Wagner great grand-daughter to quit Bayreuth Festival

Eva Wagner-Pasquier, great grand-daughter of German composer Richard Wagner, is to quit as co-chief of the legendary Bayreuth Festival in September 2015, according to a newspaper report, published Friday. Wagner-Pasquier, 68, currently runs the annual summer music bash dedicated exclusively to Wagner's operas, with her much younger half-sister Katharina Wagner, 36. They were originally appointed in 2008, taking over from their father Wolfgang Wagner (1919-2010), and their contracts are scheduled to expire in September 2015. But Wagner-Pasquier has asked the festival's foundation not to extend her contract as co-director, the regional Nordbayerischer Kurier reported. And it quoted Wagner-Pasquier herself as saying: "I've asked the stakeholders to involve me as an advisor." She did not give any reasons why she no longer wanted to run the festival, the newspaper said. The negotiations regarding the extension of Katharina Wagner's contract are still ongoing and are not affected by the decision, the newspaper added. The Bayreuth Festival originally set up by Wagner himself is one of the world's longest-running summer music festivals and also one of the hardest to get into, with the waiting list for tickets running to 10 years and more.