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 2024: The Gambler
Based on a short novel by Dostoyevsky, Prokofiev’s The Gambler unfolds in the fictional casino town of Roulettenburg, where a variety of characters converge and clash. These characters include a General indebted to a covetous Marquis, the General’s resentful stepdaughter Polina, and Alexey, who harbors feelings for her. Director Peter Sellars, known for his insightful interpretations of overlooked masterpieces, challenges us to mirror the bravery of Dostoyevsky and Prokofiev – the courage to confront our inner darkness. The musical direction of Russian conductor Timur Zangiev shines together with the vocal performances of the exceptional cast:”Asmik Grigorian portraying a passionate Polina, and Sean Panikkar delivering a powerful performance as Alexei” (Financial Times).
Salzburg Festival 2024: Simon Rattle conducts Mahler 6
The concert is the culmination of the 2024 Salzburg Festival with the BRSO and Simon Rattle taking the stage. Mahler’s Sixth Symphony, known for its tragic and dramatic elements, marks the end of the festival at the Großes Festspielhaus with a symphonic performance that ranges from tranquil countryside depictions to profoundly emotional moments.
Salzburg Festival 2024: Jedermann
There is no Salzburg Festival without Jedermann. Ever since its first performance at the festival in 1920, the morality play by Austrian playwright and festival co-founder Hugo von Hofmannsthal has been a permanent fixture of the Salzburg Festival every summer. Looking back at this storied legacy, staging Jedermann in Salzburg
is no easy feat. In this production, Canadian director Robert Carsen takes on the challenge by focusing first and foremost on the essentials of the work: “Robert Carsen has stripped away all the scaffolding to let the text speak for itself. A conservative production in the best sense of the word” (FAZ). The chance to portray Jedermann on the cathedral square stage is an honour – Philipp Hochmair, already successful with his touring one man show “Jedermann Reloaded” is “convincing” (NYT) in the role and “radiates extraordinary intensity with his striking language” (Die Presse).
Im Weissen Rössl
Ralph Benatzky’s cult classic operetta The White Horse Inn, a romantic comedy set in the picturesque Salzkammergut in Austria, has enjoyed great success around the world, with countless productions on Broadway, in the West End, Paris and Berlin. At the Vienna Volksoper, Jan Philipp Gloger stages the work as a witty criticism against modern mass tourism while preserving the charm of the work, which lovingly pokes fun at German and Austrian sensibilities: “Gloger finds (…) a contemporary exuberance that makes fun of all kinds of things that deserve it” (Kurier). Annette Dasch “sparkles both vocally and comedically” (Kronenzeitung) as the snappy innkeeper of the ‘Rössl’ opposite Jakob Semotan, who sings her head waiter with “bright and balmy” tones (Der Standard). The rest of the ensemble is engaging and funny throughout, including actor Götz Schubert as the Berlin manufacturer Giesecke and beloved German entertainer Harald Schmidt, who delights the Viennese audience with his Swabian dialect as eco-tourist Prof. Dr. Hinzelmann – a great success!
Palestrina
Requiring 38 soloists, chorus and large orchestra, Hans Pfitzner’s masterpiece about historical composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, premiered in 1917 by Bruno Walter, is no easy feat to perform. Christian Thielemann, a tireless Palestrina crusader, “leads a stellar cast to triumph” (Die Welt) with this production at the Viennese State Opera, staged by the late Herbert Wernicke: “It goes without saying that Thielemann is a world champion when it comes to German masterpieces, and yet one is amazed at the structure of the grandiose tutti, the subtle phrasing and the spatial effect of the orchestral sound” (Bachtrack). Michael Spyres sings the “saviour of counterpoint” Palestrina with “a radiant tenor voice and sonorous expression” (Theaterkompass) and the other roles are “splendidly cast” (News), including Günther Groissböck as Pope Pius IV and Wolfgang Koch as Cardinal Borromeo. “A piece of music theatre history that demands to be revitalized” (Die Welt)
Kublai Khan
In April 2024, the Komische Oper Cublai, gran kan de’ Tartari by Giambattista Casti celebrate its world premiere with music by Antonio Salieri from 1786 at the MusikTheater an der Wien. Kublai Khan, grandson of the dreaded Genghis Khan, at least still has quite a bit of trouble on his hands. Things are not going well in the great empire: backward economy, cultureless people of barbaric customs. At least that’s the European view of the two Italian emigrants, who are supposed to lead the court into the civilized age of the Enlightenment. To make matters worse, the succession to the throne is also shaky. The son of the Khan is anything but fit to rule and the Indian princess refuses to marry. Director Martin G. Berger places the question of tradition and transformation at the centre of his production. In today’s Vienna, Berger and his production team Antonio Salieri now go in search of traces of how social coexistence between the tried and tested and reimagined is possible in the 21st century and finally help the composer to give his world premiere after all. Conductor Christophe Rousset, who has been committed to Antonio Salieri’s music for many years and will now rehearse the original Italian version, will provide the musical enjoyment.
Bregenz Festival 2024: Tancredi
With an emotional opera thriller, the then 20-year-old Gioachino Rossini surpassed most of the popular Italian composers in 1813. Even though Tancredi is one of his early works, with its sweeping melodies and rushing finales it still shows Rossini’s musical creativity. Jan Philipp Gloger stages this action-packed opera about love, trust and the impossibility of finding happiness in times of crisis. Since 2010, the drama director of the Staatstheater Nürnberg also worked internationally as an opera director. Yi-Chen Lin, who guests of the Bregenzer Festspiele might remember from Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, conducts the opera. “You can hardly do opera better these days!” (Kronenzeitung)
Popelka conducts Schönberg
“Schönberg is one of my heroes”, conductor Petr Popelka said in an interview (Der Standard) – and you can really hear his dedication to the composer as he leads the well-oiled machine of 400 musicians, consisting of the Wiener Symphoniker, three choirs and 5 soloists in their interpretation of Gurre-Lieder: “Perfectly organised, always striving for a balance between pointillist precision, a sense of the grotesque and romantic emphasis” (Die Presse). The soloists shone, above all Vera-Lotte Boecker as a “youthfully blossoming Tove with a bright, secure high register” (Die Prse) PROGRAM: Schönberg: Gurre-Lieder
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.