The director of the Bayreuth Festival has apologized to publicist Michel Friedman over the cancellation of a planned speech. Friedman was set to address antisemitism in Richard Wagner. The event marking the 150th anniversary had been dropped due to security concerns.
Katharina Wagner apologized to Michel Friedman in a letter and in a phone call on Thursday. She wrote that a pure celebration would have been unbearable for her and invited him to come to Bayreuth on the original date. Friedman agreed.
The speech had been canceled due to alleged security concerns. Internally the cancellation was known already in spring and ticket sales were never started. The venue was informed in mid-March that the reservation could be lifted.
Friedman had called the cancellation the death of democracy by suicide. Bavaria’s arts minister Markus Blume demanded a solution. The festival looks back on a history with ties to National Socialism.
