Wrung out after last year’s Ring Cycle Longborough Festival Opera is taking a sideways glance at the Wagner family after the old man’s death. Warring cats in a sack.
Wahnfried begins with the death of Richard Wagner and spans forty years of history. Think Succession! The Wagner family version.
Determination to construct the myth of the patriarch composer, the brutal infighting that flows from that, and with no flinching from their disturbing political affiliations, all make for a riveting tale.
This major new opera by Avner Dorman, with a libretto by acclaimed playwrights Lutz Hübner and Sarah Nemitz, will receive its UK premiere at Longborough in 2025.
The world premiere was presented alongside the Karlsruhe Ring in 2017 and was nominated for a prestigious International Opera Award in the Best New Opera category.
The Master insists I point out in the interests of complete disclosure he has a dog in this fight. He is Longborough’s American Ambassador. Distinctly pleased with himself.
