July 26 – August 30

On 26 July the Grosses Festspielhaus was inaugurated by Herbert von Karajan, not with a Mozart opera, but with Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier. The choice was prophetic: from now on the theatre would be used primarily for operas with large orchestral forces. The premiere turned into a huge media spectacle; 852 critics and 101 photographers from 41 countries were accredited during the season, and the opening night was filmed by Paul Czinner. Jedermann, too, was rejuvenated with a new production by William Dieterle, now with Walther Reyer in the title role. The Landestheater was retired as a venue for opera; the last opera to be performed here was Così fan tutte in a production by Günther Rennert and Karl Böhm. There were also some changes in the board of directors: Baron Heinrich Puthon resigned as president due to old age and was succeeded by Bernhard Paumgartner, whose initiative led to the founding of the Friends of the Salzburg Festival. The new man in charge of spoken theatre was Ernst Haeusserman. Although Karajan’s contract as artistic director expired in the autumn, he was far from abandoning the Salzburg stage. The Karajan Era was just about to begin.

1960: The new Grosses Festspielhaus after completion.

New production
Hugo von Hofmannsthal
Jedermann
D: William Dieterle
Cathedral Square / Kleines Festspielhaus

German-language premiere
Eugene O‘Neill
Hughie
D: Oscar Fritz Schuh
Ds/Cs: Caspar Neher
Landestheater

New production
Molière
Tartuffe
D: Ernst Ginsberg
Ds: Johannes Waltz
Cs: Elisabeth Urbancic
Landestheater

New production
Pedro Calderón de la Barca
Dame Kobold (The Phantom Lady)
D: Rudolf Steinboeck
Ds/Cs: Fritz Butz
Landestheater

New production
Richard Strauss
Der Rosenkavalier
C: Herbert von Karajan
D: Rudolf Hartmann
Ds: Teo Otto
Cs: Erni Kniepert
Grosses Festspielhaus

New production
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Così fan tutte
C: Karl Böhm
D: Günther Rennert
Ds/Cs: Leni Bauer-Ecsy
Landestheater

New production
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Don Giovanni
C: Herbert von Karajan
D: Oscar Fritz Schuh
Ds: Teo Otto
Cs: Georges Wakhevitch
Kleines Festspielhaus

New production
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
La finta semplice
C: Bernhard Conz
D: Georg Reinhardt
Ds: Heinrich Wendel
Cs: Xenia Chris
Residence

Scenic world premiere
Frank Martin
Le mystère de la Nativité
C: Heinz Wallberg
D: Margarete Wallmann
Ds: Helmut Jürgens
Cs: Anni Keim-Strauss
Grosses Festspielhaus

Revivals: Le nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte, Don Carlo

Concert performance: Gebler's Thamos, König in Ägypten; choirs and incidental music by Mozart

4 ballet performances, 9 orchestral concerts
6 chamber concerts, 7 serenades, 5 matinées, 5 solo recitals, 5 lieder recitals, 3 concerts of sacred music, 1 church concert, Official ceremony

Details of the several years:

1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989,