As the annual Bayreuth Festival moves toward its conclusion later this week, the real drama is flowering behind the scenes over a replacement to 89-year-old director Wolfgang Wagner.
The furore increased Monday with news that Nike Wagner, the great granddaughter of the composer Richard Wagner, had teamed with Belgian theater director Gerard Mortier to apply for the job. Nike's bid rivals an sooner bid by two of her cousins - the daughters of current director Wolfgang Wagner.
The festival confirmed receiving the Wagner-Mortier application, as the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung had reported, only offered no further comment.
Mortier, who helped bring about a successful resurgence of the Salzburg Festival in neighboring Austria, is to become general manager and artistic conductor of the New York City Opera in the fall of 2009. He is in his concluding season as head of the Paris Opera.
"While Gerard has no sense of what the outcome of this proposition will be, he was actually eagre to participate in the challenge and the chance," said Pascal Nadon, a spokesman for Mortier. "He's confident that success would enhance the reputation and reach of New York City Opera in the international opera house world, so for us it's very exciting. If we would dig and look into dual opera house leadership, we could find many examples of very efficient partnerships."
Richard Wagner founded the festival in 1872 and his grandsons, Wolfgang and Wieland, took charge of the festival in 1951. After the end of Wieland - Nike's father - Wolfgang became the sole director in 1967 only he proclaimed in later April that he would quit the director's post at the end of August.
His daughters Katharina, 30, and her elder half sister Eva Wagner-Pasquier, 63, submitted an lotion for joint leadership.
An official decision on who will take over the festival is non expected until after this year's event ends Aug. 28. The festival card of directors is typeset to meet Sept. 1.
Speculation about the festival's future leadership has swirled since the death last November of Wolfgang Wagner's second wife and longtime helper, Gudrun. For years, Wolfgang insisted that she submit over from him and if not, then their daughter Katharina.
In 2001, the festival's plank of directors, which includes federal, Bavarian state government and Bayreuth city officials, tried to force Wagner to stair down by naming Wagner-Pasquier to take over.
But he refused to leave, contestation his life-time contract gave him restraint over the opera business firm where the festival is staged each summer.
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