Joseph Calleja withdraws from `Parsifal’ opening Bayreuth Festival on July 25

By The Associated Press

Tenor Joseph Calleja has withdrawn from the title role in “Parsifal” that opens the annual Richard Wagner Festival at Bayreuth, Germany, and will be replaced by Andreas Schager. Calleja, who had been scheduled to make his role debut, says he was advised by his doctor to withdraw because of a persistent throat infection. “Parsifal” opens July 25 in a production by Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Jay Schieb in which a portion of the audience in the Festpielhaus will wear augmented reality glasses. There are seven performances through Aug. 27. The festival runs the Aug. 28 in the hall built to Wagner’s specifications that opened in 1876.