Katharina looks like being the last Wagner to run Bayreuth
NewsFollowing on from critical comments last year by the federal German culture secretary Monika Grütters, the state of Bavaria is busily looking at restructuring the Bayreuth Festival with a view to safeguarding ‘the interests of the public sector’.
This modest statement has panicked remote members of the Wagner family into issuing statements that ‘the family cannot be divided out’ and the festival must be conserved solely for Wagner performance.
The present boss, Katharina Wagner, is single and heirless. There is no designated successor.
Bayreuth restructured, eh? We all know what that means. Their next director should be hired on the basis of inclusivity, de-colonialisation, egalitarianism, support for BLM and LBGT+ and commitment to ending western domination of classical music. Wagner’s music should be banned as he was a racist. They should put on Afro music, operettas, music by little-known young composers, Rap and Reggae.
Any director who succeeds in those objectives would be well placed for a lucrative career move – with a CV with that on it, they would be well-placed to become the next Director General of the BBC.