This quote comes from the Bible, specifically from the Gospel of Matthew. The entire verse in Scripture reads: "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from God." This was said by Jesus when he was tempted by the devil in the wilderness. Old Testament: This saying has its roots in the Old Testament, in the fifth book of Moses (Deuteronomy), and in a figurative sense, it can be applied to today's situations both at home and around the world, referring to times when people need art, culture, love, or faith.
The word "Wagner" is a German surname (originally meaning a cartwright), the name of the famous composer, or the name of a modern Russian mercenary group. Some of Wagner's most famous quotes include: "Joy is not in things; it is in us," "Imagination creates reality," and "Only the strong know love."
The controversy surrounding Richard Wagner has revolved for decades around his intense antisemitic writings, his later acceptance as a beloved cultural figure by the Nazi party, and his close collaboration with Jewish musicians and artists. Among them were Hermann Levi (who conducted the premiere of the opera Parsifal), pianist Joseph Rubinstein, and child prodigy Carl Tausig. Key elements of the controversy include Wagner's essay "Das Judenthum in der Musik" (Judaism in Music) from 1850, his personal attacks on contemporary Jewish musicians, and the ongoing debate about separating his monumental musical achievements from his bigotry.
The music of the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner is not legally banned in Israel, but it is effectively taboo and unofficially banned due to widespread public opposition. The boycott began in 1938 when the Palestine Symphony Orchestra (now the Israel Philharmonic) removed his works from its repertoire following the "Kristallnacht" pogroms in Nazi Germany. The unofficial boycott is maintained out of respect for Holocaust survivors and the broader Israeli public.
Around the time of Nietzsche's "On the Genealogy of Morality," he began to believe that Wagner's entire work was fundamentally linked to European decadence. Parsifal embodied the world-denying mentality of the "slave," which Nietzsche despised. However, he valued Wagner's philosophy of tonality, music, and art; he admired Wagner's ability to express himself.
Brahms and Wagner lived in the same city, shared a cultural moment, and yet represented an artistic contrast. Their only meeting in 1863 was brief but symbolic, representing a clash of worlds: a young defender of Viennese classical traditions versus a radical dramatist transforming German opera. Tchaikovsky described Wagner as "undoubtedly the most striking figure in European music," but ironically noted that one of Wagner's main goals was to attract attention and achieve fame at any cost, unlike composers such as Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann.
The Nazis turned Wagner into a national hero. Hitler loved his music, and Germany made the Bayreuth Festival the center of Nazi propaganda. Goebbels called "Die Meistersinger" "the most German of all German operas." Today, many consider Wagner inseparable from Nazism, yet an invitation to attend the Bayreuth Festival remains one of the most valuable things one can receive. This time, however, I declined the invitation for personal reasons.
150 years ago
```htmlOur blessed Adolf, as Winifred Wagner, the festival director, once said in 1975. For the Nazis, Bayreuth was a special case, as research by SZ shows, and it remains so even today. Therefore, it is worth asking: How did the NSDAP shape ideas in Bayreuth – even long after 1945? For a partial answer, I recommend watching two works by director Hans Jürgen Syberberg: the film adaptation of the opera Parsifal from 1982 and the documentary Winifred Wagner's Confession from 1975. These projects explore German Romanticism, myths, and the complex political legacy of the composer.
The red carpet was laid out this year at an unusual time: on Saturday (July 25th) early in the evening. The reason: The Bayreuth Festival is celebrating its anniversary. 150 years with a ceremony and Beethoven's 9th Symphony instead of an opera performance, with the orchestra conducted by Christian Thielemann.
The question: Why Beethoven instead of Wagner? The symphony was performed at the laying of the foundation stone for the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on May 22, 1872. At that time, it was conducted by Wagner himself in the Markgräfliches Opernhaus.
In the jubilee year of 150 years, after the turmoil surrounding the commemorative event, Katharina Wagner, director of the Bayreuth Festival, and journalist Julien Michel Friedman (1956), a German Jew, appeared together at the beginning of the festival.
This former CDU politician, lawyer, and talk show host (on N24 called "Studio Friedman") was Vice President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany from 2000 to 2003 and Chairman of the European Jewish Congress from 2001 to 2003. He resigned from his position after being convicted in a case involving forced prostitution and cocaine use.
At the royal portal of the world-famous Festspielhaus, Katharina Wagner and Michel Friedman greeted the guests of honor, chatted with each other, and seemed very relaxed and at ease. Why am I mentioning the Bayreuth Festival, its director, and this journalist?
The Jewish journalist Friedman's invitation was initially canceled (due to security concerns), only to be reinstated later with an apology from Director Wagner. However, the regional police headquarters in Upper Franconia, as well as the city of Bayreuth, informed DW that they were not involved in the planning process. Friedman himself had previously expressed deep anger in interviews for Süddeutsche Zeitung and other media. He said that "canceling events for security reasons in a democracy is a surrender to extremists," and called the move "suicide."
The above speaks for itself, and at the same time reveals something about antisemitism in Germany, raising the question: What would he have said then – and what does he say now? The essays "German Audacity" from June 18th, "I am truly sorry!" from June 19th, and the guest article "Yes, what's going on again?!" from June 23rd clearly indicate that this is a German drama. This is evident in all aspects, including the media: the neurotic desire of Germans to be spared their own history. Friedman himself said in 2023 at the Frankfurt Book Fair: "Please, I don't like it when we, the public and I, are considered crazy!" I, personally, add: State funding for this social event should be questioned given the alarming cowardice of the festival management in addressing uncomfortable topics.
```Yesterday, on Sunday, Friedman spoke about artists who were persecuted and murdered during the Nazi era. This event caused considerable controversy for reasons that were briefly described beforehand. Friedman failed to mention that Wagner was a product of his time. In the 19th century, it was socially acceptable to be an antisemite, just as it is becoming increasingly socially acceptable in Germany in 2026 to be Islamophobic. And I am not talking about Friedman as an intellectual: I have not seen him condemn the genocide in Gaza and Iran.
When Friedman claims in his statement that the city of Bayreuth and the festival have forgotten history in recent times, meaning at least a latent antisemitism, and that Bayreuth has not addressed the topic of *Wagner and antisemitism / Nazis / the Wagner family and the Nazis*, he is mistaken if he is not lying.
I remind you that in 2000, there was a symposium called *Wagner and the Jews* with Jewish speakers. In 2007, festival director Katharina Wagner quite clearly linked Wagner's opera to Nazism in her festival production of *Meistersinger von Nürnberg*. In 2012, an exhibition called *Silent Voices* was held in the town hall, and its second part is permanently on display in the Festival Park. In 2017, Jewish director Barrie Kosky staged *Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg* from a explicitly Jewish perspective, which undoubtedly allowed for political and aesthetic differences.
I also remind you that festival director Katharina Wagner herself has not officially appeared on the red carpet for years. This year, she welcomed former Chancellor Merkel (CDU), Minister-President Söder (1967), and many others with warm words, and was photographed alongside Bayreuth Mayor Andreas Zippel (SPD) and his partner Luca Maasse.
Wagner's connection to homosexuality includes his personal relationships with figures such as King Ludwig II, the queer dynamics surrounding his son Siegfried Wagner, and the intense homoerotic undertones that often appear in his operas. While Richard Wagner himself lived a conventional heterosexual life, his social circle, artistic legacy, and Wagner's dramatic exploration of absolute desire, outsider status, and transcendent love have cultivated a devoted following among LGBTQ+ cultural critics and opera lovers since the 19th century.
Richard and Cosima's son, and later festival director, was bisexual. He later married under pressure from his family to secure an heir after public scandals in Germany regarding his bisexuality.
The Opera Rienzi
The Bayreuth Festival celebrated 150 years since its first season in a way that goes to the heart of the festival. Wagner's early opera, *Rienzi*, was performed on stage for the first time, a work outside the usual Bayreuth repertoire. The historical premiere, which took place yesterday, July 26, 2026, was prepared by Alexandra Szemerédy and Magdolna Parditka – the first directors outside the Wagner family to stage an opera in Bayreuth.
I remind you that when Wagner launched the first Bayreuth Festival in August 1876, he presented the entire cycle of *The Ring of the Nibelung* three times in the specially built Festspielhaus. Artistically, it was an event of European significance, but financially, it was a disaster. The theater then remained closed for six years, and the next season took place only in 1882, when *Parsifal* had its world premiere there.
Throughout the entire festival, the main opera program maintained an exceptionally narrow repertoire. The so-called "
The significance of "Rienzi" for Hitler lies partly in the fact that the overture to the opera was used at Nazi Party rallies. Although the opera itself was composed nearly a century before the rise of Nazism, and does not end with a triumphant leader but rather his political and personal downfall, it remains relevant even for Czech audiences, politicians, and illusionists.
"Rienzi" is an early opera by Richard Wagner. The libretto was written by the composer himself, based on a novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873), an English writer and politician. He wrote historical and occult novels, detective stories, plays, poetry, and some of his writings can now be considered fantasy or science fiction. The novel tells the story of Cola di Rienzo (1313-1354), a controversial Italian politician in late medieval Rome and tribune of the people.
The opera premiered on October 20, 1842, at the Royal Court Theater in Dresden. It received an enormous response and had a significant impact on the composer's career. Almost overnight, thanks to "Rienzi," Wagner became known throughout Dresden and later throughout Germany, becoming a respected figure. Alongside the acclaimed soprano Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient, tenor Josef Tichatscheck (1807-1886), of Czech origin, performed in the role of Rienzi. Tichatscheck was considered the first "heroic" tenor, not only for his dramatic vocal delivery but also for his heroic appearance. He sang the title role in the world premiere of Wagner's opera "Tannhäuser" (Dresden, 1845).
Conclusion
The Bayreuth Festival returned to a work that was the composer's first triumph and which, in the 20th century, became associated with Nazi propaganda. It is precisely this ambiguity that makes it a symbolic choice for the 150th anniversary and for events taking place in Europe today. The festival's choice of opera demonstrates that even long traditions do not have to remain unchanged – and that a legacy can be remembered not only through celebration but also through critical re-evaluation. This was achieved by three women: Alexandra Szemerédy and Magdolna Parditka's production replaces 14th-century Rome with an abstract near future in a vibrant setting. Nathalie Stutzmann (music director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and the second woman in history to lead a major orchestra) conducted and found moments of pure chamber music tenderness, majestic balance, and powerful bass lines amidst the marches and choral outbursts.
Rome became an abstract near future (with devices resembling smartphones for everyone, screens everywhere, dystopian concrete), which also alludes to recent political events in the United States and elsewhere. One political faction carries banners shouting "
The production (female) trio has excellent PR professionals and media support. The anniversary in Bayreuth was even advertised by the New York Times, addressing citizens of the world and asking: Won't you come by car? Then you will get to know this country. Definitely!
Subscribers to the New York Times could read in January of that year what would be really popular this year: 150 years of the Richard Wagner Festival in Bavaria. A major anniversary on July 25, 2026, in the foothills of the Alps. It should be quite nice in Bavaria. And technically?
And of course, subscribers read about it. If you are in Barcelona, London, Paris, Rome or Amsterdam during that anniversary weekend, you can fly there directly. What is the name of that city? Exactly, Nuremberg. They say everything is a bit old-fashioned there. But they have an airport, which is great. And then you are practically there. However, it might be good to check everything before departure. It's Bavaria! And they know what citizens of the world want.
So: Landing in Nuremberg, everything is fluffy. Question: How far is it to the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth? Less than 100 kilometers. Okay. Still, take another look at the map and the explanations. What do you find out? What is Schienenersatzverkehr? And that brings me to logistics and railways, a perennial problem even in the Czech Republic.
Track maintenance, DB Regio Bayern, duration: from September 18, 2025. Dear railway. What exactly does this mean for the route between Nuremberg and Bayreuth at the start of the 150th Richard Wagner Festival? The answer can be found in German. In a non-official Czech translation: The DB Infrago railway company informed us that, due to technical problems, inspections, and damage to several bridges in the Pegnitz valley, the track between Hersbruck and Neuhausem (Pegnitz) will remain closed until September 14, 2026.
Congratulations to all old and new Wagnerians who flew in from Barcelona, London, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, and of course also to guests who traveled by ICE train from Hamburg and Berlin for the anniversary performance, for their love of Wagner and the courage based on myths and the illusion of knowledge: Visitors from afar and without a company car can exceptionally afford the pleasure of entering the world festival city of the Free State in a regional, clattering diesel.
And a tip from SZ: If you are changing from bus to train at the beautiful Pegnitz station in a wild and romantic setting – be sure to stop at the only place nearby, Schiller's butcher shop. But be careful: on the day of the Wagner anniversary opening, it closes at 12 noon.
Jan Campbell