26 July 26 – 31 August

In a summit meeting of two grandees, Gustaf Gründgens staged and Herbert von Karajan conducted Verdi’s Don Carlo in the Felsenreitschule. Lisa Della Casa and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau were the celebrated stars of a new Arabella staged by Rudolf Hartmann and conducted by Joseph Keilberth. Dimitri Mitropoulos continued the Festival’s emphasis on contemporary music with the European premiere of Samuel Barber’s Vanessa. As the Berlin Philharmonic had ended the solitary rule of the Vienna Philharmonic the previous year, the Festival now opened up in a new direction by inviting the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra to play five concerts under Sawallisch, Szell, Mitropoulos and Jochum. For the first time a Festival production was broadcast on television: once again the choice fell on Jedermann to open up a new era.

1958: The ensemble for the European premiere of Samuel Barber’s Vanessa. Standing (from left): Giorgio Tozzi, Ira Malaniuk, Gian-Carlo Menotti, unknown, Alois Pernerstorfer, Nicolai Gedda and Rudolf Bing. Seated (from left): Dimitri Mitropoulos, Eleanor Steber, Rosalind Elias and Samuel Barber.

First German-language production
Archibald MacLeish
Spiel um Job
D: Oscar Fritz Schuh
Ds/Cs: Caspar Neher
Landestheater

New production
Franz Werfel
Juarez und Maximilian
D: Ernst Lothar
Ds: Teo Otto
Cs: Elli Rolf
Landestheater

New production
Giuseppe Verdi
Don Carlo
C: Herbert von Karajan
D: Gustaf Gründgens
Ds/Cs: Caspar Neher
Felsenreitschule

New production
Richard Strauss
Arabella
C: Joseph Keilberth
D: Rudolf Hartmann
Ds: Stefan Hlawa
Cs: Erni Kniepert
Festspielhaus

European première
Samuel Barber
Vanessa
C: Dimitri Mitropoulos
D: Gian-Carlo Menotti and Nathaniel C. Merrill
Ds/Cs: Cecil Beaton
Festspielhaus

Revivals: Jedermann, Le nozze di Figaro, Così fan tutte, Fidelio

4 ballet performances, 9 orchestral concerts, 1 concert of electronic music, 5 chamber concerts, 6 serenades, 5 matinées, 3 solo recitals, 4 lieder recitals, 1 church concert, 4 concerts of sacred music

Details of the several years:

1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959,