He led a famous performance of Wagner's opera "Tannhäuser" at the Bayreuth Festival on 23 July 1955, being the first conductor of French nationality to conduct at Bayreuth (and only the third non-German to conduct there, after Toscanini and de Sabata). His other work at Bayreuth up to 1965 consisted of "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" (1956, 1957, 1958), "Parsifal" (1957, 1965) and "Lohengrin" (1958), returning for "Tannhäuser" in 1965. According to Wolfgang Wagner, Cluytens was "universally liked for his amiable, open-minded attitude"; Hans Knappertsbusch was delighted when Cluytens requested that the older conductor introduce him to "Parsifal".