The festival has been building this reputation since 2013, when they staged the full *Ring* cycle. Since then, they have added *Tristan*, *Parsifal*, the *Flying Dutchman*, *Lohengrin*, and *Tannhäuser* to the list. The next piece of the puzzle is *Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg*, set for 28 May 2027. This will complete the so-called Bayreuth canon - the ten mature works.
But here is the bit that made us sit up: it is not the version we know. Director Plamen Kartaloff is staging an adaptation made for La Scala in 1889, cut by about an hour and a half to make it more manageable for Italian audiences. It has not been performed anywhere since its premiere. The commission came from Giulio Ricordi, who had just bought the rights to Wagner’s works. He sent a young, unproven composer to Bayreuth to oversee the preparation. That composer was Giacomo Puccini, aged 31. It was his first significant professional commission. If you are tracking the lineage of Italian opera, this is where the thread starts pulling tight.
Kurt Rydl, a Kammersänger and honorary member of the Vienna State Opera, will work with the soloists on the production. It is a good sign.
The rest of the 135th season is equally ambitious. It opens on 1 October with a concert performance of *Carmina Burana* conducted by Daniel Oren. On 27 November, we get a premiere of Handel’s *Agrippina*, a collaboration with the Handel Festival in Halle conducted by Constantin Trinks. In March 2027, the house returns to Donizetti’s *La fille du régiment*, a revival of Franco Zeffirelli’s historic Palermo production directed by Marco Gandini. The role of Tonio - the one with the nine high Cs - goes to Venezuelan tenor Reinaldo Droz, a student of Raina Kabaivanska.
The ballet company, under Marta Petkova, kicks things off with a gala in Stara Zagora, followed by *Romeo and Juliet* on 8, 10, and 11 October. Petkova dances Juliet on the 11th. Their next premiere, *Three Faces*, lands in March 2027, featuring work by Balanchine, Jiří Kylián, and Garrett Smith. It is the first time Kylián’s work has been seen in Bulgaria, and the production marks his 80th birthday. Petkova calls him "the greatest living choreographer today." We are not going to argue with her.
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