Overview
- The Orquesta del Festival de Bayreuth gave the closing concert of Festival Peralada at the Palau de la Música Catalana on Saturday, performing roughly two hours of selections from Wagner’s Ring and ending with a bis of the Ride of the Valkyries.
- Conductor Pablo Heras‑Casado led the ensemble and signalled from the podium a developing assignment to take on the full Ring tetralogy at Bayreuth in coming summers, a report that remains described as emerging.
- Soloists included Catherine Foster, Klaus Florian Vogt and Nicholas Brownlee, whose performances drew mixed notice from critics who praised vocal power but saw unevenness in some moments.
- Reviewers and audiences applauded the orchestra’s signature Bayreuth sound—especially the strings and woodwinds—while critics noted punctual problems with tempo control and brass intonation.
- Ninety‑five musicians flew in from Grafenegg/Vienna that morning and the company immediately continued a planned Spanish tour to Santander, Seville, Madrid and Valencia, underscoring how rare Bayreuth tours amplify festival collaborations and public interest.