Nike Wagner goes tribal, hints at Bayreuth/NYCO future coproductions:
Wagner said that if their bid succeeded, the festival and the City Opera would work together in some way, possibly by collaborating on productions. They were also proposing a separate mini-season at the festival's theater in June, perhaps a long weekend in which the works of other composers would be performed, Wagner said. She called it a "kind of laboratory."
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"I think that Wieland Wagner's offspring should never have been excluded, or other offspring," she said. "The family consists of more tribes than just Wolfgang Wagner's tribe." She has been critical of Katharina Wagner's work in the past, calling it "old wine in a new wineskin."Nike Wagner said in the end it was more important for Bayreuth to have good leadership than a leader named Wagner. "It's part of my heritage," she said. "I'm concerned about how will Bayreuth continue in the future, and I'm engaged in this problem, and I want the best possible leadership. This has priority. And then come the tribe and the Wagner business."
Nike Wagner has known Mortier for many years, she said. "I've followed him all the way through his artistic activities," she added. "I admire his work very much. Intellectually our minds are very similar." Asked how, she said, "In the way of being more future-minded, looking out for new and best ways to present opera, to present the arts."
Love is in the air!