Festival gift for Wagner fans in China

Erl is a small village in the northern part of Tyrol, Austria, which is more renowned for its cows than for double bass. But every summer, opera lovers - especially fans of the German composer Richard Wagner - from all over the world flock to the village for its Tyrol Festival, which is conducted by maestro Gustav Kuhn.

"It's my personal dream to launch my own festival. My credo is to create a production from the music, from the musical idea of the composer, respecting his work and dealing with it to fulfill the composer's wish," says the 70-year-old Austrian conductor, adding that audiences return every year to the distinctive Alpine surroundings of the small village with 1,500 inhabitants, some cows and two festival halls.

The "Wagnerians" in China can savor the festival's essence because Kuhn is in China this month with the whole cast, 280 members in total featuring orchestras, singers and chorus.