26 July – 31 August

On 20 February the conductor Ferenc Fricsay died at the age of 48. His Mozart readings and his world premières of contemporary operas had added much to the Festival’s post-war fame. The old Festspielhaus was remodelled on plans by Hans Hoffmann and Erich Engels which called for the auditorium to be shortened and the ceiling raised to improve the acoustics. It reopened on 29 July as the “Kleines Festspielhaus” with a production of Die Entführung aus dem Serail, conducted by another new figure, Lorin Maazel. Otto Schenk made his first appearance at the Festival, staging Die Zauberflöte in the “Grosses Festspielhaus”. Leopold Lindtberg continued his interpretation of Goethe’s Faust with a staging of Part 2, but now in the Kleines Festspielhaus, which proved more accommodating to the needs of spoken theatre.

1963: The Kleines Festspielhaus after remodelling.

New production
Hugo von Hofmannsthal
Jedermann
D: Helene Thimig
Cathedral Square / Grosses Festspielhaus

New production
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Faust. Part 2
D: Leopold Lindtberg
Ds/Cs: Teo Otto
Kleines Festspielhaus

New production
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Die Zauberflöte
C: István Kertész
D: Otto Schenk
Ds: Jörg Zimmermann
Cs: Hill Reihs-Gromes
Grosses Festspielhaus

Revivals: Così fan tutte, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Le nozze di Figaro, Der Rosenkavalier, Iphigénie en Aulide, Il Trovatore

3 ballet performances, 10 orchestral concerts,
5 chamber concerts, 8 serenades, 5 matinées, 3 solo recitals, 6 lieder recitals, 3 concerts of sacred music, 1 church concert, 2 choral concerts, 1 public reading, Memorial ceremony for Max Reinhardt

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,