As a „thank you“ for the solidarity to the Richard Wagner Festival, the city of Bayreuth honoured 40 long-standing contributors. Mayor Brigitte Merk-Erbe presented the so-called “Eichala”, a 0.5-liter beer mug made of tin, to the members in the Villa Wahnfried.

Axel Kober was also honored for his 5 years of work at the Festspielhaus. The GMD of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf/Duisburg celebrated his debut in 2013 with the “Tannhäuser”, which he also conducted one year later in the opening premiere of the festival. He then took over the musical direction of the “Flying Dutchman”, directed by Jan Philipp Gloger. Kober let “a fresh sea breeze blow in the orchestra pit” (Frankfurter Neue Presse) and enthused “with a delight in contrasts and colours and an even greater delight in tempo” (Nordbayerischer Kurier). For this the conductor was rewarded by the audience with “the most applause” (dpa).

Among the other honored was Christa Mayer, who could be seen as “Frau Mary” in “Der Fliegende Holländer” and was also celebrated as “Brangäne” in “Tristan und Isolde”. In addition to the soloists, orchestra musicians, chorists, technicians, set designers, extras and lighting designers, employees from almost all branches of the festival business were honored.