Hundreds of audience members in Bayreuth, Germany, booed at the premiere of a new production of a Richard Wagner opera created by his great-granddaughter.

The new production of Wagner's Die Mestersinger von Nuernberg was unveiled for the first time Wednesday night at the city's Festspielhaus — a theatre dedicated exclusively to the works of Wagner.

The new production by Katharina Wagner was experimental, parting ways with the traditional medieval look of Wagner's operas. The 29-year-old director instead re-wrote the plot and featured full-frontal nudity.

'I don't see where she is going with this.'—Opera critic Roger Alier

"It was all so gratuitous," said one audience member. "It wasn't true to the text at all."

Some critics agreed.

"I hear what they're singing and it has nothing to do with what's going on stage," said Roger Alier, a Spanish opera critic.

"I don't see where she's going with this."

Some say Katharina Wagner is simply following in her father's footsteps. The 87-year-old Wolfgang Wagner, who has been running the Bayreuth festival since 1951, was similarly criticized for modernizing some of his grandfather's works.

In the original version of Die Mestersinger von Nuernberg, a young knight falls for the daughter of a wealthy man and decides to enter a singing contest to win her hand. He is rejected at first by the master singers but his natural talent ultimately wins over the group.

The new production saw a less rebellious hero who gradually conforms to the wishes of the singing group while the villain of the piece delivers a musical number that castigates conformity in the arts world.

It wasn't all hisses and boos from the audience, which included German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The seven-hour production did receive a smattering of applause and some Wagner fans said they were delighted by the bold staging.

"Surprisingly good," Carl Julius Brabant told BBC News. Brabant has been attending the Bayreuth festival since 1951. "It's really got oomph."

Others said Wagner's work is timeless regardless of the staging.

"Wagner will remain Wagner, no matter who runs the show," said Adolf Mayer, 82, who attended the performance with his wife.