Katharina Wagner congratulates Hans Neuenfels on his 80th birthday

HAns Neuenfels, arguable mainly in word and deed, and one of the last all-round performers on the scene, is eighty years old. He, director, designer, director, filmmaker, narrator, poet, essayist, studied in Vienna at the Max Reinhart Symposium and in Paris as a young man Max Ernst He met, flick many theaters with his wild energy. Neuwenfels once said relentlessly: “Since art is a danger, it should be expected that it, in turn, endanger itself.” He has performed over twenty operas to date and is still considered an eccentric in contemporary theater, a lovable and anarchist revolutionary.

In 1974, he began his career as a director of the opera “The Troubadour” in Verdi in Nuremberg. He has “Aida” at the Frankfurt Opera, his new production “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” in Stuttgart, and there is also “His kidnapping of Seraglio” next to “Le Prophète” at the Vienna State Opera, and “Nabucco” – and “Idomeneo” productions in Deutsche Oper. Berlin and “Fledermaus” at the Salzburg Festival. Some of his works are still very fresh to me, they are still in my memory and have won many awards at the same time. Fifty years of concentrated theater are found in his “Rascal Book,” the memoir of a theater man with equal sensitivity and provocation.

A member of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts and the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin appeared for the first time at the invitation of my father at the age of sixty-nine in Bayreuth. He also presented a lot of topics for conversation here with his interpretation “Lohengrin”, and even entertainment by making the boundaries between humans and animals disappear and raised the question of whether We were really just guinea pigs. The fictional review left room for speculation, including provocations, and thought stimulation. Hans Neuenfels took the idea of ​​”Werkstatt Bayreuth” very seriously every year and continued with the audience, which can be clearly seen in the changing reception. On the sixth summer of the festival, his production was celebrated with a standing ovation.

Hans Neuenfels may continue to maintain his curiosity and put off his farewell on stage, which has already been planned so many times that, through his work, he is inspiring entire generations of actors, singers, and directors. happy birth day!