{"success":true,"data":{"id":"0f383e01-5a87-42ad-9fd2-414080c2ed70","title":"Highs and lows as the Bayreuth Festival Turns 150","summary":"Bayreuth Festival's 150th anniversary is clouded by controversy surrounding German-Jewish speaker Michel Friedman. Yet it offers an opportunity to celebrate, including with an AI-enhanced Ring cycle.","content":"Regions\n\nTopics\n\nCategories\n\nIn focus\n\nMusic[Germany](https://www.dw.com/en/germany/s-1432)\n\n# Highs and lows as the Bayreuth Festival Turns 150\n\nAnastassia Boutsko | Gaby Reucher\n\n15 minutes ago 15 minutes ago\nBayreuth Festival's 150th anniversary is clouded by controversy surrounding German-Jewish speaker Michel Friedman. Yet it offers an opportunity to celebrate, including with an AI-enhanced Ring cycle.\n\nCopy link\n\nIt’s that time of year again: The Bayreuth Festival is making headlines Image: Peter Kolb/picture alliance\n\nThe last weekend in July marks the beginning of [the Bayreuth Festival](https://www.dw.com/en/150-years-of-the-bayreuth-festival-confronting-a-troubled-legacy/a-77848272), which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. The event regularly attracts international opera fans and distinguished guests, especially German politicians. This year, attendees include the current Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and his predecessor, Angela Merkel, who regularly attends.\n\nOn August 13, 1876, exactly 150 years ago, the first Bayreuth Festival opened after years of disputes over funding[Richard Wagner's](https://www.dw.com/en/german-composer-richard-wagner-the-man-behind-the-myth/a-69705383)ambitious project. Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, a friend of Wagner who was also a guest at the festival, praised the event, calling it \"the first circumnavigation of the world in the realm of art.\"\n\nBayreuth 1876: Engraving of the Festival Theatre in the year of its inauguration Image: Archives Snark/Photo12/picture alliance\n\n## Special anniversary program\n\nThe anniversary program is diverse and includes a new staging of Richard Wagner's landmark work, \"The Ring of the Nibelung,” using AI, along with a new production of the opera \"Rienzi,\" Wagner's first major success, composed at age 29. These two productions have replaced the festival management's original plan to stage all thirteen of Wagner's finished operas during the anniversary year, which was deemed financially unfeasable.\n\nThe opening ceremony on July 25 is expected to be spectacular. It features a major work by Wagner's idol, Ludwig van Beethoven — the Ninth Symphony. Notably, in 1872, Wagner conducted this very symphony at the Margravial Opera House in Bayreuth during the ceremonial laying of the foundation stone for his Festspielhaus.\n\nDespite a few compromises, the anniversary program appears promising and innovative, fully aligned with Wagner's credo of \"Children, create new things\" (\"Kinder, schafft Neues!\").\n\nStill, a shadow has been cast over the festival in the run-up to the opening: the initial exclusion and subsequent re-invitation of the German-French journalist Michel Friedman who is Jewish.\n\nThere was controversy over the initial cancellation of a speech by Michel Friedman, who is Jewish Image: Bernd Wüstneck/dpa/picture alliance\n\n## The 'Friedman Affair'\n\nAt first glance, the scandal appeared to be a planning mishap. Michel Friedman had been invited to the memorial event titled \"Silenced Voices,\" (\"Verstummte Stimmen\") which was scheduled for the second day of the festival. It honors the many Jewish artists whose work at Bayreuth was ended by antisemitism, persecution and murder. Friedman, a prominent voice on Jewish life and a former president of the European Jewish Congress, was to speak about antisemitism and the festival's efforts to confront its Nazi past.\n\n\"Especially in the year of its 150th anniversary, the Bayreuth Festival is aware of its historical responsibility regarding [Richard Wagner's antisemitic views](https://www.dw.com/en/jews-and-richard-wagner/a-58646578), and the festival's subsequent connections, along with those of certain members of the Wagner family, to National Socialism,\" stated an official release by the Bayreuth Festival.\n\nDue to insufficient security measures, it was suggested that Michel Friedman postpone his commemorative speech to a later date. This mishandling seemed to suggest that Bayreuth was trying to avoid confronting a history marred by anti-Semitism.\n\nFollowing an apology from the festival management, Michel Friedman will now be attending after all. The event will feature musical works by the Jewish composers Gustav Mahler and Pavel Haas, who died in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, as well as Richard Wagner's \"Siegfried Idyll.\"\n\nFestival Director Katharina Wagner will deliver the opening address on July 25 Image: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa/picture alliance\n\nOn the festival's website, Katharina Wagner, the festival director and great-granddaughter of the composer, expressed her delight in welcoming Friedman to the Festspielhaus.\n\n## A first for Bayreuth: Wagner's 'Rienzi'\n\nThis year's special premiere is Wagner's opera \"Rienzi,\" which will be performed at the Bayreuth Festival for the first time. Wagner composed it in the style of French \"Grand Opera.\" But he didn't believe it aligned with the repertoire of operas he would present in his festival theater in later years.\n\nCaptivated by the literary adaptation of a true 14th-century story, the rise and fall of the Roman leader Cola di Rienzo, who fought against the aristocracy, Wagner chose it as the subject for an opera.\n\nHe was not alone in his interest; \"Rienzi\" was also among [Adolf Hitler's favorite works](https://www.dw.com/en/how-hitlers-favorite-artists-stayed-successful-after-world-war-ii/a-72449413). Sven Friedrich, the director of the Richard Wagner Museum in Bayreuth, says, \"What Hitler appreciated about 'Rienzi' was, of course, the figure of the self-made man who rises to become the sole ruler through his charisma.\"\n\nHow does populism fuel fantasies of omnipotence? This is the question posed by the two directors of Rienzi, Alexandra Szemerédy and Magdolna Parditka Image: Christina Figge\n\nThe decision to premiere one of Hitler's favorite operas during this significant anniversary year has sparked debate. Nonetheless, Hungarian directors Alexandra Szemerédy and Magdolna Parditka are committed to updating \"Rienzi\" for contemporary audiences. \"That's why we're not focusing solely on this specific dictatorship but rather exploring the boundaries of how a state can gradually evolve from populism into an authoritarian regime.\"\n\n## The sensational AI Ring\n\nThe festival is eagerly anticipating the new productions of the opera cycle \"The Ring of the Nibelung.\" This opera explores themes of power, greed and intrigue. According to legend, whoever seizes gold from the Rhine will possess ultimate power. Richard Wagner built his opera house in 1876 specifically for this 16-hour mammoth work.\n\nStage designs created using artificial intelligence set to take audiences by surprise Image: Marcus Lobbes/Bayreuther Festspiele\n\nArtistic Director Katharina Wagner aims to break new ground with this anniversary production by incorporating AI. Curator Marcus Lobbes explains: \"We'll be working with image layers partly generated in real-time, creating holographic 3-D spaces.\"\n\nThe team has chosen archival footage of Ring performances from 1876 to 2024 for the AI to analyze for the projections. \"The entire composition aims to evoke a sense of a vast, resonant image,\" says Lobbes. The creators promise a \"visually effervescent cosmos of light, texture, history, and association.\" There will be unexpected moments, not only for the audience but also for Marcus Lobbes's team, as they discover what the AI ultimately produces. The Bayreuth Festival takes place from July 25 to August 26.\n\n_Edited by Sarah Hucal._\n\n## How Richard Wagner shaped modern fantasy\n\n10:07\n\nSend us your feedback\n\n## Your feedback\n\n## Explore more\n\nMusic 09/24/2021 September 24, 2021\n\nCulture 06/26/2026 June 26, 2026\n\nCulture 07/22/2023 July 22, 2023\n\nShow more stories\n\n## More on Music from Europe\n\nMusic 07/15/2026 July 15, 2026 13 images\n\nMusic 07/15/2026 July 15, 2026\n\nMusic 07/09/2026 July 9, 2026\n\n## Related topics\n\n# DW's Top Story\n\nPolitics 7 hours ago 7 hours ago\n\nPolitics 07/22/2026 July 22, 2026\n\nPolitics 07/18/2026 July 18, 2026\n\nPage 1 of 1\n\n# More stories from DW\n\n## Africa\n\nPolitics 20 hours ago 20 hours ago","source_name":"Deutsche Welle","source_url":"https://www.dw.com/en/highs-and-lows-as-the-bayreuth-festival-turns-150/a-78101943?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf","url":"https://www.dw.com/en/highs-and-lows-as-the-bayreuth-festival-turns-150/a-78101943?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf","author":"and broadcaster Michel Friedman, drawing sharp criticism.](https://www.dw.com/en/wagner-festival-reinstates-holocaust-memorial-event-after-cancellation/a-77721185)","author_name":"and broadcaster Michel Friedman, drawing sharp criticism.](https://www.dw.com/en/wagner-festival-reinstates-holocaust-memorial-event-after-cancellation/a-77721185)","published_at":"2026-07-24T14:42:00.000Z","publication_date":"2026-07-24T14:42:00.000Z","image_url":"https://static.dw.com/image/69783710_600.jpg","category":"world","topic":"world","tags":[],"political_bias":null,"bias_score":null,"confidence_score":null,"credibility_score":null,"factual_quality":null,"reading_time":6,"word_count":1167,"view_count":0,"breaking":false,"breaking_news":false,"ai_analysis":null,"fact_check_status":"unverified","archive_status":"hot","language":null}}