Bayreuth Festival marks 150th anniversary
Richard Wagner realised his vision 150 years ago. The 2026 programme includes works by Beethoven and the controversial Wagner opera Rienzi.
Bayreuth (dpa) – The Bayreuth Festival is marking its anniversary with a ceremonial event and music by Beethoven. 150 years ago, the composer Richard Wagner (1813–1883) held what has since become his world-famous opera festival for the first time. There will be no staged opera performance at Saturday’s opening event: instead the orchestra will perform Beethoven's Ninth Symphony under the baton of Christian Thielemann. The same piece was performed at the laying of the foundation stone for the Bayreuth Festival Theatre on 22 May 1872 – conducted at the time by Wagner himself at the Margravial Opera House.
The season’s first new production premieres on Sunday, with Wagner's early opera Rienzi being performed at the Festival Theatre for the first time. The decision has proved controversial. Wagner’s third opera, Rienzi tells the story of the rise and fall of the Roman tribune Cola di Rienzo, who seeks to break the power of the ruling class before ultimately being destroyed by his own megalomania.
The opera is said to have inspired the young Adolf Hitler when he first saw it as a teenager in Linz; Hitler became a regular visitor to Bayreuth as a Wagner devotee. The overture to Rienzi always opened NSDAP party rallies.
“At a time when right-wing populist and fascist tendencies are once again becoming more visible, this work has taken on an unsettling relevance,” said director Alexandra Szemerédy, who is staging the opera in Bayreuth together with her colleague Magdolna Parditka. The two directors see the work as “a warning”.
