A decision will be made about the future of the Wagner sisters by the end of this year, believes Georg von Waldenfels, President of the Society of Friends of Bayreuth.
He discloses that this autumn there will be a meeting of the joint owners of the Festival company - the federal government, the State of Bavaria, the city of Bayreuth and the Friends. It is expected that the leadership contract will be high on the agenda.
Currently Katharina Wagner and Eva Wagner-Pasquier are employed as joint artistic heads of the Bayreuth Festival under a contract that expires in 2015. Either their contract could be renewed, or new artistic leadership could be sought. Ever since they were appointed, there has been pressure from some quarters for the latter.
However any change at the top is complicated by the way Wolfgang Wagner set up the joint ownership structure not long before his death. It includes special legal provisions to safeguard the Wagner family's future involvement. It is not clear if or how these might be overridden.
What is clear is that a decision needs to be made soon. Like any opera house, the Festival schedules years ahead. Whoever leads it from 2015 needs time to plan.
Arguably the most bizarre family dynasty on earth.
Posted by: JDabrowski | 29 July 2013 at 02:53 PM
Arguably? If you can think of a more bizarre one, I shall be very surprised!
Posted by: Richard Carter | 29 July 2013 at 03:55 PM
Well, Franz Welser-Most's domestic arrangements take a bit of beating....
Posted by: SJT | 01 August 2013 at 12:24 AM
Best quote I have heard on the Wagner's -
"they all think they are geniuses - the trouble is only one was right "
Posted by: amac | 01 August 2013 at 03:14 PM