July 26 – August 31

1980 With the appointment of Otto Sertl as the new Secretary General of the Festival, a new focus on contemporary music begins; because of the lengthy preparation times required for opera, the new programmatic line is noticeable first in the concert presentations, where five world premieres of works by Helmut Eder, Rudolf Kelterborn, Gerhard Wimberger, Cesar Bresgen and Arvo Pärt take place. Another opera directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle receives much attention, his new production of Contes d’Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach – under the baton of James Levine, Plácido Domingo sings the title role, Edda Moser or respectively Christiane Eda-Pierre perform all four female roles, José van Dam all the villains. With the Magic Flute for Children, featuring Christian Bosch as Papageno, youth programs are given more emphasis. For the first time, the Festival is opened with a great party throughout the city, presented by the Salzburg State Government. The keynote address of this summer is given by writer Wolfgang Hildesheimer, who explores the topic What does music express?

1980: A Children's "Zauberflöte" with Christian Boesch and Jean-Pierre Ponnelle.

New production
William Shakespeare
As You Like It
Stage director: Otto Schenk
Stage sets: Günther Schneider-Siemssen
Costumes: Milena Canonero
Felsenreitschule

New production
Jacques Offenbach
Les contes d‘Hoffmann
Conductor: James Levine
Stage director and sets: Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
Costumes: Pet Halmen
Großes Festspielhaus

New Production
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Conductor: Lorin Maazel
Stage director, sets and costumes: Filippo Sanjust
Kleines Festspielhaus

Children's program
Christian Boesch
Zauber(flöten)-reich Theater
Conductor: James Levine
Presentation: Christian Boesch and Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
Felsenreitschule

Revivals: Das weite Land, Der Talisman, Jedermann, Die Zauberflöte, Le nozze di Figaro, Aida, Ariadne auf Naxos

Concert performances: Krenek's Karl V. , Weill's Die sieben Todsünden der Kleinbürger

15 Orchestral Concerts, 6 Chamber Concerts, 5 Serenades, 6 Matinees, 6 Solo Recitals, 6 Lied Recitals, 1 Church Concert, 1 Choir Concert, 2 Literary Recitals


At the moment further details are available in German only. The english-language part of this website is under construction.

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,