August Everding (1928–1999)

August Everding (1928–1999) was a leading German opera director and administrator closely associated with Munich and with Wagner. Educated in Bonn and Munich, he moved from spoken theatre to opera in the late 1960s and quickly gained an international profile. After notable years in Hamburg, he returned in 1977 as General Intendant of the Bavarian State Opera and later supervised Munich’s state theatres. He championed the 1988 renovation of the Prinzregententheater, today home to the Bavarian Theatre Academy. Everding’s Wagner credentials were substantial: early successes with Tristan und Isolde and Lohengrin led to invitations to Bayreuth—Der fliegende Holländer (1969) and Tristan und Isolde (1974)—as well as to Vienna, the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, and Salzburg. He later realized complete Ring cycles in Warsaw (1988–89) and, across four seasons, in Chicago (1992–96). A thoughtful traditionalist, he favored clear storytelling and a close alignment of musical and dramatic values. Based in Munich for much of his career, Everding remained a central figure in postwar German opera until his death in 1999.

From 1986 to 1998, Everding hosted the 3sat television series Da Capo – August Everding im Gespräch mit …, in which he conducted interviews with leading singers including Martha Mödl, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Anton Dermota, Astrid Varnay, Gwyneth Jones, Ingrid Bjoner, Christa Ludwig, Hans Hotter, Kurt Moll, Anneliese Rothenberger, Peter Schreier, Waldemar Kmentt, Hildegard Behrens, Brigitte Fassbaender, Rene Kollo, James King, Gustav Neidlinger, Irmgard Seefried, Hertha Töpper, Sándor Kónya, Hermann Prey, Thomas Stewart, Josef Greindl, Edith Mathis and Edda Moser. Many of these conversations are now accessible on YouTube.

August Everding at Bayreuth

1969

Der fliegende Holländer (Stage director)

1970

Der fliegende Holländer (Stage director)

1971

Der fliegende Holländer (Stage director)

1974

Tristan und Isolde (Stage director)

1975

Tristan und Isolde (Stage director)

1976

Tristan und Isolde (Stage director)

1977

Tristan und Isolde (Stage director)

One of the finest monuments in sound ever to have been raised to the everlasting glory of music. (Claude Debussy on Parsifal)

"The thing about Wagner is that there can be no true success in any production of his operas, only degrees of failure. There is so much in these bloody pieces, all you can do is try to live up to them." (Keith Warner, The Guardian)

"I have never come across an audience with so much hatred, so much anger, such a thirst for revenge. They take everything personally. It makes you a little bit scared, and it's really quite terrifying." (Lance Ryan on the audiences at Bayreuth)

"People sometimes complain that Wagner operas are too long, that they get stiff and sore about 10.30 because they have rushed in to hear one of his works straight from work and are not properly prepared for listening to his music. The audience, as much as the artists, must be prepared for a performance."
(Benjamin Britten to Alan Blyth, Gramophone)

"I was bowled over. It was the year after Wieland Wagner had died; to be able to see his productions was a total knock-out. These bare stagings, where everything was done with lighting. The light changed with the music, and the shadows and patterns seemed as archetypal as the music itself. Nobody had done that on the stage before. I thought it was extraordinary and wonderful."
(Patrick Carnegy to The Guardian)

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