Report on the Bayreuth Festival by Pietari Inkinen (Chief Conductor)

Miyajima Kiwami
Music journalist/Mainichi Classic Navi

　Pietari Inkinen, who has served as the Japan Philharmonic's principal conductor since 2016, conducted the cycle performance of the masterpiece "Der Ring des Nibelungen," consisting of four operas, at the Bayreuth Festival in Germany, known as the home of Wagner's works, this summer, demonstrating his outstanding performance, drawing thunderous applause after each performance.

　This year's production of "Ring" is an avant-garde reinterpretation by the up-and-coming Austrian director Valentin Schwarz. It was scheduled to premiere in 2020, but the music festival itself was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it finally made its debut last year.

　Inkinen was supposed to conduct from 20, but although he conducted the semi-staged performance of "Die Walküre" in 21, he withdrew from the festival just before the start of last year due to poor health (Cornelius Meister conducted in his place). This year, he finally conducted the complete "Ring" cycle.

　Inkinen's musical approach, which approaches works sincerely without trying to be eccentric, seems to have been well received by the Bayreuth audience, many of whom are "ursa-type." During the second cycle (August 5th-10th), which I covered, from the opening night of "Das Rheingold" onwards, the audience erupted in thunderous applause and the Bayreuth-famous "praise" of stomping on the wooden floor every day when Inkinen appeared for the curtain call. Furthermore, singers such as Tomasz Konieczny (Wotan) applauded Inkinen on stage and asked for handshakes, demonstrating his support from the other performers.

　I've been covering the Bayreuth Festival for 20 years, and I've witnessed several examples in the past where conductors were subjected to relentless booing, ultimately damaging their careers. Conversely, there have been cases like Kirill Petrenko, whose great success at Bayreuth served as a springboard for him to quickly rise to the position of principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. In that sense, Inkinen, who has achieved a certain level of success, has great potential for even greater future development. In an email interview with me just before the opening of the Bayreuth festival, Inkinen expressed his excitement about performing with the Japan Philharmonic after retiring as chief conductor. I look forward to a reunion between Inkinen, who has grown even more after his time at Bayreuth, and the Japan Philharmonic.

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