The Salzburg Festival has announced that its 2025 season sold 98.4 percent of its performances. The festival, which held 174 performances in 45 days at 16 venues, noted that this year saw 256,600 guests from 88 countries, including 49 non-European ones. This year, 43 performances of six staged, three semi-staged and three concert productions of opera were presented while there {…}
(Photo credit: SF/Marco Borrelli) Christian Blex has won the 2025 Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award at the Salzburg Festival. The international jury, chaired by Manfred Honeck, selected Blex to take home the 15,000 € prize. Blex will also be conducting a Festival concert with the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna. This concert will be recorded and released on CD {…}
On July 26, at the opening night of the Salzburg Festival, students disrupted the festival with a pro-Palestine protest. According to reports and videos, students interrupted Minister of Culture Andreas Babler’s opening speech, shouting “Stop the genocide” and “Free Gaza now.” Others yelled, “Blood on Your Hands.” The protesters also unfurled banners. The protestors were later removed, and six were {…}
(Photo by Victoria Cadish) Salzburg Festival has announced a cast change for its production of “One Morning Turns Into An Eternity.” The company revealed that Wiebke Lehmkuhl has withdrawn from her participation in the production due to family reasons. In her place, Fleur Barron will sing the vocal part in Mahler’s “Der Abschied.” Barron is set to appear in the {…}
The Salzburg Festival has announced a major cancelation for two concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic. Per an official press release, Esa-Pekka Salonen will replace Lorenzo Viotti for the July 27 and 28 performances. Viotti canceled his appearances due to acute illness. In his absence, Salonen has modified the program. “Oedipus Rex” will remain on the program in the first half, {…}
Anne Applebaum will give the keynote speech at the opening of the Salzburg Festival 2025. The Pulitzer Prize winner will deliver the keynote address on July 26. Her speech titled, “Democracy and the Music Festival” focuses on the current ideological realignment, democratic decline, and on the role of art in a time of global upheaval. Applebaum is a journalist and {…}
Mozart’s “Mitridate, re di Ponto” premiered on the day of Germany’s elections on February 23, 2025 at the Staatsoper Hamburg. It was conducted by Adam Fischer and directed by Birgit Kajtna-Wönig, marking an ambitious co-production with the Salzburg Festival. Set in the final days of Pontic Greek King Mitridate VI’s resistance against Rome, the opera explores power, betrayal, and dynastic {…}
(Photo credit: Jan Friese) Along with the announcement of its 2025 season, the Salzburg Festival has appointed Axel Hiller to the position of Director of Concert and Media. He commences his tenure on May 1, 2025. The concert office is responsible for concert programming in close collaboration with the artistic director. Meanwhile, the media department coordinates recordings and broadcasts of {…}
The Salzburg Festival announced that construction will begin in early September for the Festival Centre on Herbert-von-Karajan-Platz. Designed by the architectural firm Marte.Marte, this project will give the Festival District a place of encounter for the citizens of Salzburg and art lovers from around the world a place to gather for a myriad of events. The Salzburg Festival District is {…}
( Photo: © SF/Monika Rittershaus) All sinful things come wrapped in fascinating aesthetics. You know the feeling: something that is extremely beautiful and appealing, but disquieting—too pleasurable to be ethically good. That is Salzburg Festival’s “Don Giovanni”: a spectacular dramatic installation, a grandiose musical project, a lustful conception; yet sinfully wrong. First things first. This is a revival of Romeo {…}
(Photo credit: © SF Marco Borrelli) Is it possible to be merciful with fascists? In Robert Carsen’s reading of Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito” the answer must be a reverberant “No”—otherwise, the moment one turns their back, they will not miss the opportunity to stab it. Robert Carsen often enjoys updating opera plots, making them reflections of current politics—often achieving {…}