Bayreuth Festspielhaus Bayreuth Festspielhaus The Bayreuth Festspielhaus or Bayreuth Festival Theatre (, ) is an opera house north of Bayreuth, Germany, built by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner and dedicated solely to the performance of his stage works. It is the venue for the annual Bayreuth Festival, for which it was specifically conceived and built. Its official name is . Wagner adapted the design of the "Festspielhaus" from an unrealised project by Gottfried Semper for an opera house in Munich, without the architect's permission, and supervised its construction. Ludwig II of Bavaria provided the primary funding for the construction. The foundation
Bayreuth Festival the festival into an opportunity for directors to experiment with new methods for presenting the operas. The change came out of necessity, as it was impossible for Wolfgang to both administer and direct the festival. It also provided an opportunity for Bayreuth to renew itself with each production, rather than continue to present the same operas in the same way, year after year. Ingmar Bergman, who famously made a film version in Swedish of Mozart's "Die Zauberflöte", turned down an invitation to direct the festival. The most sensational production in "Werkstatt Bayreuth" was the Centennial Ring Cycle under the direction