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3 unusual facts about Bayreuth Festival


Hans Knappertsbusch

When World War II ended, Knappertsbusch returned to Munich, but continued to guest conduct in Vienna, as well as to make appearances at the Bayreuth Festival.

Henry Theophilus Finck

He attended the Bayreuth Festival in 1876, of which he wrote accounts for newspapers and magazines.

Nell Theobald

She later drew notoriety for obsessively stalking opera singer Birgit Nilsson for nine years; beginning at the summer of 1968 at the Bayreuth Festival and ending upon Theobald's suicide in 1977.


Eva Wagner-Pasquier

On 1 September 2008, Wagner-Pasquier and her half-sister Katharina Wagner were named as joint directors of the Bayreuth Festival which is largely dedicated to the stage works of their great-grandfather Richard Wagner.

Francesc Viñas

He was particularly known for his performances in the operas of Richard Wagner and sang in the first production of Parsifal outside Bayreuth.

Freda Betti

She participated in several opera festivals including Aix-en-Provence, Avignon, Bayreuth, Nantes, Nice, Nîmes, Rouen, Strasbourg, Toulon, and Vaison-la-Romaine.

Harry Kupfer

Since the 1970s, he has also directed productions of Richard Wagner at the Bayreuth Festival, including Der Ring des Nibelungen.

Jeannine Altmeyer

After several seasons at Stuttgart (1975–1979) she sang Sieglinde in Patrice Chéreau's production of the The Ring Cycle (1979) at the Bayreuth Festival, where she also sang Isolde (1986).

Lisbeth Balslev

After two years, Balslev left the Royal Danish Theater and had her international breakthrough as Senta in Harry Kupfer's staging of Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer at the 1978 Bayreuth Festival.

Martha Mödl

Her Venus in Hamburg was noticed by Wieland Wagner, and she was invited to play the role of Kundry at Bayreuth in 1951, becoming part of a group of singers called the "New Bayreuth," often sharing roles with Astrid Varnay.

Melanie Kurt

In the following years she sang mainly in Berlin again, in Leipzig, Stuttgart, Dresden, Vienna and at the famous Wagner Festival in Zoppot (1922), then a serious rival to the Bayreuth Festival.

Nanny Larsén-Todsen

Bayreuth Festival Orchestra & Chorus, conducted by Karl Elmendorff Naxos CD 8.110200-02 / Grammofono 2000 78925/6 / Preiser PSR 90383 (2 CDs)

Richard Wagner Foundation

In 2008 the Foundation's 24 board members, mostly descendants of composer Richard Wagner, selected Katharina Wagner and her sister Eva Wagner-Pasquier to lead the Bayreuth Festival following the decision of Wolfgang Wagner to stand down.

Ticho Parly

In the summer of 1963, the Heldentenor made his debut at the Bayreuth Festival as Kunz Vogelgesang in Wieland Wagner's new production of Die Meistersinger, with Anja Silja as Eva.

Wahnfried

A stylized version of Villa Wahnfried was used for the sets of Stefan Herheim's new production of Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival in 2008.


see also

Katharina Wagner

On 1 September 2008 Katharina was named together with her half-sister Eva Wagner-Pasquier as the new director of the Bayreuth Festival by the Richard Wagner Foundation, succeeding their father Wolfgang.

Ortrun Wenkel

In 1975, she became a member of the Bayerische Staatsoper where she called attention to Wolfgang Wagner who immediately engaged her for Erda in Richard Wagners Ring des Nibelungen at the Bayreuth Festival 1976 Jahrhundertring (Centenary Ring) in 1976, celebrating the centenary of both the festival and the first performance of the complete cycle, conducted by Pierre Boulez and staged by Patrice Chéreau, recorded and filmed in 1979 and 1980.