Musical Sensuousness

( 30 Dec 2016 ) An interview with Cecilia Bartoli about the Salzburg Whitsun Festival and the new opera production: Ariodante by Handel, her first trouser role in Salzburg.

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Concerts 2017

( 7 Dec 2016 ) From the very beginning, concerts have been one of the three pillars of the Salzburg Festival’s programme, and the formal structure of the concert programmes has demonstrated great continuity over recent decades. 

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Helga Rabl-Stadler Unanimously Confirmed as Festival President till 2020

( 2 Dec 2016 ) In its meeting today, the Supervisory Board of the Salzburg Festival made important decisions regarding the institution’s future.“Helga Rabl-Stadler will remain Festival President for another three years; her contract was extended until September 30, 2020,” Dr. Wilfried Haslauer announced as the legal representative of the Salzburg Festival Fund on December 2, 2016.

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Opera 2017

( 1 Dec 2016 ) The beginning of Markus Hinterhäuser’s new tenure as Artistic Director is marked in the 2017 opera programme by five new productions, three semi-staged performances and two operas performed in concert. Of course Ariodante, performed at the Salzburg Whitsun Festival, will also be shown during the summer.

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An Epicentre of the Extraordinary

( 10 Nov 2016 ) What should an arts festival be? This is a question that occupied the initiators of the Salzburg Festival in their efforts to create a unique dramaturgy for Salzburg when they presented their memorandum on the founding of the Salzburg Festival almost exactly a hundred years ago. We have set out to rethink and develop further the great ideas of our founding fathers Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Max Reinhardt.

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Individual tickets for the 2017 Salzburg Whitsun Festival now available online

( 14 Oct 2016 ) Starting today, you can book your tickets for the 2017 Salzburg Whitsun Festival not only as subscriptions, but also purchase individual tickets for all performances that still have available places. Join us in looking forward to Cecilia Bartoli’s artistic fireworks, all under the motto “Joy of Grief”!

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Sven-Eric Bechtolf’s “Farewell”

( 31 Aug 2016 )  Esteemed Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press!                             

My time at the Salzburg Festival is ending, as you know, and I would like to give thanks. 

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Final Report on the 2016 Salzburg Festival: Opera

( 31 Aug 2016 )  Altogether, 46 opera performances were on the programme: three new productions, two revivals, one restaging, one revival from the Salzburg Whitsun Festival and three concert performances formed the 2016 opera offerings. Compared to last summer, 12,000 opera tickets more were on sale – a record topped only during the Mozart Year 2006.

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Final Report on the 2016 Salzburg Festival: Drama

( 31 Aug 2016 )  The completely sold-out drama programme was also extremely successful, featuring three new productions, the revival of Jedermann, the staged melodrama Requiem für Ernst Jandl and two readings of selected works by Thomas Bernhard.

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Final Report on the 2016 Salzburg Festival: Concerts

( 31 Aug 2016 )  81 concerts were presented at the 2016 Salzburg Festival. As in recent years, the Ouverture spirituelle opened the Festival, exploring Eastern Christianity in 2016. Five sold-out concerts offered a portrayal of this highly diverse vocal music.

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“Il templario” • Terrace Talk with Juan Diego Flórez and Clemens Hellsberg

( 24 Aug 2016 )  Clemens Hellsberg describes it as one of the happiest moments of his professional life – the former Chairman of the Vienna Philharmonic refers to an email he received from tenor Juan Diego Flórez. In that email, the tenor voiced his interest in performing the opera Il templario by Otto Nicolai, the founder of the Vienna Philharmonic. Hellsberg is not only the former Chairman of the Vienna Philharmonic, but also a veritable expert on the life and work of Otto Nicolai. “It is very meaningful when a great artist such as Flórez champions such a rarely performed opera,” says Clemens Hellsberg.

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The Young Mozart Singers

( 21 Aug 2016 ) An airhead? No! – That is not Susanna at all. “She holds all the threads in her hand,” says Anna Prohaska, who sings the role in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro this Festival summer. Still, the focus of Sven-Eric Bechtolf’s production is more on the Count and Countess, the soprano says. And yet Susanna is “the Hans Sachs of lyric sopranos,” she says with a laugh. After all, Susanna is constantly on stage.

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The Salzburg Festival: An Economic Motor with Effects Far Beyond Salzburg

( 20 Aug 2016 ) The economy and the Salzburg Festival? This is often reduced to mere “indirect profitability” benefiting the state. However, as the world’s leading festival of music and theatre, the Salzburg Festival creates far more than mere fiscal effects – as the centre of an organically grown economic ecosystem, it fulfils many functions and affects Salzburg profoundly as a location for business and companies. 

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Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler honoured

( 13 Aug 2016 )  Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler received a medal of the Republic of Italy today. She received the “Grande Ufficiale dell’ordine della Stella d’Italia” in the presence of Maestro Riccardo Muti after his concert with the Vienna Philharmonic. The medal was presented by the Ambassador of the Republic of Italy in Vienna, H. E. Giorgio Marrapodi.

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Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award 2016: The 2016 Winner is Aziz Shokhakimov

( 7 Aug 2016 ) During the Award Concert Weekend 2016, the 27-year-old Aziz Shokhakimov from Uzbekistan convinced the international jury chaired by Dennis Russell Davies in a concert with soloist Mingjie Lei and the Camerata Salzburg at the Mozarteum Foundation. 

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A Piece of the Salzburg Festival for your Home

( 6 Aug 2016 ) If you want to take a piece of the Salzburg Festival home with you, you are in good hands with Andreas Vogl and his team. At the Festival Shop you will find CDs recorded by the artists you have admired on stage at the Festival – or whom you may have missed, and still want to hear!

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TerraceTalk with Anna Netrebko

( 5 Aug 2016 ) When Anna Netrebko sings, she is always moved to tears, says Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler at the press conversation with the singer. “Anna has made Festival history, and I hope that she will continue to do so.”

The Russian artist starts by pointing out that she has worn a colourful outfit to counteract the rain outside, taking her seat on the podium with a smile.

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The Salzburg Festival on Radio and Television

( 5 Aug 2016 ) Once again, many concerts and operas will be broadcast by radio and television, so you can hear them after the event or even live. Thanks to the cooperations between the Salzburg Festival and its various media partners, you can enjoy first-rate productions without ever buying a ticket. Many of the broadcasts are even live! Thus, you find yourself in the thick of the action – in the comfort of your own home. Mark the dates in your calendar now, so that you won’t miss any of the highlights of this Festival summer.

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( 4 Aug 2016 ) For the first time, Charles Gounod’s Faust will be performed at the Salzburg Festival. At the Terrace Talk, Reinhard von der Thannen (director, set and costume designer) and conductor Alejo Pérez offered first insights into their concept.

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1,000 Pieces of Cake to Celebrate the Birthday • 15 Years of the Siemens Festival>Nights in Salzburg

( 2 Aug 2016 ) On Saturday, July 30, the Siemens Festival>Nights celebrated their 15-year anniversary on Salzburg’s Kapitelplatz. On stage, the hosts, Helga Rabl-Stadler, President of the Salzburg Festival, Wolfgang Hesoun, Director-General of Siemens Austria, and Roland Brunhofer, Director of ORF Salzburg, discussed the cultural, economic and social relevance of the Siemens Festival>Nights.

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“Salzburg meets China” • Hantang Culture

( 1 Aug 2016 )  Furthering its motto “Salzburg meets China”, today the Salzburg Festival presented its cooperation with Hantang Culture. The two partners announced the first concert tour of members of the Salzburg Festival’s Young Singers Project in China. 

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Die Liebe der Danae • TerraceTalk with Franz Welser-Möst

( 27 Jul 2016 )  “The atmosphere at the rehearsals is wonderful, despite the fact that this difficult – and therefore rarely performed – work does present special challenges for the outstanding cast of singers and the Vienna Philharmonic. The wonderful results of a previous cooperation on a Strauss opera – namely Der Rosenkavalier in 2014 and 2015 – between Franz Welser-Möst, the Vienna Philharmonic and Krassimira Stoyanova seems to me to portend nothing but good for 2016,” says Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler. 

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15 Years of Siemens Festival>Nights in Salzburg

( 26 Jul 2016 ) The Culture Festival for Everyone Celebrates its Birthday
From July 28 to August 31, 2016 Salzburg’s Kapitelplatz once again turns into the venue for Europe’s most successful public viewing event: every year the Siemens Festival>Nights attract about 70,000 culture enthusiasts to Salzburg’s historic city centre. This makes them an essential economic factor and a magnet for tourism in the region. In cooperation with the Salzburg Festival, ORF Salzburg and Unitel, Siemens screens Festival productions and concerts for five weeks, using state-of-the-art audio and video technology and a daylight-compatible LED wall. 

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Così fan tutte • The 175-Year Anniversary of the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg • TerraceTalk

( 25 Jul 2016 ) The Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg celebrates its 175-year anniversary this year. The orchestra has been an important part of the Salzburg Festival since its founding in 1920, says Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler during the Terrace Talk on Monday. Ever since, the Mozarteum Orchestra has performed in 885 concerts, 329 opera and 324 plays at the Festival. “Thus, it is not exaggerated to say: the Mozarteum Orchestra is a part of us. Just as we are part of the Mozarteum Orchestra,” says Helga Rabl-Stadler. This Festival summer, the orchestra will appear not only during the Mozart Matinees, but the musicians will also perform under Ottavio Dantone’s baton at the Felsenreitschule in Mozart’s opera Così fan tutte.

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( 22 Jul 2016 ) The technical department of the Salzburg Festival is the focus of this year’s photo exhibition. Through the Leica project Bretter, die die Welt bedeuten (Boards that Signify the World) the photographers Robert Mertens and Heidi Simon allow glimpses behind the scenes and into the workshops of the Salzburg Festival – from their very own perspective. Lighting, acoustics, stage technology, painting and sculpting, sets, props, video technology, locksmithery, the wallpaper department and carpenter’s shops were scrutinised through the lens. The elaborate production processes behind each performance and the atmosphere behind the scenes are rendered visible. In their images, they combine their own artistic themes, such as “movement and changes”, dynamic black-and-white photography and creative serial concepts. The images were taken in June and July 2015. Simon and Mertens consciously decided not to stage any of their photographs, instead capturing daily working conditions using only available light.

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Join the Festival Opening Party!

( 21 Jul 2016 )  30 Performance Venues – 78 Events – More than 10,500 Free Tickets   

"The Festival Opening Party is meant as a gift of the Salzburg Festival and its Association of Friends to the citizens of Salzburg and the guests of our city. We are delighted that we were again able to extend it to two days this year," Helga Rabl-Stadler and Sven-Eric Bechtolf declared.

Music, drama, readings, exhibitions and dance on every corner, all over the city – for two days, the beginning of the Festival summer is celebrated all over Salzburg with the Festival Opening Party.

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Sold out? Here’s how to find an overview of available tickets!

( 18 Jul 2016 ) You want to know whether there are still tickets left for your favourite performance, whether tickets have been returned and are thus available, and in what categories? Here’s how to get a quick and easy overview of available tickets!

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Numerous Former Young Singers at this Year’s Festival Summer

( 16 Jul 2016 ) The Young Singers Project was founded by the Salzburg Festival in 2008 in order to support young talents, offering them a platform to prove their abilities. During the 2016 Festival summer, numerous participants of former editions of the Young Singers Project return to the Salzburg Festival stages, starring alongside renowned Festival artists.

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M.A.C Cosmetics Holds a Workshop for the Salzburg Festival Makeup Artists

( 15 Jul 2016 ) The workshops with M.A.C Cosmetics are already a tradition at the Festspielhaus. Two years ago, for example, makeup for mature skin was the subject of the workshop. A few days ago, Kathrin Jokubonis, Manager of Training at M.A.C, offered valuable tips for makeup techniques in the style of the 1960s and 1970s to about 80 makeup artists of the Salzburg Festival in a two-hour workshop. The looks of style icons such as Twiggy, Brigitte Bardot and Jane Fonda were recreated. M.A.C has been a product sponsor of the Salzburg Festival since 2008; every year before the Festival, it offers training sessions on the optimal use of its products in the theatre. The subject of this year’s workshop was inspired by the opera production The Exterminating Angel.

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Travel to the Salzburg Festival free and comfortably while protecting the environment!

( 9 Jul 2016 ) Free, Comfortable, Eco-Friendly Rides to the Salzburg Festival: Once again, the Association of Friends of the Salzburg Festival supports ecologically friendly and free mobility for Festival guests attending approximately 200 performances.

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11th Special Appearance of the Vienna Philharmonic

( 8 Jul 2016 ) Tomorrow, July 9 at 9:30 am is the start of free ticket distribution for the 11th Special Appearance of the Vienna Philharmonic with young wind and brass talents from Salzburg and Upper Austria. The successful education project is a co-production of the Vienna Philharmonic, the Salzburg Festival and the Salzburg Association of Wind Bands. The project is also supported by the State of Upper Austria, the Upper Austrian Association of Wind Bands and the State of Salzburg. It takes place this year on August 28, 2016 at 11:30 am at the Felsenreitschule.

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The Young Singers Project has Provided a Platform for Young Talents since 2008

( 7 Jul 2016 ) To perform once at the Salzburg Festival – this dream comes true for 13 young singers this year. They are participating in the Young Singers Project, initiated by the Salzburg Festival in 2008 to create a high-carat education platform for rising young vocalists. These talents, aged 21 to 29, arrived this week in Salzburg and are now looking forward to a varied programme.

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Lukas Crepaz Appointed Business Director of the Salzburg Festival

( 4 Jul 2016 )  Mag. Lukas Crepaz, 34 years old, has been appointed Business Director of the Salzburg Festival as of April 1, 2017. The Festival’s Directorate will thereby revert to three members, as was the case prior to 2011. “We are delighted to have identified a young Austrian cultural manager who has made a name for himself at highly renowned cultural institutions abroad, and to have hired him for the Salzburg Festival. Mr. Crepaz competed with high-carat candidates during an extensive and comprehensive selection process and proved the most qualified applicant,” thus the Chairman of the Salzburg Festival Fund Supervisory Board, State Representative Mag. Hans Scharfetter, announcing the appointment of Lukas Crepaz.

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Outstanding Young Talents at the Salzburg Festival

( 1 Jul 2016 ) Young stars of the classical music world are increasingly conquering stages everywhere. Thus, the Salzburg Festival is delighted to welcome the two exceptional pianists Yuja Wang and Khatia Buniatishvili as well as the amazingly talented cellist Sol Gabetta, who are sure to enchant the Festival’s audiences this summer!

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Information on the Bankruptcy of Ticket Office Polzer

( 30 Jun 2016 ) A few days ago, the Directorate of the Salzburg Festival instructed a law firm to declare the immediate cancellation of its contract and business relationship with the company Polzer Travel- und Ticketcenter GmbH und CoKG. After extensive review and consideration during the past weeks, the economic situation of the company Polzer Travel- und Ticketcenter GmbH und CoKG and its resulting default and failure to fulfill its financial obligations towards the Salzburg Festival Fund made this measure unavoidable. It is a measure the Salzburg Festival very much regrets, as for decades, the company Polzer Travel- und Ticketcenter GmbH und CoKG was a highly reliable business partner to the Salzburg Festival Fund. 

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Due to high demand, Dress Rehearsal for “West Side Story” open for ticket sales

( 29 Jun 2016 ) 

The dress rehearsal for West Side Story on Friday, August 19 at 2 pm will be opened for ticket sales due to high demand. Ticket sales begin on Thursday, June 30, 2016 at 9:30 am. Tickets will be offered at reduced prices ranging from 20 to 245 Euros. Ticket sales take place exclusively via the daytime ticket office at the Salzburg Festival SHOP • KARTEN / TICKETS, Hofstallgasse 1, and via the Salzburg Festival homepage. Do not miss this one-time chance – secure your tickets for this successful musical production today!

Next Generation • Young Conductors at the Salzburg Festival

( 27 Jun 2016 ) Of course there are many experienced opera and concert conductors to look forward to during the upcoming Festival summer. However, as talented young artists join their well-known singer and instrumentalist colleagues on the Festival stages, the coming generation of conductors is also making an entrance. Among them are Constantinos Carydis, Andrés Orozco-Estrada and Lionel Bringuier.

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Young Voices in the Da Ponte Cycle

( 24 Jun 2016 ) For the first time in the history of the Salzburg Festival, Mozart’s complete Da Ponte cycle can be heard this year. Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni and Le nozze di Figaro, the libretti for which were all written by Lorenzo da Ponte, are among Mozart’s most popular operas next to Die Zauberflöte. But not only that: they are also considered the psychologically most astute and politically most charged of his works, having been written during insecure times: the French Revolution was about to begin, or in full swing already.

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Reinhard von der Thannen in Conversation about “Faust” by Charles Gounod

( 17 Jun 2016 ) “In the early 80ies – while I was a student in Vienna at the University of Applied Arts – I attended innumerable productions at the Salzburg Festival, and I fell hopelessly in love with the beauty and flair of this unique city. Twenty years later, a passionate dream of mine came true: I was invited to work for the Festival as a set and costume designer. It was a wonderful experience for me as an Austrian, and Salzburg has had a very special place in my heart ever since.”

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Joy of grief • Salzburg Whitsun Festival 2017

( 17 May 2016 ) “I look forward to the sixth program by and with Cecilia Bartoli and the fact that the collaboration continues under the new artistic director Markus Hinterhäuser. The diversity of the past six programs shows Cecilia Bartoli’s wide variety of interests as an artistic leader,” says President Helga Rabl-Stadler. “It is a great stroke of good fortune for Salzburg and the Whitsun Festival and a wonderful perspective for my directorship to be able to continue working with this great artist,” says Markus Hinterhäuser, the designated director of the Salzburg Festival from 2017.

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Ossian and the Birth of Romanticism

( 17 May 2016 ) In 1760, encouraged by the Edinburgh literati, the Gaelic- speaking Highlander, James Macpherson (1736–96), published his Fragments of Ancient Poetry, collected in the Highlands of Scotland, and translated from the Galic or Erse language. Like others before him (for instance, the literate Sami, Olaus Sirma), he delivered on demand selective and reworked samples of what he thought a polished audience would be able to take of the literary culture of an unknown and savage people.

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Huge success for the 2016 Whitsun Festival

( 16 May 2016 ) This was the fifth Whitsun Festival under the artistic directorship of Cecilia Bartoli. In keeping with the motto Romeo and Juliet, the programme offered a broad range of selections in various artistic genres: twelve events – concerts, opera, ballet, a reading, three film screenings and a gala dinner – took place between May 13 and 16, 2016.

Standing ovations and thundering applause from the audience marked the beginning of this year’s Salzburg Whitsun Festival on Friday evening. Stage designer George Tsypin transformed the Felsenreitschule into New York’s West Side for West Side Story.

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High-Carat Gala Concert Concludes the 2016 Whitsun Festival

( 11 May 2016 ) The crowning glory of the 2016 Salzburg Whitsun Festival, a gala concert at the Großes Festspielhaus, takes place on May 16 at 4 pm. Conducted by Marco Armiliato, Angela Gheorghiu, Juan Diego Flórez and Benjamin Bernheim enchant their audience with works based on Romeo and Juliet, joined by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.

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Prokofiev’s ballet “Romeo and Juliet” is a “Must” for the Whitsun Festival

( 10 May 2016 ) On May 15 the programme features John Cranko’s ballet version Romeo and Juliet, based on William Shakespeare’s play, set to music by Sergey Prokofiev. Jürgen Rose designed the stage sets and costumes. His extremely harmonious creations are among the factors adding to the special enchantment of Romeo and Juliet. Musically, the soloists and ensemble of the Stuttgart Ballet are accompanied by the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg under the baton of James Tuggle. Experience a sun-lit, Mediterranean Verona onstage at the Großes Festspielhaus!

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Zingarelli’s opera “Giulietta e Romeo”

( 9 May 2016 ) In the second text in his Kreisleriana, E.T.A. Hoffmann goes into raptures over the “indescribable power of the most irresistible appeal for any receptive mind.” This is his characterisation of the aria “Ombra adorata aspetta” in Zingarelli’s opera Giulietta e Romeo, extremely famous at the time, with which Romeo invokes the ghost of his supposedly deceased lover after taking poison. Not only this literary appraisal, but also the fact that Zingarelli’s opera was staged in ever-changing versions indebted to prevalent operatic tastes from its première in 1796 until the late 1820s, bears witness to the work’s enormous popularity.

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“Romeo and Juliet” like a red thread at the Whitsun Festival

( 25 Apr 2016 ) Like a red thread, the ancient tale of Romeo and Juliet runs through the programme of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival. The festival opens with West Side Story, the evergreen adaptation of the story of “Romeo and Juliet” based on an idea of Jerome Robbins, a script by Arthur Laurents, the music of Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. For the first time, world star Cecilia Bartoli sings the role of Maria opposite Norman Reinhardt as her Tony; Philip Wm. McKinley directs. 

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What is the weight of time passed?

( 15 Apr 2016 ) Keynote Address of Sven-Eric Bechtolf, Artistic Director of the Salzburg Festival, on the occasion of the two hundred-year anniversary of Salzburg’s joining Austria.

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Guest Orchestras • RSO • Harpist Anna Verkholantseva

( 11 Apr 2016 ) The ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna will perform the world premiere of Thomas Adès’ The Exterminating Angel on July 28, 2016. The series “Guest Orchestras” presents the RSO musicians in two concerts: on August 7, 2016 they perform under Lorenzo Viotti, winner of the 2015 “Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award”. And on August 11, 2016 their chief conductor Cornelius Meister takes the podium in works by Ravel, Cerha and Bartók.

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Franz Welser-Möst in Conversation about „Die Liebe der Danae“ by Richard Strauss

( 29 Mar 2016 ) This Festival summer, Franz Welser-Möst will conduct the Strauss opera Die Liebe der Danae, a work closely linked to Salzburg Festival history: in 1944, the Festival was cancelled after the dress rehearsal for the opera had taken place; the work only saw its world premiere in 1952. Since then, the opera appeared on the Festival programme one more time – in 2002. Now it will be shown in a new production. In an exclusive interview, Franz Welser-Möst discusses the serenity in the music of Die Liebe der Danae, the role Strauss plays in his repertoire and his work with singers. Together with his Cleveland Orchestra, he also gives two concerts this Festival summer, conducting not only Richard Strauss, but also works by Thomas Adès and Béla Bartók. We spoke to him about the sound of the Cleveland Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic, about Salzburg, Krassimira Stoyanova, Anja Harteros and violinist Leila Josefowicz.

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Direct and Online Ticket Sales Start Monday, March 21

( 18 Mar 2016 ) Starting on Monday, March 21, all those interested in buying remaining tickets for the upcoming summer festival can do so directly. Anyone intent on seeing a particular performance should hurry. Open ticket sales are handled by the Salzburg Festival Shop at Hofstallgasse 1 in Salzburg and via the website. Browsing the interactive performance schedule, you can easily purchase the seat of your choice.

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Salzburg Festival Tours the World

( 15 Mar 2016 ) After Europe, the USA and China, the Salzburg Festival now presented its programme in Brazil, the world’s fifth-largest state and the largest nation in South America with 200 million inhabitants. Advertising the programme of the Vienna Philharmonic at the 2016 Salzburg Festival, visiting three South American groups of Friends of the Salzburg Festival, and meeting the generous patron of the Young Singers Project, Reinold Geiger. – Those were the three main focuses of Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler’s visit to Brazil.

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Mourning the Death of Nikolaus Harnoncourt

( 6 Mar 2016 ) “Nikolaus Harnoncourt, that passionate torch-bearer, will be missed – we miss him already. Our thoughts and sympathy are with his family, especially his wife Alice, in this dark hour. She was the person of his life, his irreplaceable private and professional partner. The performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony which he was to conduct on July 25 at the Festival will be dedicated to his memory. The black banner flies over our house, where he gave us so many unforgettable hours.” With these words Helga Rabl-Stadler and Sven-Eric Bechtolf, the Salzburg Festival Directorate, mourn the death of Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

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Laura Marzadori • Concertmaster at the Age of 25

( 29 Feb 2016 ) The Filarmonica della Scala performs on August 22, 2016 under Riccardo Chailly at the Großes Festspielhaus. At the age of only 25, the Italian Laura Marzadori was named the orchestra’s concertmaster in 2014. We spoke to her about the sound of the orchestra, Salzburg and extraordinary performance venues, and Riccardo Chailly, the new principal conductor of the Filarmonica della Scala, with her.

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Four World Premieres at the 2016 Salzburg Festival

( 22 Feb 2016 ) The Salzburg Festival has always been a major initiator of new works. During the upcoming Festival summer, you may look forward to four world premieres: works by Thomas Adès, Peter Eötvös, Friedrich Cerha and Mark Simpson will be performed for the very first time.

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Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler in Conversation with Sir András Schiff

( 19 Feb 2016 ) Sir András Schiff will perform three concerts during the 2016 Festival summer. On August 1, 2016 he plays works by Franz Schubert, Mieczysław Weinberg and Johannes Brahms with the Jerusalem Quartet. On August 3, he dedicates himself to works by Robert Schumann and Claude Debussy, together with the Salzburg Marionette Theatre. And during the finale of the Salzburg Festival on August 31, 2016 he shares the stage at the Großes Festspielhaus with the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig under Herbert Blomstedt. Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler met András Schiff for the following conversation.

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West Side Story Brings Broadway Musical Stars to Salzburg

( 8 Feb 2016 ) The 2016 Whitsun Festival will open for the first time in its history with the performance of a musical. In keeping with the festival’s motto – Romeo and Juliet – the programme features the West Side Story. In addition to Cecilia Bartoli and Norman Reinhardt, numerous great names of the musical business can be found on the cast list. They include Karen Olivo as Anita and George Akram as Bernardo.

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The new paramour • Miriam Fussenegger

( 29 Jan 2016 ) Miriam Fussenegger was born in Linz in 1990 and graduated from the acting school Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna. Apart from her theatrical performances, she also appeared in Der Tote am Teich, part of the Landkrimi TV series, and most recently in the three-part history drama Maximilian. Miriam Fussenegger made her Salzburg Festival debut in the summer of 2015 as Lucy in Julian Crouch's and Sven-Eric Bechtolf's production Mackie Messer. Eine Salzburger Dreigroschenoper. Miriam Fussenegger in conversation about her new role.

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Salzburg and Sokolov • New Album: Schubert/Beethoven

( 14 Jan 2016 ) For more than 20 years, Grigory Sokolov refused to make any CD recordings whatsoever. For his first release (2014) after this long period, the Russian pianist chose a concert he gave at the Salzburg Festival in 2008: his album The Salzburg Recital featuring works by Mozart and Chopin was celebrated by critics worldwide and won a coveted ECHO Classic Award. Only one year later, his new album follows: Sokolov: Schubert/Beethoven, released on January 15, 2016 by Deutsche Grammphon as part of the series Salzburg Festival Documents. 

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Andrés Orozco-Estrada replaces Nikolaus Harnoncourt in conducting Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9

( 13 Jan 2016 ) When Beethoven’s Missa solemnis was performed by Nikolaus Harnoncourt with his Concentus Musicus Wien last summer, there was no way of knowing that this would bring the Salzburg Festival full circle, completing a cycle begun in 1992 with a performance of the very same work: at the time, it was Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s debut at the Salzburg Festival, conducting the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Then as today, the performance was uncompromising, rousing, overwhelming. 

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In memoriam Pierre Boulez

( 6 Jan 2016 ) “For months, we have feared this announcement. Pierre Boulez is dead. The music world has lost on of its very greatest. Without him the history of music since 1945 would be different. And Salzburg is one of the places he made Festival history as a conductor and composer,” said Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler. 1960 saw his debut as a conductor and composer at the Festival. 

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Guest Orchestras • Tobias Haupt • Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig

( 4 Jan 2016 ) Between July 22 and August 31, 2016, 81 concerts will be performed over the course of 41 days. Here we interview musicians from all over the world about the sound of their orchestra, about Salzburg, the Festival and life as an orchestra musician. The series begins with the last concert of the 2016 Salzburg Festival: the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig will perform under its Conductor Laureate Herbert Blomstedt at the Großes Festspielhaus on August 31, 2016 as part of the series Guest Orchestras. The programme includes Ludwig van Beethoven’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 5 in E-flat major Op. 73 – with pianist András Schiff as soloist – and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A major Op. 92.

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