OPUS ARTE SIGNS NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH PRESTIGIOUS BAYREUTH FESTIVAL

Opus Arte, the Royal Opera House’s multi-platform arts production and distribution company, is delighted to announce the start of an exciting new long term partnership with the prestigious Bayreuth Festival.

The announcement of the signing was made at a press conference in Bayreuth, 25th August 2009, by Katharina Wagner, co-director of Bayreuth Festival and great grand-daughter of Richard Wagner, together with Roland Ott, the new Managing Director of Opus Arte.

This important partnership reinforces Opus Arte’s position as one of the leading players in the global DVD, cinema and digital market place for opera, ballet and theatre recordings.

The first recording to be released on DVD will be Christoph Marthaler’s production of Tristan und Isolde conducted by Peter Schneider which is scheduled for release in November 2009. Recorded at this summer’s festival, the international cast is led by Robert Dean Smith as Tristan, Iréne Theorin as Isolde and includes Robert Holl, Jukka Rasilainen, Ralf Lukas, Michelle Breedt, Clemens Bieber, Arnold Bezuyen and Martin Snell together with the Bayreuth Festival Chorus and Orchestra.

At the same time, an audio recording of the complete Ring Cycle, conducted by Christian Thielemann in 2008, will be released. This 14-CD set features Michelle Breedt, Albert Dohmen, Stephen Gould, Hans-Peter Konig, Linda Watson and Eva-Maria Westbroek.

Other releases will include Die Walküre in 2010 directed by Tankred Dorst and conducted by Christian Thielemann. Future productions will be announced in due course.

Tony Hall, Chairman of Opus Arte and Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House said: ‘This is an exciting, long term agreement between Opus Arte, the Royal Opera House and Bayreuth. Roland Ott and I want to bring the very best opera and ballet recordings to audiences all over the world. Including Bayreuth in the opera houses we are working with is an enormous bonus. I look forward to Thielemann’s Ring on CD and to many exciting productions on DVD’.

Katharina Wagner commented on the new cooperation: ‘I am very happy that, after a long time of talking to and discussing with several major labels, we now found a partner that not only is able to provide the high quality and the specific image that fits very well with the worldwide unique Bayreuth Festival but also is willing to become one of the very few and selected long-time partners we can definitely rely on’.

Opus Arte:
Opus Arte, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Royal Opera House, was established in 1999 and grew rapidly to become one of the world’s leading providers of high-quality classical music content. As well as releasing around thirty titles on DVD & Blu-ray per year, the company has produced and directed programmes that have been broadcast in over 60 countries, and won many Awards. The aim of Opus Arte has always been to work with the best possible partners in all areas of business - from broadcasters to producers; from opera houses to directors. Its continuing partnership with DigiScreen ensures that philosophy will continue, bringing outstanding performances to an enthusiastic global cinema audience. For further information please visit www.opusarte.com

The Royal Opera House:
The Royal Opera House is the home of three world class performing companies – The Royal Ballet, The Royal Opera and The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. It is a focal point for national and international artistic excellence where the evolving traditions of opera and ballet are taken to the highest levels. From its iconic building, renowned stars and rising talent inspire diverse audiences around the world. Excellence without compromise. Open to all. A progressive tradition. For further information please visit www.roh.org.uk

Bayreuth Festival:
Bayreuth Festival is the most renowned festival for operas by German composer Richard Wagner held each summer. Richard Wagner himself designed and built the ‘Festspielhaus’, an opera house intended just to play a specific choice of his works during the Festival. It opened on 13 August 1876 with the first performance of the whole Ring presenting the local premieres of Das Rheingold and Die Walküre and world premieres of Siegfried and Götterdämmerung. Wagner’s Festival ideal in general was closely bound up with the genesis of his principal work, Der Ring des Nibelungen. The composer’s reflections on a fundamental reform of existing theatrical conditions finally led him to sketch out the idea of a festival, an idea that continued to obsess him throughout his whole life.

For more information please visit www.bayreuther-festspiele.de