Canadian maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin, a regular collaborator with the esteemed Vienna Philharmonic since 2010, is making a comeback to the world-famous Salzburg Festival in 2024 to conduct a spectacular performance of Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique with them! This symphony, composed by a 26-year-old Berlioz who was captivated by actress Harriet Smithson, his future wife, depicts an artist haunted by an all-consuming love that evolves from innocence to horror, including opium-induced dreams and a sinister witches’ sabbath.
Salzburg Festival 2024: Nelsons conducts Mahler 9
Andris Nelsons returns to the Salzburg Festival with the Vienna Philharmonic, conducting Mahler’s epic Symphony No. 9. This giant on the podium animates the Vienna Philharmonic to the highest level of sound culture. His interpretation of Mahler is of passionate intensity, without ever falling into hollow pathos or sentimental attitude. The Vienna Philharmonic playes to all its strengths, and they are audibly at home in Mahler’s world.
Salzburg Festival: L’Upupa – The Hoopoe and the Triumph of Filial Love
The world premiere of Hans Werner Henze’s opera, recorded live at the Salzburg Festival in 2003. The libretto is based on an old Syrian fairy tale concerning three rulers, three sons and three treasures. Matthias Goerne leads an international cast including Laura Aikin, John Mark Ainsley, Alfred Muff and Hanna Schwarz. Markus Stenz conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker.