Salzburg stands for Mozart and hardly any work stands for Mozart as much as his Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), the most famous opera of all. Therefore, a staging of Die Zauberflöte at the Salzburg Festival is always something special. Director Lydia Steier in her revised version of her Salzburg production, now placed at the Haus für Mozart, introduces a grandfather as a narrator to read Die Zauberflöte as a bedtime story to his three grandchildren. In this way, the rich fantasy of the work breaks into the strict household of an upper middle-class family, in which reverie has little place, and takes the three boys right into the middle of the action. As the Three Boys, they plunge into a fairy-tale and dream world in whose surreal enlargements the boys’ everyday lives appear again and again. With a childlike gaze, they accompany and guide the protagonists through their destinies. “Regula Mühlemann is a beautiful-sounding Pamina, Michael Nagl a charming, creamy Papageno, and Tareq Nazmi as bass-strong Sarastro turns out to be a stroke of luck.” (Oberösterreichische Nachrichten)
Salzburg Festival 2020: Così fan tutte
At Salzburg Festival the new production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte is a magic moment in Mozart interpretation, a true feast for the eyes and ears: A masterfully clever staging, a ravishingly young cast and, with Joana Mallwitz, for the first time a woman stands at the podium of the Wiener Philharmoniker for a staged opera production at the Festival. “The sovereignty and prudence with which conductor Joana Mallwitz steers her ensemble and the Wiener Philharmoniker through Mozart’s musical cosmos is phenomenal“, praises BR Klassik, “the orchestra likes to be carried away by her, playing with enthusiasm and brilliance.“ For this shortened version of Mozart´s masterpiece the young conductor joins forces with none other than the internationally renowned director Christof Loy. The celebrated stage director brings unexpected psychological elements to his strikingly modern mise en scène which is coherent down to the smallest detail. On the simple black and white stage, the emotional tragedy takes ist course: The sisters Fiordiligi (sung by stunning French soprano Elsa Dreisig) and Dorabella (beautifully presented by Marianne Crebassa) are subject of a bet made by their betrothed Ferrando (exquisite and sunny voiced Bogdan Volkov) and Guglielmo (hot tempered Andrè Schuen) with Don Alfonso (surprisingly uncynical Johannes Martin Kränzle): true faithfulness would not exist with women. In the end, Don Alfonso should be right and still, this game causes deep wounds for all involved!
Joana Mallwitz – The Inaugural Concert
Joana Mallwitz was welcomed as the new principal conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin with a triumphant inaugural concert. The program included three first symphonies by Sergei Prokofiev, Kurt Weill, and Gustav Mahler. The audience gave enthusiastic standing ovations and critics labeled her inaugural concert “a triumph.” (Süddeutsche) PROGRAM Prokofiev: Symphony No.1; Weill: Symphony No.1; Mahler: Symphony No.1
Young Generation: Joana Mallwitz conducts the Konzerthausorchester Berlin
A special gala concert from Berlin showcases a galaxy of new stars. Joana Mallwitz conducts the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and is joined by a brilliant array of soloists: Bomsori, Kian Soltani and Rafal Blechacz take the stage for Beethoven’s Triple Concerto; Andrè Schuen sings Mahler’s “Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen”, and Bruce Liu is the piano soloist in Beethoven’s boundary-breaking Choral Fantasy, also featuring the RIAS Kammerchor Berlin. Further works by Beethoven and Brahms complete the programme for what promises to be an unforgettable concert. PROGRAM Brahms: Akademische Festouvertüre; Beethoven: Triple Concerto, Choral Fantasy, Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Der Rosenkavalier
When Strauss and Hofmannsthal wrote «Der Rosenkavalier» – setting it in an imaginary Rococo Vienna and yet closely linked to the decadent fin de siècle – they created a profound social comedy. It is not without melancholy that the Marschallin lets her young lover Octavian go when he falls head over heels with Sophie, who hails from Faninal’s bourgeois household. As voluptuous as Strauss’ score is, it contains tender moments of dream and melancholy. Director Lydia Steier stages Strauss’ opera according to an aesthetic concept by Austrian artist Gottfried Helnwein. Diana Damrau sings the Marschallin. Joana Mallwitz conducts the Orchester der Oper Zürich.