In his new production of Bizet’s early opera Les Pêcheurs de perles, Ersan Mondtag brings the pearl fishers’ working world to the forefront, transposing it into a contemporary setting governed by the logic of fashion. The distinguished cast featured several opera stars. Juan Diego Flórez brought elegance and musicality to the role of Nadir, with OperaWire praising his ‘brilliant and secure high notes’ and ‘excellent phrasing’. As Zurga, Ludovic Tézier displayed both the beauty of his voice and his innate nobility, while the remarkable bass Ivo Stanchev completed the cast as Nourabad, the high priest of Brahma. Daniele Rustioni led the Orchestra of the Wiener Staatsoper in a thoughtful and finely detailed interpretation of the score. He brought out the music’s sensuality through a transparent, mellow sound that acknowledged its Orientalist colouring without overemphasising it.
Salzburg Festival 2026: Ariadne auf Naxos
At the heart of the opera is a wealthy Viennese patron who funds and stages art not out of conviction, but as a social whim. For him, a young composer’s opera is merely part of a festive programme that can be altered as much as he wants. Whilst preparations for an opulent musical banquet are underway at the patron’s residence, the artists find themselves caught in a conflict between artistic integrity and courtly caprice. In relocating this parody to the present, director Ersan Mondtag, here making his Salzburg Festival debut, launches into Mars. On this barren planet, the ‘barren island’ of Naxos – where in the second part of the work the encounter between Ariadne and Bacchus takes place – is a silent metaphor for modern ruthlessness. The result is a satire on art and power, on artistic integrity and dependence on money and social favour, that is as ironic as it is astute.