Tenor Stephen Gould Withdraws from Germany’s Bayreuth Festival

The American heldentenor has withdrawn from three title roles at the festival due to medical reasons

American opera singer Stephen Gould has announced he will no longer be able to perform at the 2023 Bayreuth Festival in southern Germany for health reasons.

He was set to sing three main roles at the festival, which will kick off on July 25, 2023, with a new production of Wagner’s opera, Parsifal.

In Gould’s place, Austrian tenor Andreas Schager will play Siegfried in “Götterdämmerung,” American singer Clay Hilley will perform the title role in “Tristan und Isolde,” and German singer Klaus Florian Vogt will sing the title role of “Tannhäuser;” a role Gould performed for his Bayreuth Festival debut in 2004.

In 2022, Gould was celebrated for his performances in all three productions hosted at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, and as a singer in Germany’s Open Air Festival.

“It is to his and our greatest regret, Stephen Gould has to cancel his participation in this year’s Bayreuth Festival on urgent medical advice,” the Festival posted on its website. “Festival director Katharina Wagner would like to thank [Schager, Hilley, and Vogt]. Wishing Stephen Gould a speedy recovery!”

Held every summer, the Bayreuth Festival was created by Richard Wagner in the 19th century as a platform to perform his own works — especially his operas, The Ring Cycle (which premiered there in 1876), and Parsifal.