(L-R)Gudrun, Katharina and Wolfgang Wagner
© AFP/DDP Timm Schamberger

BAYREUTH, Germany (AFP) - After the first two acts of "The Mastersingers of Nuremberg", composed by Richard Wagner and directed by his 29-year-old Katharina, some were critical of her modern and unconventional reading, while others gushed with enthusiasm.

"Fantastic," said one American woman as she emerged from the hallowed "Festspielhaus" theatre following the first act of the three-act "comic" opera.

"Surprisingly good," enthused Carl Julius Brabant, an octogenarian who said he has been coming to Bayreuth since 1951.

"There were so many pessimists in the run-up to the festival who said it would be a disaster. But it's really not. It's really got oomph."

The production -- Katharina Wagner's debut on Bayreuth's famed "Green Hill" -- is seen as a possible turning point for the world's oldest and most prestigious summer music festival, which Wagner himself set up 131 years ago.

The critical success of "Meistersinger" could help settle a bitter internecine feud over the running of the festival that has divided the different branches of the warring Wagner clan for decades.

Katharina Wagner
© AFP/DDP Timm Schamberger

Bayreuth is currently run by Wolfgang Wagner, the composer's 87-year-old grandson, in charge since 1951. He wants Katharina, his daughter by his second marriage, to take over when he steps down.

But rival cousins Eva Wagner-Pasquier and Nike Wagner, both 62, also lay claim to the Bayreuth throne. Eva is Wolfgang's daughter by his first marriage, while Nike is the daughter of Wolfgang's brother Wieland, who died in 1966.

The opera is ostensibly about a singing competition in Nuremberg in the Middle Ages. But Katharina has updated it to modern times and instead of a singing competition, has recast it as an exploration of the visual arts and painting.

Achim Barth, from Frankfurt, was not so impressed.

"It's runs completely contrary to the text. It's just nonsense. Modern for the sake of being modern."

Roger Alier, a Spanish opera critic, was even blunter.

"Just horrible," was his verdict. "I hear what they're singing and it has nothing to do with what's going on on stage. I don't see where she's going with this."

Musically, too, the production failed to impress in some quarters.

Angela Merkel(R) and her husband Joachim Sauer
© AFP/DDP Timm Schamberger

German conductor Sebastian Weigle, making his Bayreuth debut, "has absolutely no grasp of the score. It's extremely messy," said Lorenz Tomerius, a Berlin-based critic, who added: "The singing's not up to scratch, either."

Almost all of the cast, uncharacteristically young by Bayreuth's standards, were performing in the legendary Festspielhaus for the first time.

German baritone Franz Hawlata was most convincing in the role of Hans Sachs, while the two main female characters, Eva and Magdalene, taken by American soprano Amanda Mace and Carola Guber of Germany, were ineffective.

Bayreuth's glitzy opening night is traditionally a red-carpet affair, attended by Europe's political and social elite.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in an elegant purple two-piece, chatted amiably with EU Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso on the lawn in front of the Festspielhaus during the interval.

A number of colourful figures from the German entertainment scene were also in attendance, including TV showmaster Thomas Gottschalk, crooner Roberto Blanco, and Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis.

The 96th Bayreuth Festival was set to continue Thursday with a revival of Philippe Arlaud's "Tannhaeuser", last seen here in 2005.

©AFP