Breaking: Eva Wagner to quit Bayreuth

The Nordbayerischer Kurier, which has inside track on the Wagner Hill, reports today that Eva Wagner-Pasquier will depart as co-director in September 2015 at the end of her contract. That will leave her half-sister Katharina is virtual sole charge – assuming the rubber-stamp board renew her contract which is presently under renegotiation.  (The former Deutsche Oper Berlin chief, Heinz-Dieter Sense, is the third director, in charge of business affairs.)

Eva, 68, is well-connected and respected across the opera world. She has worked in tandem with Katharina for six years and would like to be retained in an advisory capacity (these Wagners never let go). Katharina, on the other hand, may feel she now has enough experience to run the show on her own – as her authoritarian father, Wolfgang, always intended.

Eva (r.) with Katharina (l.) and key supporter