The Bayreuth Festival, known for annual showcases of Richard Wagner’s works, concluded its current season with all 30 performances sold out. As the season wrapped up, the festival announced plans for the 113th festival next July 25, where a new production of Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger von Nuremberg” will be featured.
For the festival’s 150th anniversary in 2026, a special Ring Cycle will be performed. Festival spokesman Hubertus Herrmann revealed that the upcoming Ring Cycle will not be a concert version and will feature more details to be shared by festival head Katharina Wagner, the great-granddaughter of Richard Wagner. Additionally, a new staging of the Ring is planned for 2028.
The 150th-anniversary festival will mark Bayreuth’s first production of Wagner’s third opera, “Rienzi,” along with all 10 of his mature works traditionally performed at the opera house designed according to Wagner’s specifications. The festival will also include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, played at significant historical events for the festival.
This season saw a total of 58,000 attendees, a noticeable increase from the previous season where attendance dipped. The upcoming season will feature the opera “Meistersinger” conducted by Daniele Gatti and directed by Matthias Davids. The cast will include artists such as Georg Zeppenfeld, Michael Spyres, Christina Nilsson, and Michael Nagy.
Alongside “Meistersinger,” the upcoming 29-performance schedule includes revivals of other Wagner productions like “Parsifal,” “Lohengrin,” and “Tristan and Isolde,” each conducted by notable figures in the classical music scene. Simone Young will conduct the special Ring Cycle performances that will be held in two cycles during the festival.
