Bayreuth opera festival returns with first woman conductor calling the tune

Portrait of German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor Richard Wagner, circa 1870 (Archive/PA)

The annual Bayreuth opera festival has returned after a one-year break forced by the coronavirus pandemic, with a woman conducting for the first time in the 145-year history of the event.

Oksana Lyniv won enthusiastic applause after conducting Richard Wagner’s Flying Dutchman at Bayreuth’s Festspielhaus on Sunday, news agency dpa reported.