Kent Nagano and fimt: Research project on Wagner

As part of the "Initiative for Artistic Research in the Context of Music Theater", the Research Institute for Music Theater Thurnau (fimt) of the University of Bayreuth is launching a joint project with the renowned orchestra Concerto Köln and the internationally renowned conductor Kent Nagano on January 1, 2021. The central question is: How can artists of the 21st century sing the "Ring of the Nibelung" - worked out by Concerto Köln and Kent Nagano - Wagner within the framework of historically informed performances?

The project, initially scheduled to run for three years, under the direction of Prof. Dr. Anno Mungen, is dedicated to the study of historical Wagnerian singing using artistic research methods. This will explicitly generate scientific knowledge through collaboration with practitioners from music and theater. The project is funded by the Knowledge Transfer Program of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). A first insight into methods and interim results of the project will be possible as early as February 2021 during a concert under the direction of Kent Nagano in the concert hall "Philharmonie" in Cologne.

In comparison to the sound recordings made around 1900 - which represent a historical intermediate step to today's Wagnerian singing - as many aspects of historical performance practice as possible are to be reconstructed and made usable as material for a performance today.

The methodological center of the work are three workshops at Thurnau Castle, the seat of fimt: in cooperation between science and practice. With the help of artistic research, scientific and artistic results are created and documented, which ideally find their way into the - initially concertante - performances of the Ring of the Nibelung. A symposium in Thurnau is planned for 2022, which will discuss the questions of originality and authenticity with colleagues from opera practice and science.