26 July – 30 August

On 27 August, in celebration of Karl Böhm’s 85th birthday, the Stadtsaal (City Room) was renamed the “Karl Böhm Saal”. Böhm’s contribution to the Festival can hardly be over-stated: a pillar of the Festival for more than forty years, he conducted opera virtually every summer (especially Strauss and Mozart) as well as a great many concerts, and adroitly asserted his position alongside the omnipotent Karajan. Despite his advanced age, Böhm again conducted a première this year, his last altogether: Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos with Hildegard Behrens and Edita Gruberova in a production by Dieter Dorn. Karajan continued his tour through the Verdi repertoire with a new production of Aida, sung by his preferred quintet of star vocalists: Mirella Freni (Aida), José Carreras (Radames), Piero Cappucilli, Nicolai Ghiaurov and Ruggero Raimondi. Maximilian Schell, Salzburg’s Jedermann, turned to direction with a production of Schnitzler’s tragicomedy Das weite Land.

1979: Herbert von Karajan congratulating Karl Böhm on his 85th birthday.

New production
Arthur Schnitzler
Das weite Land (“Far and Wide’)
D: Maximilian Schell
Ds/Cs: Filippo Sanjust
Landestheater

New production
Giuseppe Verdi
Aida
C/D: Herbert von Karajan
Ds: Günther Schneider-Siemssen
Cs: Georges Wakhevitch
Grosses Festspielhaus

New production
Richard Strauss
Ariadne auf Naxos
C: Karl Böhm
D: Dieter Dorn
Ds/Cs: Jürgen Rose
Kleines Festspielhaus

Revivals: Der Talisman, Jedermann, Die Zauberflöte, La clemenza di Tito, Le nozze di Figaro, Der Rosenkavalier

Concert performance: Berlioz' La Damnation de Faust

15 orchestral concerts, 4 chamber concerts, 6 serenades, 6 matinées, 5 solo recitals, 8 lieder recitals, 1 church concert, 1 choral concert, 3 public readings, Birthday matinée for Karl Böhm

Ceremonial address: Sir Karl Popper, “Creative Self-Criticism in Science and Art’

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,