The WAGNER 22 Festival in Leipzig kicks off

To ring out the season and bid farewell to General Music Director and Intendant Prof. Ulf  Schirmer, the Oper Leipzig will perform all 13 of Richard Wagner’s completed music dramas. WAGNER 22 will take place from 20 June to 14 July 2022, making it one of the musical city’s premiere events. Wagner’s operas will be presented in the order in which they were composed, the »Ring« presented as a compact cycle. The Gewandhausorchester will play under the direction of Ulf Schirmer, Christoph Gedschold, and Matthias Foremny. Alongside such known works as »Der fliegende Holländer« and »Parsifal« the program also features Richard Wagner’s early works: »Die Feen«, »Das Liebesverbot«, and »Rienzi«. There is no other opera house in the world that can boast all of these operas in its repertoire and will perform them in just three weeks. The Oper Leipzig expects more than 15,000 visitors from around the world, and will present a free public viewing on the weekend of 25/26 June 2022; 450 guest have purchased a Festivalpass for all 13 performances. Although the 13 performances are sold out, there might still be remaining tickets available on short notice.

A documentation to honour Ulf Schirmer’s farewell as artistic director

WAGNER 22 gets started today on Monday, 20 June 2022 at 5:00pm with »Die Feen«. On the preceding evening, the City of Leipzig’s Lord Mayor Burkhard Jung held a reception in honor of outgoing Intendant and General Music Director of the Oper Leipzig, Prof. Ulf Schirmer, with one hundred invited guests. A new book documentation covers Schirmer’s era at the Oper Leipzig. Its presentation plays the the opening and closing chords: On 31 July 2022, Ulf Schirmer will depart from his double posting – 13 years as General Music Director, 11 as Intendant – and hand over artistic direction to Tobias Wolff, who has named Christoph Gedschold to the position of Music Director. Prof. Schirmer plans on taking a sabbatical but will return as a guest conductor to the Oper Leipzig – the dates have already been set!

Ideator Gustav Brecher and world-famous guests

This exceptional WAGNER 22 festival is a special thank-you from Ulf Schirmer to his audience and to the city. The Oper Leipzig would also like to honor its former Opera Director and General Music Director Gustav Brecher, who first had the idea for this Gesamtkunstwerk of Wagner’s music. Brecher drew the world’s attention and respect to the Oper in Leipzig in the musically avant-garde 1920s with his newly-created ensemble spirit. The casts for WAGNER 22 rely heavily on the great Oper Leipzig solo ensemble, including Kathrin Göring, Olga Jelínková, Sebastian Pilgrim, and Tuomas Pursio, among others, as well as regular guests of the house who are known the world over for their Wagner interpretations, including Elisabet Strid (Senta, Eva), Thomas J. Mayer (Holländer) James Rutherford (Hans Sachs), Andreas Schager (Tannhäuser, Tristan, Parsifal), Stefan Vinke (Rienzi), Klaus Florian Vogt (Lohengrin), and Michael Volle (Wotan in »Das Rheingold«).

Extensive supporting and Open-air

WAGNER 22 will be accompanied by an artistic-scientific supporting program, which includes a symposium about reception to Wagner’s music and controversial person, presented with the cooperation of the musicology institute of the Universität Leipzig. There will be a symposium presenting research on Wagner voices, put on in cooperation with the Sektion Phoniatrie und Audiologie of the Leipziger Universitätsklinik under the direction of Prof. Dr. Michael Fuchs. There will also be numerous thematic tours, exhibits and excursions, organized in part by the Richard-Wagner-Verband Leipzig. The Musikalische Komödie, the Oper Leipzig’s special venue, will present the »Ring für Kinder«. The WAGNER 22 festival’s principal sponsor is Porsche Leipzig GmbH.  Their cultural engagement makes possible the public viewing presentations of »Der fliegende Holländer« and »Tannhäuser«, which will take place on the Augustusplatz just in front to the Opera House on the weekend of 25/26 June. The WAGNER 22 Festival is a special addition to the cultural calendar of the »Musikstadt :Leipzig«, paying homage to the city’s great musicians.

Wagner 22 keeps an active waiting list and ticket exchange – Last ticket chances are possible.
Tickets and Visitor Services, Monday-Saturday, 10am – 7pm at the Opera House, service@oper-leipzig.de, Telephone +49 341 1261 261
www.oper-leipzig.de/wagner22
www.oper-leipzig.de/en