Recap: Salzburg Whitsun Festival 2025
That was the Salzburg Festival Whitsun 6. – 9. June 2025
Supported by ROLEX
Salzburg Whitsun Festival 2025: artistic homage to Venice impresses with 99 percent of seats filled
“With music from five centuries, this year’s Salzburg Whitsun Festival paid homage to the city of Venice. From Monteverdi via Rossini, Verdi and Wagner to Nono and Sciarrino, and all the way to a work by Mantovani premiered only a few weeks ago, we heard mainly vocal sounds of ‘La Serenissima’ – apart from a deeply moving and virtuoso rendition of John Neumeier’s genius ballet Death in Venice. At the heart of this was Antonio Vivaldi – who else – for whom we were able to produce a veritable world premiere, thanks to a pasticcio in the baroque style created by Barrie Kosky and his team in cooperation with the conductor Gianluca Capuano and the orchestra Les Musiciens du Prince. In this way, Hotel Metamorphosis built a bridge between the 18th and the 21st century, impressively demonstrating how today’s artists can keep the music of yesterday alive and relevant. I thank all those involved from the bottom of my heart, including the highly motivated, professional and passionate staff of the Salzburg Festival’s workshops, who kept working small miracles in the background,” says Cecilia Bartoli, Artistic Director of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival.
“Salzburg is extremely fortunate to have Cecilia Bartoli. With her insightful and multifaceted panorama of Venice, she once again proved the great artistic attractiveness of her programming. Cecilia Bartoli’s dramaturgical and conceptual vision, impressively manifested this year in her first collaboration with Barrie Kosky, among other projects, reliably stands for the excellence of the Whitsun Festival,” says Markus Hinterhäuser, Artistic Director of the Salzburg Festival.
The 2025 Salzburg Whitsun Festival drew to a close with a percentage of 99 percent of seats filled, indicating an outstanding level of enthusiastic resonance among the audience.
Approximately 11.720 guests attended the 2025 Salzburg Whitsun Festival. Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the USA, Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and Hungary were the ten most highly represented countries, among a total of 49 nations.
The Salzburg Whitsun Festival accredited 77 journalists contributing to media in 14 countries: Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, Spain, Serbia, Latvia, Great Britain, North and South America as well as Japan.
Special thanks go to our partner Rolex for their support.