The Pop Diva from the “Green Hill”
She’s regarded as the great hope of Bayreuth and marks the beginning of a new era in the history of the famous Wagner Festival: Katharina Wagner. At just 32 she jointly heads the world-renowned Richard Wagner Festival in Bayreuth together with Eva Wagner-Pasquier. The festival, which opened on Sunday (25.7.) for the 99th time, rolled out the red carpet in customary fashion for its many prominent guests.
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Katharina Wagner
(© picture-alliance / dpa)
Katharina Wagner, the great-granddaughter of the composer Richard Wagner, has been introducing a breath of fresh air to the Frankish festival theatre on the “Green Hill” since she took over as joint director with Eva Wagner-Pasquier, 65, in autumn 2008. In contrast to her more reserved, older half-sister, Katharina Wagner loves being in the limelight. Her father Wolfgang Wagner, who headed the festival for more than forty years, died in March this year aged 90. Now Katharina has become the new youthful face of the grand opera event.
Katharina Wagner has unwaveringly worked towards leading the festival since she was 16 years old. She studied theatre arts in Berlin and worked as an assistant producer. Her first individual production, “The Flying Dutchman”, was staged in Würzburg in 2002. Soon afterwards she was appointed as an assistant to the festival management and gave her directorial debut on the Green Hill with her production of “The Mastersingers of Nuremberg” in 2007. She seems to be well-equipped for the challenging task of preserving the tradition of the five-week festival whilst opening the way to its future.
She also has the guts to break new ground: festival performances, for which ticket demand always outstrips the supply, are being screened at public viewing events; the festival website carries a festival podcast; and she has expanded the programme by introducing productions for children. In her view this is very important: “Children are the audience of the future. We need to sensitize them to opera and show that it can be just as exciting as television or video games.”
Katharina Wagner also enjoys experimenting with music: she buys albums by Rammstein, listens to Lady Gaga and adores Shakira’s stunning voice. She counters critics who call her a “Wagner spoiler” by seemingly confirming this image. Her next idea for the 2011 festival is a club event with DJs performing a creative mix of Wagner and electronic pop. That would certainly be an eye-opening premiere for Bayreuth.
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