With a performance of “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg”, the 99th Bayreuth Festival will conclude on August 28, 2010, after 30 sold-out performances.
They opened with the sensational and controversially discussed new production “Lohengrin” by Hans Neuenfels. The musical direction was in the hands of Andris Nelsons, who conducted the Festival Orchestra for the first time with great success.
For the fifth and final time, “Der Ring des Nibelungen” was on the program under the musical direction of Christian Thielemann in Tankred Dorst’s production.
Particular attention was given to the successful Bayreuth debuts of Jonas Kaufmann as Lohengrin, Annette Dasch as Elsa, Georg Zeppenfeld as King Heinrich, James Rutherford as Hans Sachs, Edith Haller as Sieglinde, Johan Botha as Siegmund, and Lance Ryan as Siegfried.
The last performance of “Die Walküre” could be experienced not only in the Festspielhaus, but also as a public viewing during the third Siemens Festival Night and as a livestream on the internet. A release of the recording on DVD and Blu-ray is planned for this year.
The production “Tannhäuser” as part of the project “Wagner for Children” was able to build on the great success of the children’s opera in the previous year and establish this category in the festival program.
Once again, an international scientific symposium, jointly organized by Freie Universität Berlin and the Bayreuth Festival, met with broad interest. For the first time, the “Bayreuth Festival Talks” took place under the title “Zäsuren”.
Advance ticket sales for the 100th Bayreuth Festival in 2011 begin on October 18, 2010; ticket prices remain stable.
The next festival season will open on July 25, 2011, with the new production of “Tannhäuser” (Musical Direction: Thomas Hengelbrock; Staging: Sebastian Baumgarten; Set Design: Joop van Lieshout; Costumes: Nina von Mechow). Furthermore, revivals of “Lohengrin”, “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg”, “Parsifal”, and “Tristan und Isolde” are on the programme.
Christian Thielemann, who is now also associated with the Bayreuth Festival as a musical advisor, will return to conduct the Festival Orchestra in the summer of 2012 for the new production “Der fliegende Holländer”.