Click HERE for photographs of this summer's new production of Tristan und Isolde.
This summer the Bayreuth Festival will celebrate the sesquicentennial of Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde by staging a new production that will open the Festival on July 25. This production will be Katharina Wagner's second staging for Bayreuth, following her controversial production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg back in 2007. Ms. Wagner's production will replace Christoph Marthaler's staging from 2005 which received mixed reviews when it opened. The roles of the doomed lovers will be sung by Stephen Gould and Anje Kampe. Originally Eva Maria Westbroek was scheduled to sing Isolde, but she bowed out of the production months ago.
NEWS FLASH:
Anja Kampe has cancelled this summer’s appearances as Isolde after a reported row with conductor Christian Thielemann.
She is to be replaced by Evelyn Herlitzius. Kampe will, however, sing Sieglinde in the Ring, conducted by Kirill Petrenko.
Bayreuth issued the following press statement:
The direction of the Bayreuther Festspiele notes with great regret that Anja Kampe returned the part of Isolde for this year´s new production of “Tristan und Isolde”. The termination of the contract was mutually agreed. The direction of the Bayreuth Festival is very happy to announce that Anja Kampe will none the less sing the part of Sieglinde under the musical direction of Kirill Petrenko.
German media have identified Kampe as the companion of Kirill Petrenko.
Stefan Vinke has replaced Lance Ryan in the role of Siegfried.
Stephen Fry discusses the "Tristan Chord" with Wagner specialist Stefan Mickisch, an excerpt from the documentary "Wagner and Me."
Frank Castorf's production of the Ring, which celebrated the bicentennial of Richard Wagner's birth, will be presented once again. The staging, which started in a motel in America's Route 66 and transported us to the Alexanderplatz, and on to a burning Wall Street Stock Exchange, was furiously received by audiences and critics alike when it premiered two summers ago.
The following video segment from two years ago shows the audience reception at the end of Götterdämmerung. The singers and the orchestra (already onstage with their instruments) are received with well-earned ovations while Castorf and the rest of the production staff are booed. Note how Mr. Castorf refuses to leave the stage, thus instigating the crowd to boo him even louder.
Looking ahead:
2016 - A new production of Parsifal will storm into the Festspielhaus. The production will be by enfant terribleJonathan Meese who will also create the sets and costumes. This promises to make the outrageous 2004 Christoph Schlingensief production look like a walk in the park. Mr. Meese is known for including Nazi symbols in his art. As sheduled, the cast will include Klaus Florian Vogt as Parsifal, Petra Lang as Kundry, and Georg Zeppenfeld as Gurnemanz.
Click here to examine some of Mr. Meese's thoughts about Richard Wagner, and a preview of his upcoming Parsifal production. This information is from Mr. Meese's own website (in German).
Looking down the road there will be a new Die Meistersinger in 2017, a new Lohengrin in 2018, a new Tannhäuser in 2019 and the next new Ring will be in 2020.
A picture taken from Jonathan Meese's website. The artist is standing with Katharina Wagner. I wonder if he is responsible for the graffitti on the walls.
This summer, the Bayreuth Festival will present the following works. Casts and dates are listed below.
