People-watching in a hotel lobby recalls the comedic scenarios of Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims, where stranded characters create amusing situations. The plot of the opera, the first that the composer wrote for Paris, is exceedingly flimsy: a group of distinguished European guests are attempting to reach Reims to attend the coronation but find themselves stranded at the spa resort Il Giglio d’Oro because they cannot procure horses for their carriages. Director Barrie Kosky leverages the opera’s minimal action to invent new stories, with the guests speaking of “La Ceci” instead of “Re Carlo” when referring to the protagonist Cecilia Bartoli (Corinna, the self-aware poetess). She leads a cast that brings together some of the finest Rossinian singers of today. Edgardo Rocha as the comedic Cavalier Belfiore, Mélissa Petit as the talented Contessa di Folleville, and Marina Viotti as the femme fatale Marchesa Melibea. These performers deliver humorous and emotionally rich performances, an international parade of characters caught in a web of sympathies and antipathies, flirting and jealousy, enthusiasm and vanity, ideals and eccentricities… Conductor Gianluca Capuano, leading Les Musiciens du Prince– Monaco, captures Rossini’ s style with a transparent sound and rhythmic vitality, with the use of period instruments deeply enriching the performance.
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.
Salzburg Festival 2026: Lea Desandre & Ensemble Jupiter perform Vivaldi
Mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre and Ensemble Jupiter under the direction of lutenist Thomas Dunford present an all-Vivaldi programme of ravishing contrasts — fiery operatic arias, tender sacred pages, and brilliant concertos. Desandre brings her luminous agility to some of Vivaldi’s most dramatic vocal writing, from the vengeful fury of ‘Armatae face’ to the hushed intimacy of ‘Cum dederit’, while cellists Nicolas Altstaedt and Bruno Philippe add their own voices in concertos that sing with equal eloquence. Dunford’s lute shimmers at the centre of the ensemble, threading together a portrait of Vivaldi at his most vivid and inventive. PROGRAM: Vivaldi: ‘Vedrò con mio diletto’ from the opera Il Giustino RV 717; ‘Armatae face et anguibus’ from the oratorio Juditha triumphans devicta Holofernes barbarie RV 644; Cello Concerto in A minor RV 419; ‘Cum dederit’ from Nisi Dominus for alto, viola d’amore and strings RV 608 and more
Salzburg Festival 2026: Hadelich, Thielemann and the Wiener Philharmoniker (Brahms Cycle)
Augustin Hadelich, renowned as one of the foremost violinists of his generation, takes the stage of the Salzburg Festival with conductor Christian Thielemann, as part of the Wiener Philharmoniker’s Brahms Cycle. The concert begins with Brahms’s Violin Concerto in D major, a masterpiece that combines lyrical warmth with a symphonic scale, requiring a delicate balance of poetic intimacy and heroic command. These are qualities that Hadelich possesses in rare abundance, allowing him to interpret the piece with exceptional depth and sensitivity. Brahms’s monumental First Symphony in C minor represents Brahms’s hard-won triumph over the daunting legacy of Beethoven, skillfully transitioning from a mood of brooding darkness to a radiant, hymn-like finale that is celebrated for its unforgettable expressive depth and emotional resonance. PROGRAM: Brahms: Violin Concerto in D major; Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor
Salzburg Festival 2026: Lang Lang, Sokhiev and the Wiener Philharmoniker
ang Lang, one of the most celebrated pianists of our time, joins forces with the Wiener Philharmoniker under the baton of Tugan Sokhiev for an evening of extraordinary orchestral colour and virtuosity. The programme opens with Ravel’s effervescent Piano Concerto in G major — a work whose jazz-inflected brilliance and lyrical slow movement offer the ideal canvas for Lang Lang’s dazzling technique and poetic sensitivity. After the interval, Sokhiev leads the Wiener Philharmoniker through two masterpieces of orchestral imagination: Debussy’s shimmering triptych La Mer, with its luminous evocations of the sea in all its moods, followed by Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet suite — assembled by Sokhiev himself — whose dramatic sweep and heartbreaking tenderness bring Shakespeare’s tragedy vividly to life in sound. PROGRAM: Ravel: Piano Concerto in G majo; Debussy: La Mer; Prokofiev: Suite from Romeo and Juliet
Salzburg Festival 2026: Carmen
In her production, the director and choreographer Gabriela Carrizo sets out to explore the identity and motives of Carmen, a quasi-mythical woman. As in her creations for her Peeping Tom dance theatre company, notable for their intense physicality, multilayered meanings and poetic power, she zooms in on the psyche and unconscious of the characters. The Utopia Orchestra and Chorus are conducted by Teodor Currentzis, who has led five previous opera productions in Salzburg. Asmik Grigorian, Jonathan Tetelman, Kristina Mkhitaryan and Davide Luciano take on the main roles.
Tosca
It‘s an event that draws many thousands of music lovers to Verona every summer: the opera season at the ancient Roman Arena. One of the highlights of the 2006 season was the riveting production of Puccini‘s “Tosca“ by Argentine director Hugo de Ana. Nearly 15,000 spectators regularly filled the amphitheater for the performances of the Puccini favorite with a stellar cast – Fiorenza Cedolins, Marcelo Álvarez and Ruggero Raimondi – under the baton of Daniel Oren. “An altogether perfect staging, with the director exploiting to the fullest the vast space of the amphitheater and designing grandiose scenes and magnificent costumes,“ wrote Italian daily Corriere della Sera
Tosca
“Especially notable: Sgura’s thrilling Scarpia, who made evil sound so perniciously quotidian, and the playing of an orchestra that lives and breathes this music.” (Operatraveller.com) In the unique atmosphere of the Sferisterio, a huge neoclassical arena erected in the 1820s, Argentinean director Valentina Carrasco stages her Tosca in a 1950s film set, thus corresponding to Puccini’s cinematographic compositional style. The cinematic realization of this recording underlines the cinematic character of the production. “Valentina Carrasco set up a real fictional machine, with all the bolts put in the right place, aided by an impeccable set design by Samal Blak, which would have been half as good without Peter van Praet’s essential lighting play” (Vivere fermo). Claudio Sgura’s Scarpia is “incredibly well sung” (Operatraveller.com). Long applause also for maestro Donato Renzetti, the festival’s new musical director.
Rachlin conducts Tchaikovsky
Young, Russian, world class: the Russian National Youth Symphony Orchestra (RNYSO), under the direction of Julian Rachlin and with Denis Matsuev as soloist, made the first guest appearance in the Wiener Musikverein. On the programme are masterpieces by Tchaikovsky: his First Piano Concerto and his Fifth Symphony. Emerging from an all-Russian competition for young talents in 2018, the RNYSO unites 100 outstanding Russian musical talents from 28 cities. In its first season, the RNYSO gave over 40 concerts in Russia. PROGRAM Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1, Symphony No. 5, Méditation, Op. 72/5, The Nutcracker: Trepak / Danse Russe
Tosca
Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca becomes a musical highlight with two much acclaimed role debuts of star singers Piotr Beczala and Carlos Álvarez at the Vienna State Opera in the revived, historic staging of Margarethe Wallmann. Beczala is undoubtely “one of the extraordinary singers of our time” (Der Standard), at his side is Armenian soprano Karine Babajanyan as Primadonna Floria Tosca, making her house debut in Vienna. Marco Armiliato conducts the brilliantly playing Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper with love for detail and full of energy.