Saturday, July 25, 2020, would have been the opening of the Bayreuth Festival: The Festival, the City of Bayreuth, and Bayreuth Marketing & Tourism have organized an extensive alternative program, live and digital.
Due to Corona, the Bayreuth Festival had to be canceled in March 2020. This historic cancellation was compensated with great commitment: Wagner fans and culture lovers can look forward to a first-class programme from Bayreuth:
In addition to the cooperation with Deutsche Grammophon and Bayerischer Rundfunk/ 3sat, the concert “Wagner 2020” will take place on July 25 at 4:00 PM under the direction of Christian Thielemann with members of the Festival Orchestra and soloists Camilla Nylund and Klaus Florian Vogt at Haus Wahnfried. The concert will be broadcast live by Bayerischer Rundfunk and can also be followed on site in front of Haus Wahnfried by up to 400 people. Admission is five euros as a registration fee and to comply with Corona regulations. Tickets are available online and at the Bayreuth Theater Box Office from July 22, 2020, at 9 AM, https://www.musica-bayreuth.de/event/wahnfried-open-air. A reservation fee of 5 euros per seat will be charged; there are only double seats and some single seats.
To kick off the alternative program in the festival city, there will be a unique homage to this virtuoso in the Beethoven Year: All string quartets will be performed on six Sundays in July and August at Wagner’s residence. On Saturday, July 25, 2020, music lovers staying at home can enjoy one of the concerts as well as a virtual tour of Haus Wahnfried as a stream from 10:00 AM at www.bayreuth-tourismus.de/summertime.
The cancellation of this year’s festival also hits the artists hard. All the more willingly, orchestra members and well-known and esteemed artists in Bayreuth such as Annette Dasch, Michael Volle, Andreas Schager, Günther Groissböck, Peter Seiffert, Petra-Maria Schnitzer, Martin Tingvall, and pianist Markus Becker have come together to let Bayreuth resonate in alternative formats from classical to jazz on several stages in the city center and on the lake stage.
The program overview is available at www.summertime.bayreuth.de; bookings are possible online and at local ticket offices from 14 days in advance.