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Open the door for Angela Merkel (archive picture): She is one of the 911 guests who will be able to attend the festival this year
Photo: Tinkeres / imago images
A few days before the start of the Bayreuth Festival, Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) has also announced her coming: She is one of the premiere guests on Sunday, as the city of Bayreuth announced.
Merkel and her husband Joachim Sauer are great fans of Wagner's work and have been regulars at the Green Hill for many years.
At the start of the festival, for the first time in 145 years of festival history, a woman will stand at the conductor's podium in Bayreuth. The 43-year-old Oksana Lyniv conducts the opera "The Flying Dutchman". The British travesty artist Le Gateau Chocolat will not be there, who made headlines in 2019 as the first black drag queen in Bayreuth Festival history with his appearance in the »Tannhäuser« interpretation by director Tobias Kratzer. Instead, the dancer and choreographer Kyle Patrick comes. He also wants to make a »contribution to the acceptance of queer people« this year. He said that in an interview with the "Nordbayerischer Kurier".
A new production of Richard Wagner's four-part »Ring des Nibelungen« was supposed to be staged in Bayreuth last year.
The project was postponed to 2022 due to Corona.
As a kind of substitute for this, there should be a project for each of the four »Ring« operas.
This year's program also includes »The Mastersingers of Nuremberg« in the production of Barrie Kosky and Tobias Kratzer's »Tannhäuser«.
Andris Nelsons and Christian Thielemann will conduct concerts in the Festspielhaus.
Due to the current corona restrictions, only 911 people are allowed to attend the festival this year.
Otherwise it is around 2000. Only those who have tested negative, have been completely vaccinated or have recovered are allowed to enter the opera house.
In addition, the following applies: FFP2 mask requirement.
The festival choir will not be on stage either.
His contributions are brought in.
The greeting of the premiere guests in front of the Festspielhaus and the state reception in the New Palace were also canceled.
Instead, Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) will welcome the participants to the festival grounds after the premiere.
The festival ends on August 25th.
ime / dpa