Valery Gergiev to make his Bayreuth Festival debut

The CVIII Bayreuth Festival opens on 25 July with a premiere of Richard Wagner’s opera Tannhäuser at the Festspielhaus.

Stage director Tobias Kratzer and his regular collaborator, the set and costume designer Rainer Sellmaier, were invited to work on the production. The title role will be performed by American heldentenor Stephen Gould, the role of Elisabeth by rising opera star Lise Davidsen, the role of Venus by Russian singers Elena Zhidkova and Ekaterina Gubanova, the role of Wolfram von Eschenbach by Markus Eiche, the role of Hermann by Stephen Milling and the role of Walther von der Vogelweide by Daniel Behle. The Festival Orchestra will be conducted by Valery Gergiev. This production will be the ninth stage version of the opera Tannhäuser (Dresden version) at the Bayreuth Festival.

The premiere is to be broadcast via the classical music portal BR-KLASSIK and will also be shown in more than twenty cinemas in Germany.

Performances of Tannhäuser under Valery Gergiev will also take place at the festival on 28 July and 13, 17, 21 and 25 August.