Katharina Wagner
Katharina Wagner (born 21 May 1978 in Bayreuth) is a German opera stage-director and co-director of the Bayreuth Festival. She is the daughter of Wolfgang Wagner, great-granddaughter of Richard Wagner and great-great granddaughter of Hungarian composer Ferenc (Franz) Liszt.
She notably staged Der fliegende Holländer in Würzburg and Lohengrin in Budapest.
Her directorial début at the Bayreuth Festival, staging a production of Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in July 2007, was booed at its premiere[1], but established a following which returned to watch the production evolve as Wagner made changes in each of the five years it was on view. Wagner also took a bow after every performance, with audiences split between bravos and boos.
On 1 September 2008 Katharina was named together with her half-sister Eva Wagner-Pasquier as the new director of the Bayreuth Festival by the Richard Wagner Foundation, succeeding their father Wolfgang.[2] This followed an extended family dispute. They were chosen in preference to their cousin Nike Wagner and the Belgian opera director and administrator Gérard Mortier, who had placed a late joint bid for the directorship on 24 August.[3][4]
In October 2010 she sought to end a post-1945 boycott of Wagner's music in Israel by inviting the Israel Chamber Orchestra to play a concert in July 2011 at the Bayreuth town hall. Her visit to Israel was canceled after hostility from Holocaust survivors.[5][6]
Contents |
[edit] Productions
Der fliegende Holländer (Würzburg)
Lohengrin (Budapest)
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Bayreuth)
Rienzi (Bremen)
[edit] Further reading
- Carr, Jonathan: The Wagner Clan: The Saga of Germany's Most Illustrious and Infamous Family. Atlantic Monthly Press, 2007. ISBN 0871139758
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Connolly, Kate (2007-07-27). "Ms Wagner jeered as great-grandad's opera flops at Bayreuth". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,,2135934,00.html. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
- ^ BBC News (2008-09-01). Daughters chosen to run Bayreuth. BBC News. Retrieved on 2008-09-01 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7592659.stm.
- ^ Hickley, Catherine (2008-09-01). "Wagner Sisters Katharina, Eva Named to Lead Bayreuth (Update2)". Bloomberg.com. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=a_Nlu8t5Lw8k. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
- ^ McGroarty, Patrick; Ron Blum (2008-09-01). "Bayreuth names Wagner half-sisters as co-directors". International Herald Tribune. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/09/01/europe/EU-Germany-Bayreuth-Festival.php. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
- ^ http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2010/10/katie_wont_go_to_israel_after.html
- ^ http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/bad-people-can-still-write-really-good-music-1.317613
