Richard Wagner Foundation Wahnfried Archive), was deposited with the Foundation. In 2008 the Foundation's 24 board members, mostly descendants of Wagner, selected Katharina Wagner and her sister Eva Wagner-Pasquier to lead the Bayreuth Festival following the decision of Wolfgang Wagner to stand down. Richard Wagner Foundation The Richard Wagner Foundation (in German Richard-Wagner-Stiftung) was formed in 1973, when, faced with overwhelming criticism and infighting amongst the descendants of Richard Wagner, the Bayreuth Festival and its assets were transferred to the newly created Foundation. The board of directors included members of the Wagner family and others appointed by the state. The Wagner family handed
Bavarian State Orchestra premiere of his opera "Idomeneo", written in Munich. During the 1860s the orchestra, by then an integral part of the "Hofoper" (Court Opera), gave the world premieres of the Wagner operas "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg", "Tristan und Isolde", and "Das Rheingold", followed in 1870 by "Die Walküre". Hans von Bülow was active as conductor at that time. Upon the German Revolution of 1918–1919 the name changed again, to its present form, reflecting the demise of the Bavarian monarchy. The Bavarian State Orchestra is today part of the Bavarian State Opera company, Germany's largest, which it serves as pit ensemble, based