A new production of Richard Wagner’s Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg will open the 108th edition of the Bayreuth Festival on 25 July 2019. This “Große romantische Oper in drei Akten” [“Grand romantic opera in three acts”] premiered in 1845 in Dresden and was shown for the first time in Bayreuth in 1891. After director Sebastian Baumgarten’s Tannhäuser in 2011, this new production will be the ninth interpretation of the opera (in its so-called Dresden edition) at the Bayreuth Festival.

Tannhäuser will be conducted by Valery Gergiev, marking Mr. Gergievs debut in Bayreuth. Tobias Kratzer directs, with stage and costume designs by Rainer Sellmaier.

Stephen Gould will sing the titular character of Tannhäuser, a role he first sang in Bayreuth in 2004. Lise Davidsen sings Elisabeth, Stephen Milling sings Landgraf Hermann. Wolfram von Eschenbach will be sung by Markus Eiche and Venus by Ekaterina Gubanova. In further roles: Daniel Behle as Walther von der Vogelweide, Kay Stiefermann as Biterolf, Jorge Rodríguez-Norton as Heinrich der Schreiber, Wilhelm Schwinghammer as Reinmar von Zweter and Katharina Konradi as Ein junger Hirt.