Around the Music Festival

The Bayreuth Festival has reiterated to the music media that conductor Christian Thielemann is no longer in the post of music director. According to the festival, the conductor’s contract expired on January 1, 2021.

It all started on the 10th of this month when the Saxony government announced that it would not extend its contract with Thielemann, the chief conductor of Staatskapelle Dresden. If the contract is not extended, the term of office of the chief conductor will end in 2024.

In response to this announcement, music media investigated other title by Thielemann and found that the word “music director” had disappeared on the Bayreuth Festival’s website.

The festival responded to inquiries from the music media, “The talks about the continuation of his activity and his name in Bayreuth have not yet been concluded. Whether the position of music director will continue to exist in Bayreuth in the future has also not yet been finally decided, so we have currently removed the title from the website.”

Photo：Staatskapelle Dresden