Into the Enchanted Forest
An unusual girl, a furious weather-maker and the young King Arthur: a tour through the diverse youth programme jung & jede*r (young & everyone) of the Salzburg Festival.
Enthusiasm for culture cannot be awakened too early. The Salzburg Festival also takes care of this in the summer, within the framework of its youth programme. “We want to reach as many different age groups as possible, to strengthen those already interested in music and theatre and to enthuse Festival newcomers. Our goal is to build bridges and bring the experiential world of young audiences into the Festival,” explains Ursula Gessat, the director of jung & jede*r. From March to May the entire federal state of Salzburg, “from Abtenau to Zell am See”, became the stage. The Festival went out towards young audiences and, in cooperation with local cultural associations and organisers, presented two mobile productions, which will have their actual premiere in the summer as part of the Festival.
Frau Holle in Burnout. One of these is Sebastian Schwab’s opera Holle! based on motifs from the Brothers Grimm fairy tale Frau Holle (Mother Holle), set to a libretto by Kai Weßler and Suse Frei. Frau Holle (portrayed by mezzo-soprano Tatiana Kuryatnikova) is in Catharina von Bülow‘s production the responsible mistress of the weather. Her assistants are the clarinettist Manuel Ernst and Andreas Gergelyfi on the fortepiano. When Frau Holle takes a burnout-related break, the two chaotic adventurers must step in for their boss at short notice and learn that weather-making is no child’s play. For it takes a highly skilled hand and a far-sighted eye. The highly topical themes of climate change and global warming are packaged lightly and playfully. Musically this co-production with the MusikTheater an der Wien, aimed at children from the age of 6, offers a varied stylistic miscellany.
The New Girl in the Village. The theatrical production Kri (which in the spring was also on tour in cultural centres and schools) is aimed at all those aged 10 and above. With this youth play Stefan Wipplinger won this year’s Retzhofer Drama Prize in the category “For Young Audiences”. The situation is as follows: a girl called Kri moves one day into a village and chooses as her home of all things a dilapidated bus shelter. How does the local community react to the newcomer? Does it show rejection or signal readiness to help? How to deal with prevailing opinions and prejudices? The role of the unconventional, courageous protagonist who thoroughly shakes up the daily life of the village community is taken by Tanja Radovanović, who comes from Salzburg. Direction: Tanju Girişken.
Friendship Put to the Test. From the village into the enchanted forest – and thus to the third production in the framework of jung & jede*r: “For the children’s opera King Arthur Junior we have provided Henry Purcell’s famous Baroque opera with a completely new text and connected it with the contemporary musical language of Gordon Kampe, in order to take young audiences on an exciting journey into an enchanted forest,” says Ursula Gessat about the new composition commissioned by the Salzburg Festival. What is it about? The great wizard Merlin appoints Arthur as his successor. Arthur’s friendship with Oswaldine and Emmeline is thereby put in a considerable dilemma. Fabiola Kuonen acts as director and librettist. Under the musical direction of Yura Yang, Kapellmeisterin at the Leipzig Opera, participants of the Young Singers Project (the support programme for young singers) perform, along with a puppeteer and musicians from the Angelika Prokopp Summer Academy of the Vienna Philharmonic. All three productions are performed at the Schauspielhaus Salzburg. The introductory workshops Wir spielen Oper (We are playing Opera) – exclusively for children – offer a creative entry point into children’s opera.
As regards active participation, a total of four camps will take place this summer – for the operas Saint François d’Assise, Ariadne auf Naxos and Così fan tutte as well as for the theatre production Der Menschenfeind.
6,000 tickets for young audiences are available. Those interested up to the age of 27 receive a reduction of up to 90 percent. The outreach programme also offers youth introductions and conversations with artists. The Festival mentorships continue as well. Experienced guests accompany newcomers on their first Festival visit.
