Wolfgang Wagner opens his last Bayreuth festival

Veteran opera director Wolfgang Wagner welcomed guests to his last Bayreuth festival Friday, walking on the arm of his youngest daughter _ a leading contender to replace him after a 57-year reign and a prolonged struggle over his successor.

Wagner, the 88-year-old grandson of composer Richard Wagner, briefly greeted bystanders along with his 30-year-old daughter Katharina outside the Festspielhaus before the opening of the annual celebration.

The audience for 'Parsifal,' the composer's last major work, included German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her husband, Joachim Sauer _ regular Bayreuth visitors _ and Bavarian governor Guenther Beckstein.