In a few days, “Tristan and Isolde” will open the Bayreuth Festival. But shortly before the start, accusations of sexism overshadow the cultural event. Director Katharina Wagner confirms that she experienced this herself.
According to Katharina Wagner, as director of the Bayreuth Festival, she experienced “sexual innuendos and, in some cases, assaults in a certain way”. “But I knew how to defend myself,” she said.
The “Nordbayerischer Kurier” had previously reported physical assaults on women, insults and sexist sayings on the Green Hill, which Wagner himself is said to have been affected by.
“We will investigate the allegations immediately and ask those affected to contact the management directly,” said festival spokesman Hubertus Herrmann after the report became known. “No insults or physical assaults will be tolerated.”
The reporting “very moved and actually surprised the festival management, since no information on possible attacks is known within the company,” said Herrmann. So far, no one affected has reported to the festival management. Should the allegations prove true, Wagner announced immediate personnel consequences.
According to “Nordbayerisches Kurier”, the former music director of the festival, Christian Thielemann, has also been criticized. He is said to have yelled at and insulted musicians – an accusation that the star conductor vehemently rejects: “There’s nothing to it,” he said, speaking of a “misunderstanding”.
In any case, the unadulterated anticipation of four weeks of festival time in Bayreuth is gone. It should be a season of superlatives. Five new productions are on the program. In addition to the four-part “Ring des Nibelungen”, the festival opens on Monday with a new production of “Tristan und Isolde”: There are more new things to see this year than ever before in the history of the opera spectacle. Five new operas in one go.
