Bayreuth Opera Festival chief’s wife helped stage annual German event

Gudrun Wagner, wife of the Bayreuth Opera Festival’s director and a key figure in the family battle over control of the German arts institution that was founded by composer Richard Wagner, has died. She was 63.

She died unexpectedly Wednesday morning at a hospital in Bayreuth, Germany. No cause of death was given, said Peter Emmerich, a spokesman for the festival.

“It is with deep emotion and with silent grief that I must convey that this morning my loving wife and close co-worker, Gudrun Wagner, died fully unexpectedly,” Wolfgang Wagner said in a statement.

Her death comes amid the feud over who will succeed Wagner -- a grandson of the composer -- as festival director.

Wagner, 88, had long insisted that his second wife and partner in directing and staging the annual festival was the only person capable of taking over.

“As the most important assistant and supporter of her husband, she shaped the luster and the worldwide significance of the Wagner festival in Bayreuth,” said Guenther Beckstein, state governor of Bavaria. “Her death is a deep loss to Bavaria, Bayreuth and the global festival community.”

Wolfgang Wagner has led the festival showcasing his grandfather’s operas since 1951 -- at first with his brother, Wieland, and on his own after his brother’s death in 1966.

He recently has faced calls to step aside from the festival leadership, although he has a lifetime contract, amid concerns about his health and a feeling the annual event would benefit from an injection of fresh ideas.

Wagner has indicated that he would be prepared to step aside in favor of the couple’s 29-year-old daughter, Katharina. She made her directorial debut at Bayreuth this year, producing a closely watched interpretation of “Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg.”

In early November, the foundation overseeing the festival urged members of the Wagner family to come forward with ideas for the event’s future.

Wolfgang’s niece Nike Wagner and Eva Wagner-Pasquier, an estranged daughter from his first marriage, have indicated interest. Both are experienced managers of artistic or musical events and are in their 60s.

The former Gudrun Mack was born in 1944 and had worked as a secretary for Wolfgang before they married in 1976.

Besides her daughter Katharina, Gudrun Wagner had two other children from a previous marriage. Funeral arrangements were not immediately available.