Backstabbing and boos are the lifeblood of the Wagner Festival held in Bayreuth every summer.

Founded by composer Richard Wagner in 1876 and a place of pilgrimage ever since, even obsessive Wagnerians admit that the composer's endless melodies and epic opera marathons have been eclipsed for some years now by the real-life drama of the Wagner family.

The outcome of the current Bayreuth battle royal will shape for decades to come one of the jewels in Germany's cultural crown.

For nearly a decade, the Wagner family has been locked in a very public feud over who will succeed artistic director Wolfgang Wagner (87), the composer's grandson who has had sole control of the festival since 1966.

The succession is a race between three Wagner women.

The first candidate for the job is Eva Wagner-Pasquier (62), Wolfgang's daughter from his first marriage. She is artistic director of the opera festival in Aix- en-Provence, but hasn't spoken to her father in years.

Also in with a chance is Nike Wagner, also 62, the director of the Weimar Festival and daughter of Wolfgang's brother Wieland who shared artistic control in Bayreuth for 15 years until his premature death in 1966.

Counting against Eva and Nike is that they have made no secret of their resentment of Wolfgang and how, in their eyes, he has made Bayreuth his personal fiefdom. They have resented him even more since he publicly anointed as his successor Katharina Wagner (29), his daughter from his second marriage.

Her unmistakable Wagnerian profile and mane of blond hair have earned her the title "Bayreuth Barbie" and overshadowed her modest directorial efforts in German theatres in recent years.

The succession question is not Wolfgang Wagner's to resolve, however. That decision rests with the custodian of the publicly funded festival, the Richard Wagner Foundation. It subsidises the festival and owns the famed Festspielhaus, the festival's home.

There are signs now though that the foundation's members are growing tired of bowing to their director's whims.

This year Wolfgang gave his favoured daughter a unique chance to claim her birthright by letting her stage Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the festival. Her directorial debut, the first time a woman helmed a Bayreuth opera, got mixed to negative reviews and a blanket of boos on opening night - all par for the course there.

Wolfgang Wagner's spokesman has said: "There'll be no white smoke in the autumn, we already have a festival director. Nobody can force him to resign."