Since its inception, Bayreuth has become the byword for innovative and daring productions. The six operas featured on this release are certainly no exception; showcasing the original sets, creative productions and outstanding singing that the opera house is famous for, they cement Bayreuth’s worldwide reputation for nurturing raw talent, constantly striving for innovation. Jan Philipp Gloger’s controversial production of Der fliegende Holländer is conducted by Christian Thielemann, ‘Germany’s most sought-after conductor’ (Daily Telegraph), while Axel Kober takes the helm in Sebastian Baumgarten’s thought provoking production of Tannhäuser, which casts the opera as one giant experiment. Die Walküre stars up-and-coming singers Johan Botha and Edith Haller, both praised in the German press for their standout performances. The radical Tristan und Isolde sees Christoph Marthaler setting the romantic opera in a Communist-era reception room, unencumbered by the traditional lakes and forests, instead more like a psychodrama of the 1950s. Concluding the six operas is Katharina Wagner’s debut production: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, the first ever live recording from the Festival, praised by Opera Canada for its ‘stunning theatrical spectacle’. Richard Wagner’s operas find their home at Bayreuth, and these six very different but equally compelling performances capture the spirit of the German composer perfectly.

Subtitles: Der fliegende Hollander: English/French/German/Korean

Tannhauser: English/French/German/Korean

Lohengrin: English/French/German/Spanish

Die Walkure: English/French/German/Spanish

Tristan und Isolde: English/French/German/Spanish

Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: English/French/German/Spanish

Sound format: 2.0LPCM + 5.1(5.0) DTS

Artists

Franz Hawlata (Hans Sachs), Michael Volle (Sixtus Beckmesser), Michaela Kaune (Eva), Klaus Florian Vogt (Walther Von Stolzing), Norbert Ernst (David), Carola Guber (Magdalene), Artur Korn (Veit Pogner), Markus Eiche (Fritz Kothner), Friedemann Röhlig (Ein Nachtwächter), Charles Reid (Kunz Vogelgesang), Rainer Zaun (Konrad Nachtigall), Edward Randall (Balthasar Zorn), Hans-Jürgen Lazar (Ulrich Eisslinger), Stefan Heibach (Augustin Moser), Martin Snell (Hermann Ortel), Andreas Macco (Hans Schwarz), Iógenes Randes (Hans Foltzd), Johan Botha (Siegmund), Eva-Maria Westbroek (Sieglinde), Albert Dohmen (Wotan), Linda Watson (Brünnhilde), Kwangchul Youn (Hunding), Michelle Breedt (Fricka), Sonja Mühleck (Gerhilde), Anna Gabler (Ortlinde), Edith Haller (Helmwige), Martina Dike (Waltraute), Wilke te Brummelstroete (Siegrune), Annette Küttenbaum (Grimgerde), Manuela Bress (Rossweise), Simone Schröder (Schwertleite), Samuel Youn (Der Holländer), Franz-Josef Selig (Daland), Ricarda Merbeth (Senta), Tomislav Muzek (Erik), Christa Mayer (Mary), Benjamin Bruns (Der Steuermann), Klaus Florian Vogt (Lohengrin), Annette Dasch (Elsa Von Brabant), Petra Lang (Ortrud), Jukka Rasilainen (Friedrich Von Telramund), Georg Zeppenfeld (König Heinrich), Samuel Youn (Der Heerrufer Des Königs), Torsten Kerl (Tannhäuser), Camilla Nylund (Elisabeth), Michelle Breedt (Venus), Markus Eiche (Wolfram von Eschenbach), Kwangchul Youn (Landgraf Hermann), Lothar Odinius (Walther von der Vogelweide), Thomas Jesatko (Biterolf), Stefan Heibach (Heinrich der Schreiber), Rainer Zaun (Reinmar von Zweter), Robert Dean Smith (Tristan), Irene Theorin (Isolde), Robert Holl (König Marke), Jukka Rasilainen (Kurwenal), Ralf Lukas (Melot), Michelle Breedt (Brangäne), Clemens Bieber (Junger Seemann), Arnold Bezuyen (Hirt) & Martin Snell (Steuermann)

Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and Chorus, Sebastian Weigle (conductor) & Katharina Wagner (stage director), Christian Thielemann (conductor) & Tankred Dorst (director), Christian Thielemann (conductor) & Jan Philipp Gloger (director), Andris Nelsons (conductor) & Hans Neuenfels (director), Axel Kober (conductor) & Sebastian Baumgarten (stage director), Peter Schneider (conductor) & Christoph Marthaler (stage director)