Wagner Grandson Steps Down

Wolfgang Wagner, the 88-year-old director of the Richard Wagner Festival in Bayreuth, Germany, and grandson of the composer, announced he is stepping down from his post after 57 years, ending an impasse over the festival leadership.

His successor hasn't yet been appointed and it is now up to the Wagner family to agree on who should take over the 132-year-old festival, the Bavarian minister for science, research, and art, Thomas Goppel, told reporters in Bayreuth.

Wolfgang Wagner had a lifelong contract as director of the Wagner Festival, which he has managed since 1951. Although he suffered poor health, he had refused to resign unless the festival leadership was handed to his 29-year-old daughter, Katharina Wagner. Eva Wagner-Pasquier, Mr. Wagner's daughter from his first marriage, was also angling for the position.

The stalemate was unlocked when longtime rivals Ms. Wagner and Ms. Wagner-Pasquier set aside their differences earlier this spring to submit a joint leadership proposal to the foundation that runs the festival.