard Wagner.

This article was originally written in German.

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