VENUES
Grosses Festspielhaus (Great Festival Hall)
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The Grosses Festspielhaus (Large Festival Hall) was built according to plans by the architect Clemens Holzmeister. Work began in 1956, when 55,000 cubic meters of stone were blasted from the side of the Mönchsberg mountain to make room for the enormous backstage area. At 100 meters' width (including the wings) it is one of the largest stages in the world. The Grosses Festspielhaus was opened on 26 July 1960 with a ceremony and a performance of Richard Strauss´s Rosenkavalier conducted by Herbert von Karajan. The auditorium is square, measuring 35 x 35 m and seating 2,179. From the Hofstallgasse, public access is through five bronze doors. The facade bears a Latin motto by Thomas Michels OSB: SACRA CAMENAE DOMUS / CONCITIS CARMINE PATET / QUO NOS ATTONITOS / NUMEN AD AURAS FERAT. (The Muse's holy house is open to those moved by song; divine power bears us up who are inspired.)
EVENTS AND CATEGORIES
| Recital 3 |
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| Recital 4 |
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| Recital 5 |
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| Recital 6 |
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| Recital 7 |
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SEATING PLAN
INFORMATIONEN
In his design Clemens Holzmeister made use of local materials: the reinforced concrete pillars are incased with conglomerate taken from the Mönchsberg, the foyer floor is of Adnet marble. Downward ligthing from the sloped ceiling and wall lamps made of Murano glass illuminate the room. Two sculptures of Carrara marble by Wander Bertoni represent "Music" and "Theatre".
In 1993 the New York painter and sculptor Robert Longo created four large crosses for this space called "Dreams with the Wrong Solutions", which were bought by the Austrian patron of the arts Karlheinz Essl and loaned to the Salzburg Festival. The four large free-standing cross shaped paintings are in blue, red, gold and black. Robert Longo gave the following explanation for the colors: blue is for "Pressure on Heaven", red is for "Prayers on Fire", gold for "Crying in Public" and black for "Songs of Surrender".
In the adjacent intermission foyer the original character of the Prince-Archbishops stables was retained. There is a new floor of green serpentine with horse mosaics by Kurt Fischer. The steel relief on the wall was conceived by Rudolf Hoflehner as "A tribute to Anton Webern". Through the portal created by Fischer von Erlach there is a view of the Pferdeschwemme and Schüttkasten, acquired in 1987. There is an escalator from here to the central Mönchsberggarage. On the floor above, the "Patrons Lounge" (donateded by Donald and Jeanne Kahn) has served the Salzburg Festival since 1995 as a reception hall for patrons, sponsors and their guests.
Specifications Grosses Festspielhaus
Stage width: 100 m
Stage depth: 25 m
Proscenium width: 30 m
Proscenium height: 9 m
Five lifting podia, 18 x 3 m each; speed max. 0.25 m / sec.; loading capacity 20 tons each
Hydraulic stage machinery (double attachment of ABB)
Gridiron: 155 hoists with a loading capacity of 500 kg each, a third of them hydraulically driven and electronically controlled
Lighting: 825 adjustable electric circuits with a power of over 5000 watts each; digital light console; depot of around 2,000 individual lights
Electroacoustics: sound control board with 16 inputs, 16 main outputs and 4 auxiliary outputs; sockets for loudspeakers and microphones throughout the entire stage and auditorium