The Salzburg Osterfesptiele has canceled its 2020 season.

The festival stated, “Impossibility of holding the 2020 Salzburg Easter Festival because of the coronavirus pandemic. On account of the current legal situation, the developments of recent days and the earnest expectations for the near future, the General Meeting, the Advisory Board and the Management of the Salzburg Easter Festival GmbH were on March 12, 2020 compelled to announce, with great regret, that it will be impossible to hold the 2020 Easter Festival, not least because of the prospect of an official prohibition.”

The festival added, “For the management, employees and artists who have been engaged in long-term preparations for the 2020 Easter Festival, this cancellation is extraordinarily distressing. Naturally, we shall make our contribution to the official measures aimed at containing the pandemic, also to protect our audiences, our artists and the population.”

The festival was expected to present a new production by Vera Nemirova of Verdi’s “Don Carlo” starring Ildar Abdrazakov, Yusif Eyvazov, Franco Vassallo, Anja Harteros and Ekaterina Semenchuk.