La Cieca’s observant spy Joe Conda infiltrated the January 29 interview of Anja Silja and Eva Wagner-Pasquier, reporting that sadly the event was something of a non-starter. He blamed interlocutrix Nimet Habachy, who mostly lobbed “generic” softball questions. La Silja did have a few well-reasoned observations about role preparation and her distaste for the concept of “concept.” When an audience member posed a vague query about which conductors she admired, Silja’s terse response was, “The dead ones or the ones that are still living?”

But Mme. Wagner-Pasquier, Joe adds, hardly said two words all evening, refusing to comment on current Bayreuth productions or even on Wagner stagings in general. Is she always in such a foul mood, Joe wondered. Well, as it turns out, Wagner-Pasquier may have had an excuse for her chilly behavior.

La Cieca hears that Eva’s only son Antoine Amadeus Pasquier (pictured, right, in 2000) has suddenly moved to Munich, where he has reportedly formed an alliance with Katharina Wagner, his mother’s half-sister. (They are both daughters, of course, of Wolfgang Wagner.) Followers of the Wagner family melodrama predict that Antoine, Katharina and Christian Thielemann will be the triumvirate leading Bayreuth upon Wolfgang’s impending retirement. (If the photo is any indication, Antoine also has the distinction of being the first really hot-looking male in the Wagner family since his great-great-great grandfather.)

But Bayreuth was supposed to be Eva’s prize; in fact, she was offered the directorship back in 2001, only to decline a few months later when Wolfgang refused to step down. So her only son’s decision to join the enemy camp must surely be the most painful of stings. The whole (shall we say) saga, is dramatic on a level beyond that of the mortal: generations of a family fighting bitterly over an heirloom beyond price. Really, La Cieca wishes someone would write an opera on that theme!