Richard Wagner - Madame Roth didn't understand the Bayreuth Mythos (Myth of Bayreuth)
Markus Blume, Bavaria's Culture Minister (CSU), has rejected Claudia Roth's (Greens) proposal to play music other than Richard Wagner's at the Bayreuth Festivals. The Free State will not agree to a necessary amendment in the Festspiele's Foundation Council regarding this matter, Blume told the Bayern Media Group newspapers: "The statutes are clear, and there is no need for a change. Bavaria would not agree. Wagner is the substance that Bayreuth lives on."
Roth advocated for featuring other composers, such as Engelbert Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel, on the Green Hill alongside Richard Wagner. "I'm thinking of Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel, an opera that comes from the Wagner tradition. There are plenty of such works," Roth also told the Bayern Media Group newspapers. It's important that institutions like the Festspiele open themselves up more to a younger audience. Bayreuth should overall be more diverse, colorful, and young.
Blume emphasized that he sees potential for modernizing the Festspiele in new formats, engaging productions, and musical excellence - but not in expanding the repertoire: "People come to Bayreuth because they can hear Wagner there in a brilliance that's not found anywhere else." He said: "I feel that Frau Roth hasn't understood the Bayreuth myth. Bayreuth lives off Wagner."
Roth's demand that the Bayreuth audience become more colorful is met with skepticism by Blume: "Despite all respect for Frau Roth, she's simply wearing the Berlin cultural glasses. Berliner Wokeness won't take Bayreuth's Wagner any further," he said. "We should continue to focus on diversity, but please don't label the many loyal Wagner fans as not colorful enough."
Roth acknowledged in her demand that it should not be forgotten that, up to now, it has been stipulated that the Festival House may only be used for the performance of Richard Wagner's works. The Festspiele refer back to this regulation upon request.
"The annual Bayreuth Festivals, with the exception of a few remaining tickets for the 'Parsifal' performance on August 14, are sold out," Festspiel-Sprecher Hubertus Herrmann told the German Press Agency. Tickets for this performance were still available for online instant purchase.
At least in the grand jubilee year 2026, when 150 years of Festival history will be celebrated, Katharina Wagner plans a deviation from the strict canon: Wagner's work "Rienzi" is to be performed at the Festspielhaus.
- Despite Markus Blume's opposition, Claudia Roth, a Green Party politician from Germany, advocated for including composers like Engelbert Humperdinck in the Bayreuth Festivals' repertoire.
- As Bavaria's Culture Minister, Blume dismisses Roth's proposal, stating that the Bayreuth Festivals' statutes clearly favour the performance of Richard Wagner's music.
- Blume and Roth both agree on the need for modernization in the Festspiele, but Blume is adamant about maintaining the emphasis on Wagner's music, attracting fans who seek its brilliance only found in Bayreuth.
- Addressing Roth's demand for a more diverse and colorful Bayreuth, Blume suggests that she may be viewing the situation through the lens of Berlin's cultural landscape, potentially stereotyping loyal Wagner fans as lacking diversity.
- Roth recognizes that the Festival House in Bayreuth can only be used for the performance of Richard Wagner's works, as has been stipulated in the past.
- Katharina Wagner, director of the Bayreuth Festivals, plans to deviate from the strict canon in 2026 to mark the grand jubilee year of 150 years of Festival history by performing Wagner's work "Rienzi" at the Festspielhaus.
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