I still have a suitcase in Bayreuth

Waltraud Meier in conversation with Opernwelt

As Isolde, Bayreuth 1999 © Bayreuther Festspiele

How did the first Bayreuth Kundry come about?

Leonie Rysanek, I was told later, had asked in 1982 that she be given an alternating colleague for Kundry. The dates were too tight for her. Wolfgang Wagner was apparently convinced at the time that Rysanek should only be given a young colleague at her side. A d…