Salzburg Festival 2024: Les Contes d’Hoffmann

Offenbach goes Hollywood: Mariame Clément’s production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann transforms ist titular character into a storyteller of a different kind. The different acts, which are based on short stories by E.T.A. Hoffmann, take the audience on a journey through the world of cinema, from a 70s sci-fi flick over a costume drama to a feverish experimental sequence. The three love interests Olympia, Antonia and Giulietta are portrayed by American soprano Kathryn Lewek, who “impresses with brilliantly assertive coloratura, melting cantilenas and pulsating drama” (Drehpunktkultur). At the centre of this tragic tale of unrequited love is Hoffmann himself, stepping into the role of a script writer and film director in this production. The incredibly charismatic Benjamin Bernheim “splendidly cele brates the invasive tragedy of his character. Sound, expression and

presence could not be better combined” (Der Standard). Kate Lindsey, who portrays the muse disguised as Hoffmann’s friend Niklausse is a joy to watch and listen to as she “absorbs Clément’s energy of ideas and gilds her vocal tour de force with scenic exuberance” (Der Standard). An opera evening that spans the emotional spectrum from hilarious comedy to deeply felt heartbreak.

Salzburg Festival 2023: Thielemann conducts Ein Deutsches Requiem

When Brahms composed his “German Requiem”, he thought little of the salvation of the deceased. With his music, Brahms wanted to give comfort to the bereaved, so he decided against the usual Latin text of the Roman Catholic Church and chose German texts from Luther’s Bible instead. Nevertheless, or precisely because of this, the work thrilled the audience and made it a triumphant success for Brahms. In this performance Christian Thielemann, doubtless one of the leading conductors for the romantic symphonic music, at the podium of the Wiener Philharmoniker, together with the Wiener Singverein, the choir that first performed the first three movements of the Requiem in December 1867, and a duo of outstanding singers, “conjures unforgettable moments” (BR Klassik). Soloists of the evening were French-Danish soprano Elsa Dreisig (“delicate”, Der Standard) and German baritone Michael Volle. Thielemann’s “differentiated conception finds a harmonious balance between intimacy and archaic moments and transports Brahms’s core message of consolation to the audience’s delight in an immediate way.” (Salzburger Nachrichten)

Salzburg Festival 2023: Macbeth

With his Macbeth, Giuseppe Verdi broke with the operatic conventions of the time and created one of his darkest and most abysmal works. Directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski, the timeless drama unfolds in a new interpretation that takes the audience on an intense journey into human abysses. An opera of this kind demands not only outstanding voices but also outstanding actors. “Vladislav Sulimsky is forceful and brutish in the title role, at times truly frightening, always utterly assured.” (Financial Times) Asmik Grigorian is giving her debut as Lady Macbeth and performs “with an urgency of expression that needs no further explanation.” (Salzburger Nachrichten) “Her singing becomes a victory over expressive resistance.” (Frankfurter Allgemeine) “Philippe Jordan celebrated a triumph on the podium of the Wiener Philharmoniker” (Kurier), his “Macbeth crackles with power and electricity, propelled by its own velocity. The orchestra attacks the score with relish.” (Financial Times)

Salzburg Festival 2022: Il Tabarro

In Il tabarro (‘The Cloak’), surrounded by the decaying miasma of the river Seine, we have arrived in purgatory on earth. Puccini sets the piece in the present day, in Paris, in a realistic, Simenon-like milieu of stevedores, drinkers, and whores. In an oppressive atmosphere of hopelessness a love triangle arises between Giorgetta, her husband – the barge owner Michele – and his stevedore Luigi. Giorgetta is a woman with a history: she’s a mother who has lost a child and whose marriage is on the verge of breakdown. She starts an affair with Luigi, which gives her a momentary escape from the bleakness of her everyday life… Il tabarro fathoms the entire unremitting darkness of human existence. “Grigorian’s final scene, which milks the unexpected poignancy of her simply changing in front of us from her habit into a sleek black cocktail dress and letting down her hair, is just as wrenching.” The New York Times

Salzburg Festival 2022: Suor Angelica

In Suor Angelica the perspective has narrowed to the tragic fate of a single figure, the young nun Angelica. Banished to the convent for an indiscretion, she leads a joyless existence and waits for news of her son, whom she has been forbidden to see since his birth. When she learns that he has died, she resolves to put an end to her life. The climax of the opera is an extended monologue lasting 20 minutes in which Angelica works through her doubts as a devout Catholic and frees herself from her feelings of guilt and remorse. In a redemptive ending she finally transcends all her pain and escapes her agony. With a radiant finale Puccini opens up a path for her into the spheres of celestial paradise. “Overwhelming” Opernwelt

Il barbiere di Siviglia

“Il barbiere di Siviglia” is commonly considered as Gioachino Rossini’s masterpiece. It premiered in Rome in 1816, ever since it has been one of the most popular and successful works in the world of opera. For his new production at the Vienna State Opera, the director Herbert Fritsch has created a colourful slapstick party” (Der Standard) and assembled a gifted and dedicated ensemble of excellent vocal quality and marvelous acting skills, with Bel canto star Juan Diego Flórez as Conte Almaviva, Vasilisa Berzhanskaya as Rosina and Étienne Dupuis as Figaro. Rossini specialist Michele Mariotti sweeps the Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper into lusty playing.

Salzburg Festival 2022: Gianni Schicchi

In Gianni Schicchi, with its playful levity, peals of unbounded, strident laughter ring out – albeit of the kind that can only be heard in hell. We are in Florence, in the house of Buoso Donati, who has just died. Once the will has been found, his assembled kinsfolk – degenerate aristocrats – discover they have been deprived of their inheritance. After initial reluctance they bring themselves to seek assistance from an unpopular newcomer, the cunning Gianni Schicchi. He sets to work, ruthlessly turning the situation to his own advantage – not for nothing does he rage through Dante’s Inferno as a kind of sinister poltergeist. “Great opera cinema!”

Kronenzeitung

Salzburg Festival 2021: Don Giovanni

Vitality and destruction: Romeo Castellucci sees one of the fascinations of Don Giovanni in this essential ambivalence. In his interpretation of the opera, he penetrates deep into the myth of the character and creates an aestheticised world of fantasy with striking images, such as that of the 150 women, with which he underlines the horror of the title hero’s empty, heartless string of conquests. Musically, there is drama in spades from Currentzis and musicAeterna Orchestra in the pit. Their razor sharp, high-energy approach is clearly an inspiring environment for the largely young cast, too, and results in a terrific performance: “After four long hours of Mozart in Salzburg, one feels refreshed, even invigorated, floating out into the rainy night on clouds of sound and images. Rarely has a team taken Mozart’s genre designation dramma giocoso seriously in such a radically lavish, detailobsessed and conceptually strong way.” Die Zeit / “The most unusual Giovanni the world has ever seen”. Die Welt

Silent Night – A song for the world

Silent Night – A Song for the World is a documentary about the creation and success of the world’s most famous Christmas Carol – a song composed in 1818 in Salzburg, which has been translated into 140 languages, which stopped World War I at Christmas, which should become the third best selling single by Bing Crosby. In short: A song for the world! The film tells the story of the creation of the Christmas Carol and features world stars like Rolando Villazón, Kelly Clarkson, Joss Stone and David Foster, who share their personal Christmas experiences in their home towns and perform Silent Night in various languages.

At home with Gidon Kremer

In this episode, the audience is invited into the Berlin residence and studio of legendary violinist Gidon Kremer, who plays “a kaleidoscope of things” dear to him, including pieces by Piazzola, Weinberg and Schubert. The violinist also performs in Paliesius Manor in Lithuania, a concert venue that feels like home to Kremer. In conversation with Annie Dutoit, he talks about growing up in a musical family, his childhood in Russia, and the composers that shaped him and inspire him. PROGRAM: Astor Piazzolla (Arr. Andrei Pushkarev): Introduccion del Angel • Milonga loca Valentin Silvestrov: Serenade Victor Kissine: For Pablo Giya Kancheli: Rag-Gidon-Time Arthur Vincent Louriè: Concerto da camera, Serenata Mieczyslaw Weinberg (Arr. Gidon Kremer): Prelude Nr.5 Oscar Strock (Arr. Andrei Pushkarev): My last Tango Franz Schubert (Arr. Giya Kancheli): Du bist die Ruh