Music: Thielemann Back in Bayreuth's Green Hill
Prepare for a major return in the world of opera! Star conductor Christian Thielemann is set to make his way back to the Bayreutch Festival, as revealed at a recent meeting of the artistic board. Hubertus Herrmann, the festival spokesperson, confirmed the news when asked, stating, "Yes, he will return."
The musical maestro himself announced his intention to conduct the ever-popular "Lohengrin" opera in the upcoming 2025 season, setting a thrilling precedent for fans of the celebrated Richard Wagner Festival.
After a two-year hiatus, "Lohengrin" will grace the Bayreuth schedule once more. The 2025 production will mark a return to the stages of the Richard Wagner Festival, featuring Neo Rauch's stage design and the direction of Yuval Sharon. Thielemann had previously conducted "Lohengrin" in this very same production in years previous to 2020.
Thielemann's ties to the Bayreuth Festival date back to the summer of 2000, when he debuted with the Mastersingers of Nuremberg. Legendary festival director, Wolfgang Wagner, served more as a mentor than a boss during this time. Since then, Thielemann has shaped the festival annually, providing benchmark performances.
Renowned throughout the world as a Wagner interpreter, Thielemann will join the exclusive list of conductors who have delivered all ten Wagner operas at the Bayreuth Festival. He achieved this prestigious accomplishment only second to Felix Mottl.
In 2010, Thielemann assumed the position of musical advisor, and then five years later he was named Music Director, holding both positions until his departure in 2020. Although there had been no recent talk of an official Bayreuth post, fans of the festival can now rejoice in the knowledge that Thielemann is set to return to his beloved Green Hill.
Christopher Haenssler, the Staatskapelle Dresden's chief conductor, who had been the festival's driving force musically for over a quarter of a century before his departure in 2018, is also scheduled to return in 2025.
A reprise of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is in the works for this year, with Festival Director Katharina Wagner announcing Daniele Gatti to conduct. Gatti will follow in Haenssler's footsteps as the Dresden State Opera's Music Director in 2024.
In 2022, the final year of the current Lohengrin production, Thielemann and Festival Director Katharina Wagner faced a significant disagreement regarding the use of the word "Führer" in the opera at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, a venue where Adolf Hitler once attended.
Katharina Wagner asked tenor Klaus Florian Vogt, who played the title role at the dress rehearsal, to replace the word "Führer" with "Schützer" to appease public sensitivities, leading to a surprising twist in the opera's ending.
Thielemann, who remains committed to preserving the original text in his performances, shared his perspective on the matter: "For me, it's always like this: the originally intended text is the original text and you stay true to it. I don't change any notes – then I don't change any text and ask the artists in my performances to sing the original text. But everyone sees it differently, and you have to accept that."
