The Bayreuth Festival dropped four productions from because of budget cuts, the festival said Thursday.
The German festival devoted to composer Richard Wagner attributed the decision to its employees' public-service sector labor contracts and an inability to increase revenue. The festival said it is 55% self-financed.
Bayreuth, built to the composer's specifications and run by had planned to present all 10 of his mature works plus the festival debut of 鈥淩ienzi,鈥� Wagner's rarely performed third opera.
Citing labor costs, the festival said it will limit its 2026 schedule to 鈥淩ienzi鈥� along with the four-opera 鈥淒er Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung),鈥� which inaugurated the festival in 1876; Wagner's final opera, 鈥淧arsifal,鈥� which premiered at the house in 1882; and 鈥淒er Fliegende Holl盲nder (The Flying Dutchman),鈥� Wagner's fourth opera and what is considered the first of his mature works.
Bayreuth dropped planned 2026 revivals of 鈥淭annh盲user,鈥� 鈥淟ohengrin,鈥� 鈥淭ristan und Isolde鈥� and 鈥淒ie Meistersinger von N眉rnberg.鈥�
The 2026 Ring Cycle will be a special production and not the Valentin Schwarz staging that debuted in 2022 and is to be staged for the final time in 2025. Bayreuth said it will announce the 鈥淩ienzi鈥� director next summer and that 2026 will be the only time it presents 鈥淩ienzi.鈥�
The 2026 season will open as planned with Beethoven鈥檚 Ninth Symphony, which was conducted by Wagner following the foundation stone ceremony in 1872 and was later played at the 1951 postwar reopening of Bayreuth.
The Associated Press
