Taking Wagner Seriously: Barry Millington reports on two trailblazing productions conceived specifically for Bayreuth

Rather like politicians discovered in flagrante, the Bayreuth Festival continues to be caught in the headlights of media publicity, yet thrives on the exposure which is in any case half-invited. This year the top stories included the sad and unexpected death of Gudrun Wagner, who had been effectively running the festival for some time; the announcement that Wolfgang was ready to step down as festival director; the utterly unpredictable alliance of convenience between Katharina Wagner, the most strategically placed pretender to the throne, and her more experienced half-sister Eva; the first live stream webcast of a Wagner opera from the Festspielhaus; the first ‘public viewing’ of a Bayreuth production when up to 38,000 people watched Katharina Wagner’s Meistersinger on a big screen in the town’s so-called Volksfestplatz; a new reduced-price category of supporters, called the Young Friends of Bayreuth, providing opportunities to attend dress rehearsals; and the first ever appearance on the Bayreuth stage of SS troops and swastikas (in Stefan Herheim’s new production of Parsifal).