Foundation to appoint Katharina Wagner and Eva Wagner-Pasquier to succeed Wolfgang Wagner as directors of the Bayreuth Festival, Thielemann was named musical advisor. In June 2015, the Bayreuth Festival formally announced the appointment of Thielemann as its music director. This contract expired in 2020. With conducting Lohengrin in 2018, Thielemann has conducted all ten works by Richard Wagner that are regularly performed at the festival, a feat only Felix Mottl achieved before him. Thielemann attracted controversy after attribution of anti-semitic remarks to him in 2000, regarding Daniel Barenboim, which Thielemann subsequently denied. Other controversy has related to Thielemann's publication of opinions in sympathy with the Pegida movement. In 2003, Thielemann was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesverdienstkreuz). In October 2011, he received honorary membership of the Royal Academy of Music in London. In 2015, Thielemann won the Richard Wagner Award (Richard-Wagner-Preis) of Leipzig. He served in the Humanitas Programme as Visiting Professor in Opera Studies at Oxford University in January 2016. In 2019, he made his first conducting appearance in the New Year's Concert with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and is scheduled to return to conduct the 2024 Vienna New Year's Concert. Recordings For Sony Music Ludwig van Beethoven, "The Symphonies", Vienna Philharmonic, 2012 Anton Bruckner, Symphony No.8, Vienna Philharmonic, 2019 Anton Bruckner, Symphony No.3, Vienna Philharmonic, 2020 Anton Bruckner, Symphony No.4, Vienna Philharmonic, 2020 For Profil Anton Bruckner, Symphony No. 8, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, October 2010 For Opus Arte Richard Wagner, Der Ring des Nibelungen with Michelle Breedt, Albert Dohmen, Stephen Gould, Hans-Peter König, Linda Watson and Eva-Maria Westbroek, Bayreuth Festival orchestra, recorded live during the 2008 Festival, November 2009 For Brilliant Classics Arnold Schoenberg, Richard Wagner, Pelleas und Melisande and Siegfried Idyll, Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, November 2009 For Decca Richard Strauss, Der Rosenkavalier DVD with Renée Fleming, Sophie Koch, Diana Damrau, Franz Hawlata and Jonas Kaufmann, Munich Philharmonic, October 2009 For Deutsche Grammophon Der kleine Hörsaal, Dirigieren mit Christian Thielemann, July 2007 Ludwig van Beethoven, Overture "Egmont" and Johannes Brahms, Symphony No.1, Munich Philharmonic, April 2007 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Requiem, Munich Philharmonic and Choir of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, November 2006 Richard Wagner, Parsifal, Choir and Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera, April 2006 Anton Bruckner, Symphony No.5, Munich Philharmonic, March 2005 Heinrich Marschner, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Otto Nicolai, Carl Maria von Weber, Richard Wagner, Overtures, Vienna Philharmonic,