Gerard Mortier, sneaky little man, adds a new surprising chapter in The Denazification of Bayreuth soap opera:
Belgian opera impresario Gerard Mortier is teaming up with Nike Wagner, great-granddaughter of composer Richard Wagner, in a bid to run the legendary Bayreuth Festival, a report said Monday.Quoting Nike Wagner, 63, the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said the two had faxed a joint letter of application to the festival's ruling body, the Stiftungsrat. It meets on September 1 to nominate a successor to 88-year-old Wolfgang Wagner, who has headed Bayreuth for the past 57 years.
VIVE LA REVOLUTION!
Posted by: Coloratura Tempura | August 25, 2008 at 04:56 PM
Is he dumping New York?
Posted by: countertenner | August 25, 2008 at 05:08 PM
Well its been said that the place needed a shaking up! But does that mean Camberling comes along with it - they are sort of a package deal aren't they?
Posted by: Willym | August 25, 2008 at 05:32 PM
Good, shake up that dead old museum, notwithstanding the regie nightmares that have shown up on stage on occasion. Get some non-Wagner blood in there, it might help combat the problems associated with inbreeding.
Posted by: Henry Holland | August 26, 2008 at 12:57 AM
Didn't he just shut down NYCO and propose an audience-unfriendly future season? Having just read Nike Wagner's book, seen the photos of the Festspielhaus draped in huge Nazi flags, and looked at the "casting" at Bayreuth, I think it should be shut down for a while, if not permanently. A new house should be built on the site and other composers performed there. Wagner is not a god.
Posted by: Bill Philin-Ploplis | August 26, 2008 at 12:52 PM
mtv should run the joint.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IR_3lqBzsc
Posted by: deadtenors | August 26, 2008 at 01:20 PM