Blog entries

Seeking young talented conductors!

With the “Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award”, the Salzburg Festival and Nestlé embark upon a talent search for the fourth time already. Apply now if you are a conductor with a broad-ranging repertoire and between 21 and 35 years of age.

read on ...

The new 2013 Festival program

A thousand thanks for all the interest and enthusiasm with which you greeted our new start in 2012. And special thanks for your spontaneous support of the new elements we presented in our programme – from the Ouverture spirituelle to our contemporary music series and to the highly acclaimed production of Die Soldaten. With 278.500 guests we were able to receive the greatest number of visitors in the Festival’s history.

We are confident that many surprises are awaiting you in the programme of the 2013 Festival summer. A dominant theme is formed by the works of Wagner and Verdi: operas from their middle and later periods are being staged in new productions while select early operas are being performed in concert.

read on ...

Sven-Eric Bechtolf about the 2013 Theatre Program

7359! This is the number which the Goddess of Good Luck makes appear in the dreams of the “dissolute cloverleaf” – a carpenter, a cobbler and a tailor – in order to trick her rival the Love Fairy by making them win the lottery. An evil spirit is at work, preying on young men and leading them into forbidden debauchery, while rumours persist of a comet about to plunge to the Earth. An innocent young French peasant girl is visited by the Virgin Mary and promptly strides into battle against the English. A rich man unexpectedly encounters Death, the Devil and all sorts of other symbolic characters. Two pairs of lovers on the run in a forest find themselves tricked by elves and fairies. A beautiful orphan is pursued by a witch and taken in by dwarves while a computer-controlled arm from the automobile industry develops a menacing life of its own. Such are the remarkable events in the 2013 theatre programme.

read on ...

The Salzburg Festival Visits its International Audiences

“The two most important decisions have been made: the USA have a President again and Salzburg has a new ‘Jedermann’,” thus Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler opened the annual press conference on November 7 in Salzburg with a display of ironic wit. Doubtlessly, the new production of Jedermann in 2013 will be the special focus of the media. In the opera, concert and drama genres, over 250 events will be presented at 14 performance venues.

read on ...

Salzburg’s Mozart Cycle

Due to the unforeseen situation, we have spent the past few days searching intensively not only for a new conductor for Così fan tutte, but also for the entire Mozart cycle. We are delighted to announce that the original concept – of working with one conductor, one stage director and an ensemble that is essentially the same throughout the cycle – can be maintained. Christoph Eschenbach has kindly agreed to collaborate on this cycle with Sven-Eric Bechtolf during the upcoming years.

Both artists have known each other for many years and are friends. Having heard outstandingly sensitive Mozart interpretations from Christoph Eschenbach throughout recent years, I am convinced that the cycle is in excellent hands. 

Alexander Pereira

Peter Lohmeyer Performs the Role of "Death"

Peter Lohmeyer performs the role of "Death" in next year's new production of Jedermann. Lohmeyer studied acting in Bochum and is familiar to audiences not only from numerous theater engagements, but also from frequent appearances on film and TV, for example in Die Straßen von Berlin and Das Wunder von Bern.

Priority Ticket Orders must be received by January 8, 2013

Since our program presentation in November, thousands of ticket orders have reached us. We are delighted at the great interest in the upcoming Festival summer!

You wish to purchase tickets for your favorite opera, a choice concert or a fascinating drama production? Make sure to take advantage of priority ticket orders for your Salzburg Festival events, possible until Tuesday, January 8, 2013. All orders that reach the Ticket Office of the Salzburg Festival by this date will be treated equally when allocating tickets. After January 9, 2013, all orders will be filled in the order they were received. 

Important Note: Your ticket order must have been placed in writing by January 8, 2013. Thus, you can order via our website, via email to info@salzburgfestival.at, via fax to +43/662/8045-555 or via mail to the Ticket Office of the Salzburg Festival, Herbert von Karajan Platz 11, P.O. Box 140, 5010 Salzburg, Austria. 

Die Entführung aus dem Serail at Hangar-7 • A Very Special Opera Experience

On August 26, Hangar-7 at the Salzburg Airport will be transformed into an event location resounding with culture, when Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail, produced especially for TV viewers in coproduction with ServusTV, is broadcast live from there.

read on ...

Ouverture spirituelle under the Sign of Buddhism

Last year, the newly-introduced concert series Ouverture spirituelle met with a most enthusiastic echo. In 2013, the Salzburg Festival will once again open with sacred music, and again, works by Catholic and Protestant composers will be juxtaposed with another religion – this time, it will be Buddhism, brought to you via traditional and recent music from Japan.

Our program guide offers an overview of all the events pertaining to the Ouverture spirituelle series: 

read on ...

Simon Schwarz plays the Devil in the new production of Jedermann

The Austrian actor Simon Schwarz will be the new Devil on Cathedral Square when Jedermann takes the stage this summer. In the new production by Julian Crouch and Brian Mertes, Simon Schwarz will join Cornelius Obonya in the title role, Brigitte Hobmeier as the Lover and Peter Lohmeyer as Death, among others. Simon Schwarz has previously played opposite Cornelius Obonya in Kottan ermittelt – Rien ne va plus and in the film adaptation of the mystery Die Mutprobe by Lisa Lercher, among others.

read on ...