Klaus Schultz, a friend of the grandson of Richard Wagner, is to succeed him as director of the prestigious Bayreuth Festival in Bavaria.
Schultz, who is director of a small state theatre in Munich, will take up the position in January, but only temporarily.
Wolfgang Wagner, who is 82, will remain in an advisory role; Schultz will run the festival until a permanent director can be found.
The battle over who should succeed Wagner has raged for months.
Wolfgang Wagner wanted his second wife Gudrun to succeed him, however the festival's 24 directors named his estranged daughter, Eva Wagner-Pasquier as his successor, saying she would take over from October 2002.
Richard Wagner founded the Bayreuth Festival in 1876.
