Forum Views ()
Forum Replies ()
Read more with google mobile :
Bayreuth opera festival opens under new directors
Yahoo!
My Yahoo!
Mail
Yahoo! Search
Search:
Sign InNew User? Sign Up
News Home -
Help
Navigation
Primary Navigation
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Top Stories
Most Popular
Secondary Navigation
Search
Search:
Bayreuth opera festival opens under new directors
By BRIGITTE CASPARY,Associated Press Writer AP - Sunday, July 26
BAYREUTH, Germany - The annual Bayreuth opera festival opened under new management on Saturday, with composer Richard Wagner's great-granddaughters in charge for the first time after their father ran the show for more than 50 years.
ADVERTISEMENT
Half-sisters Katharina Wagner, 31, and Eva Wagner-Pasquier, 64, welcomed luminaries such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel _ a regular pilgrim to Bayreuth _ and Bavarian Governor Horst Seehofer to the Festspielhaus.
The new directors are offering innovations such as a trimmed-down version of "The Flying Dutchman" for children but, with performers booked years ahead, the main program at this year's 98th edition of the festival focuses on familiar fare.
This year's opening performance was "Tristan and Isolde," staged by Christoph Marthaler, with Robert Dean Smith as Tristan and Irene Theorin as Isolde.
On Aug. 9, a "Tristan" performance will be broadcast live on the Internet and also screened live in a central Bayreuth square _ moves championed by Katharina Wagner.
The new team's innovations "constitute promising beginnings of reform, even if the new directors' artistic signature will only be visible in the long term," Culture Minister Bernd Neumann said this week.
"I wish both of them luck and success for the further development of this incomparable cultural event," he said.
The new directors made a fleeting appearance Saturday at a press reception ahead of the first performance, but took no questions.
At a news conference on Wednesday, Katharina Wagner said that "it is a matter of the heart for me to bring opera to the people."
She said she hoped to promote a "better understanding" of the works by offering opera-goers pre-performance talks by experts.
The half-sisters' appointment last September ended a years-long battle in which their 89-year-old father, Wolfgang Wagner, long resisted efforts to dislodge him. He had led the festival since 1951, when he and his brother Wieland revived it following a World War II hiatus.
After Wieland died of cancer in 1966, Wolfgang remained as the festival's sole director. In recent years, feelings grew that the annual event would benefit from an injection of fresh ideas.
Wolfgang finally agreed to step aside after last year's festival; and Katharina and Eva teamed up to beat out a rival bid from their cousin, Nike Wagner.
Alongside "Tristan and Isolde," festival-goers this year also can look forward to Katharina Wagner's own staging of "Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg," now in its third year; Tankred Dorst's "Der Ring des Nibelungen;" and Stefan Herheim's "Parsifal." The festival runs through Aug. 28.
___
On the Net:
http://www.festspiele-bayreuth.de/english/english(underscore)156.html
Email Story
IM Story
Printable View
Blog This
Sign in to recommend this article »
0 users recommend
Related Articles: Entertainment & Lifestyle
LA octuplets to star in reality show: reportAFP - Sunday, July 26
US-ENTERTAINMENT SummaryReuters - Sunday, July 26
CORRECTED - Tim Burton explores "Alice in Wonderland"Reuters - Sunday, July 26
Cast of `Glee' spill secrets, shows second episodeAP - Sunday, July 26
Directors, actors geek out with fans at Comic-ConAP - Sunday, July 26
Most Popular – Entertainment
Viewed
Swine flu virus has spread to almost every country: WHO
Lost love letter reunites couple after 16 years
Police raid Jackson doctor for manslaughter link
Massive quake moves NZealand closer to Australia
Schwarzenegger defends knife-wielding Twitter video
View Complete List »
Search:
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Top Stories
Most Popular
Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy
- Terms of Service
- Community
- Intellectual Property Rights Policy
- Help
Other News on Sunday, 26 July 2009 Suicide bomb squad hits Afghan city: govt
US-TECH Summary
Bleriot XI marks centenary of historic flight
No change to hajj quotas with flu curbs: Riyadh
Bill Gates quits Facebook over 'too many friends'
Afghan bloodshed kills 2 NATO troops, dozen rebels
Bomb in Iraq's Falluja kills five and wounds 21
Four killed in Iraq car bombing
Iran clerics urged to 'help stop oppression'
Britain's last surviving WW1 veteran dies, aged 111
| International
|
Libya asks for Lockerbie bomber to be freed
| International
|
Colombia says 18 rebels dead in jungle bombardment
| International
|
Indonesia reports first swine flu-related death: govt
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary
Tim Burton explores "Alice in Wonderland"
Experts: Full criminal probe in Jackson case
Counting underway after Iraqi Kurd vote
Harry Patch, last veteran of World War I trenches, dies at 111
Pakistan stretched thin for Mehsud battle
China web users outnumber US population: report
Ousted Zelaya on Honduras border, criticizes U.S.
| International
|
Mediterranean wildfires wreak destruction, recrimination
Wedding dance video goes viral
Spiralling violence unnerves Afghanistan before vote
Ericsson buys a North American chunk of Nortel
Britain urged to engage with Hamas moderates
Brazil, Paraguay reach historic hydroelectric deal
Lawmakers urge UK government to talk to Hamas
| International
|
Iraqi Kurds flock to polls amid tensions with Baghdad
Qantas jet loses air pressure during flight
| International
|
Iraqi Kurds end voting as feud with Baghdad looms
U.S. defence chief heads to Israel and Jordan
Thousands of China steel workers clash with police
| International
|
Iraqi Kurds hope for change in regional elections
Iran's opposition turns to top clerics for help
Iran opposition urge clerics to act over detainees
Maliki says arrest of US troop was mistake
US in diplomatic push for Mideast peace
Bail set at $10M for Seattle stabbing suspect
Obama hawks health care overhaul, citing study
Connecticut holds 1st exotic animal amnesty day
Kyrgyz opposition cries fraud over vote
All 13 astronauts enjoy first day off in 11 days
Pa. day care center that lost 4 kids ordered shut
Suicide attackers strike southeastern Afghan city
China says 36 schoolchildren sick with swine flu
Iraq to send students to colleges in US, abroad
China economy growing again while US limps
Pakistan court delays Mumbai attack case for month
Analysis: Race is daunting challenge for Obama
Elderly's 'only talent' is the ability to work: Japan PM
NJ mayor's arrest puts spotlight on historic city
Child's flu death sparks race tensions in Australia
Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan row over Caspian fields
ICICI Bank says quarterly profits up 20.6 percent
Tim Burton explores Alice in Wonderland
| Entertainment
|
Swiss Army knife morphs with age
LA octuplets to star in reality show: report
Farewell to Fleet Street
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary
CORRECTED
Directors, actors geek out with fans at Comic-Con
Bayreuth opera festival opens under new directors
Chinese director Jia to make 1st big budget film
James Cameron, Peter Jackson talk future of film
British PM urges party 'discipline'
Iran opposition asks to commemorate unrest victims
Clinton urges North Korea to return to talks
| International
|
German firms eye brighter future: survey
U.S. tries to spur Middle East peace talks
| International
|
Clinton says Iran's nuclear pursuit is futile
| International
|
Iran hardliners say Ahmadinejad defied leader over VP
Iran opposition wants mourning ceremony
First results due Monday in Iraqi Kurd election
| International
|
Afghan vice-presidential candidate survives ambush
| International
|
Netanyahu: Israel wants 'understanding' with US
Pakistan police detain pro-Taliban cleric Mohammad
| International
|
U.S. tries to spur Middle East peace talks
Egypt refers Hezbollah case to emergency court
| International
|
Chechnya blast kills at least five: report
| International
|
Protesters call for end to Iranian rights abuses
France's Sarkozy taken ill while exercising
| International
|
Kuwait financier facing U.S. fraud suit found dead
| International
|
US envoy holds Syria talks amid new peace push
The Nation's weather
Ohio man routinely mistaken for famous astronaut
Kids' Roller Coaster Jumps Tracks During Church Carnival
Polarizing Alaska governor Palin steps down Sunday
Senate Approves Funds To Thwart Iranian E-Censorship
Body Surfer Killed In Rough California Waves
4 suspects detained in Mexico in US agent killing
Body Found In Grand Canyon May Be Missing College Student
President Obama Asks Harvard Professor Gates, Cambridge Cop Over For Cold One In "Near Future"
Obama Signs U.N. Convention On Rights Of Disabled Proclamation
Some incumbent senators seem to get no respect
Protestors In New York Join Those Across The Globe Marching To Protest Iran's Post-Electtion Violence
Police Get Calls From Across US Over 8-Year-Old Girl's Rape; Liberian President Outrage
Officials From U.S.-Mexico Launch Manhunt Over Killing Of Border Patrol Agent
Defense secretary scores big wins on weapons cuts
Hubble Space Telescope Captures Clear Image Of Recent Impact Site, Debris Field On Jupiter
US eyes private guards for bases in Afghanistan
Ala. senator mum on his decision about Sotomayor
Chinese real estate on mend despite downturn
James Cameron talks tech, Avatar at Comic-Con
| Entertainment
|
New film shows pranksters battling companies
| Entertainment
|
Bayreuth's 'Tristan', or Love in the GDR
Billy Joel ill, postpones 2nd upstate NY show
Cast of `Glee' spill secrets, shows second episode
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights