ERL is a small village in the northern part of Tyrol, Austria, which is more renowned for its cows than for its music. But every summer, opera lovers — especially fans of German composer Richard Wagner — flock from all over the world 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,” the 70-year-old Austrian conductor told China Daily, adding that audiences return every year to the distinctive Alpine surroundings of the small village of 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 instrumentalists and singers.

    From Oct. 9-11, they performed at the 18th Beijing Music Festival for the Chinese capital’s premiere of two Wagner operas: the only comic opera piece of the composer, “The Master-Singers of Nuremberg,” and a love tragedy, “Tristan and Isolde.” From Oct. 16-18, he will stage Wagner’s four-opera cycle “The Ring of the Nibelung” in Shanghai.

    In 2014, Kuhn and the festival made headlines by performing the entire four-opera cycle within 24 hours, which the conductor said challenged both the orchestra and the audience.

    Based on characters from Norse sagas and German epic poems, “The Ring of the Nibelung” was written by Wagner over the course of 26 years, starting in 1848. During the upcoming performances, the four operas, including “The Rhine Gold” and “The Valkyrie,” will be presented on four consecutive days.

    Kuhn added that this is the only festival in the world presenting Wagner the way the German master had envisioned it — with the orchestra on stage and the singers in front of it.

    “For the audience, the easy way to understand the mysteries of Wagner’s incredible works is to listen more,” says Kuhn, who staged Wagner’s 10 greatest operas at the same festival in 2012.

    “He was just a genius. He was a man who had to struggle a lot with his social and political environment, but a real genius. That’s it.

    “Every time I conduct Wagner’s pieces, I feel like I am having a conversation with him. If I could have a real talk with him, I think I would ask many detailed technique questions about his works,” said Kuhn.

    “Music is the voice of the composer. I think that Wagner and I share some similarities. For example, we go through similar inner struggles about making music, the tears and the laughter. It takes years to finish a work and because sometimes the idea goes left or right, we always have to stay focused.”

    Kuhn came to China in 1996 for the first time and he was invited by Chinese conductor Yu Long to conduct Wagner’s last opera, “Parsifal,” during the Beijing Music Festival two years ago with the China Philharmonic. He was impressed by the Chinese musicians, noting that music is a bridge that bonds two cultures together.

    “Twenty years ago when I was in China, I never imagined the country would develop so fast and have so many great musicians today,” he said. “I think opera will become an important part of a new Chinese culture.”

    A native of Salzburg, Kuhn began his musical career by studying the violin and piano. He said that he was a born music producer, but “people told me that conducting is my best talent.”

    With teachers such as Hans Swarowsky and Bruno Maderna, Kuhn studied at universities in Salzburg and Vienna, earning degrees in composition and conducting. He earned a doctorate in philosophy and psychopathology in 1970.

    Besides Wagner, one of Kuhn’s biggest obsessions is riding his motorcycle — he bought his first Harley 45 years ago and now owns four of them. “I enjoy the speed and the freedom. The sound of the motorcycle, for me, is as great as Wagner’s music.”

    The Ring of the Nibelung

    Time: 7:30 p.m., Oct. 16; 5 p.m. and 11 p.m., Oct. 17; 11 a.m., Oct. 18

    Venue: Shanghai Symphony Hall, 1380 Fuxing Road Central, Shanghai

    Booking: 400-821-0522

    (China Daily)