Half-sisters Katharina Wagner, 31, and Eva Wagner-Pasquier, 64, were named as co-directors in September -- becoming the first new management team in more than a half-century after their 89-year-old father, Wolfgang, agreed to end his long reign.Festival-goers may not immediately notice much change; with performers booked years ahead, this year's event offers no new productions. It opens Saturday with Christoph Marthaler's staging of "Tristan and Isolde" and runs through Aug. 28.
However, the new team has innovations to offer on the sidelines -- notably a version of "The Flying Dutchman" for children, reduced to an hour, whose 10 performances are long since sold out. Following its first live Internet broadcast in 2008, a move championed by Katharina Wagner, the festival this year will offer a performance of "Tristan and Isolde" live on the Web Aug. 9 -- with Webcast prices cut to 14.90 euros ($21.20) from last year's 49 euros. The same performance also will be screened live in a Bayreuth square, with free admission.
"It is a matter of the heart for me to bring opera to the people," Katharina Wagner said at a news conference in Munich on Monday. "Opera is a niche product. I am working with my heart and soul on this product." Wagner said Marthaler's "Tristan and Isolde" would lend itself well to the webcast and outside screening.
At the Richard Wagner-designed Festspielhaus itself, the new directors are offering pre-performance talks by experts Katharina Wagner hopes will promote a "better understanding" of the works. Wagner fans typically wait up to 10 years to obtain tickets for the festival.
