Bayreuth 2026: Rienzi

Opening the 2026 Bayreuth Festival in its 150th anniversary year, this live stream presents a historic event: Wagner’s Rienzi, his early grand opera and once his greatest success, presented in the iconic Festspielhaus for the first time. Nathalie Stutzmann conducts a superb cast led by Heldentenor Andreas Schager in the title role, with Gabriela Scherer as Irene and Jennifer Holloway as Adriano. Award-winning directors Alexandra Szemerédy and Magdolna Parditka present a staging incorporating digital and AI-driven elements created especially for the occasion. With its massed choruses, public spectacle and private tragedy, Rienzi promises to open this landmark Bayreuth Festival in truly unmissable style.