The House that Richard Built

Gudrun Wagner has died. She was Wolfgang Wagner's second wife and for some years his anointed heir (she was 25 years younger than he). In recent years he has indicated that their daughter Katharina should run the festival when he retires or dies. This bypasses the other two possible Wagner choices, Eva Wagner-Pasquier, Wolfgang's daughter from his first wife and Nike Wagner, his brother Wieland's daughter. They have significant experience working in opera. Katharina's is limited to growing up at her father's knee and a few controversial productions as a director.

I don't know enough to speak too intelligently about the ins and outs of the Bayreuth experience. I don't know any of the players nor do I know their specific strengths, outside of what I read in the papers (well, online actually).

However it is clear that in this difficult fiscal environment, the person who will run Bayreuth better be pretty capable. The festival is extraordinarily successful from the ticket sales standpoint; it is probably the hardest ticket to get in opera. But as we well know, ticket sales account for only a small percentage of the actual cost of giving opera. Managing its future will be a very difficult job.

People occasionally suggest that the focus of the festival broaden. I disagree. I think it is important to maintain the Wagner tradition. I'm just not sure that it is important that a Wagner run it. Bayreuth should be a place people look to for definitive and cutting-edge Wagner performances. It hasn't really been that since Wieland died. I think bringing it back to the glory of that era should be a priority and not the Wagner-lineage of the person who is running it.