Wolfgang Wagner, longtime Bayreuth director, dies

[March 22, 2010]  BERLIN (AP) -- The Bayreuth opera festival says Wolfgang Wagner, the grandson of composer Richard Wagner and the event's leader for more than half a century, has died. He was 90.

The festival said in a brief statement on its Web site that Wagner died on Sunday. It did not give details.

It said that Wagner "dedicated his whole life to the legacy of his grandfather."

Wagner stepped down as director after the 2008 festival. He was succeeded by the composer's great-granddaughters -- Katharina Wagner and Eva Wagner-Pasquier.

Wagner long resisted efforts to dislodge him. He had led the festival since 1951, when he and his brother Wieland revived it following a World War II hiatus.

[Associated Press]

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