Bayreuth Festival opens with new producer, star

Critics and aficionados of the event, which kicked off late Sunday, will be looking to see what changes the new generation of the family brings as they settle in at the helm following the death in March of the composer's grandson.

Wolfgang Wagner, who ran the festival for 57 years, died at the age of 90, leaving his daughter Katharina, 36, and her half-sister Eva Wagner-Pasquier, 65, to step into the role.

Some critics, who have long bemoaned the dearth of good Wagner singers in the Festspielhaus during the latter years of Wolfgang Wagner's reign, are looking forward to a breath of fresh air at the event.

Eva Wagner-Pasquier, who has worked as casting consultant in New York's Metropolitan Opera and the Aix-en-Provence festival in France, is reputed to have a much better hand with singers.

Last year's festival saw only revivals of earlier productions to allow for a smoother transition at the helm.

This year's “Lohengrin” is not only the first new production under the new joint leadership but brings in fresh musical talent to the festival.

Some of the cast were dressed as white rats, scurrying around in what appeared to be an antiseptic laboratory — possibly an allusion to the plight of the heroine Elsa, who is trapped after being falsely accused of murdering her brother.

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