Art.Nr.: NO10469 EAN: 7619990104693 (13 CD)

Release: November 2025

This CD box set allows us to relive that legendary Bayreuth Festival year with recordings of Tannhäuser from 22 July, Die Walküre from 25 July, Lohengrin from 4 August and Parsifal from 5 August 1954. For the regular audience of the ‘New Bayreuth’, which had established itself remarkably quickly since 1951, there were a few surprises in 1954: A singer named Theo Adam, who had previously only been employed in small roles, replaced the mighty bass heroes Ludwig Weber and Josef Greindl as Fasolt and King Heinrich, and a chorister named Franz Crass took the place of the 4th Nobleman in Lohengrin, without suspecting that five years later he would alternate with his already established young colleague as King Heinrich. Equally unexpected was Greindl's first Gurnemanz in Bayreuth (for Ludwig Weber). As Ramon Vinay was more burdened than originally planned by the six Tannhäuser performances, he had given up the roles of Parsifal and Siegmund. Wolfgang Windgassen took over these roles for him in addition to his other Bayreuth commitments: instead of the planned four evenings in the Ring and the seven Lohengrin performances, Windgassen sang Parsifal four more times!