Salzburg Festival Announces Mortier Award Recipients

The 2021 Mortier Award for music theatre will be presented during this summer’s Salzburg Festival to polymath Alexander Kluge and the Next Generation Award will be presented to stage director Ulrike Schwab. Polymath Kluge is a filmmaker and writer who wrote “Chronik der Gefühle (Chronicle of Feelings),” “Kongs große Stunde (Kong’s Big Moment),“Russland-Kontainer (Russia-Container),” “Trotzdem (Nevertheless, with Ferdinand von Schirach),” and “Senkblei der {…}

Dec 14, 2020

Best of 2020: OperaWire’s Top 11 Industry-Defining Moments of the Year

This calendar year has been a difficult one for the world and for the music industry. It tested artists in ways they never thought they would. And yet it also showed resilience, love, and humility. It was a year where generosity was predominant and where artists united for a better cause. Usually, at this point in time, OperaWire has a {…}

Dec 1, 2020

Anita Rachvelishvili, Benjamin Bernheim, Piotr Beczala Win Big at Oper! Awards

The Oper! Awards have announced the winners of the 2020 edition. Bruno de Sá was given the Best Newcomer award while tenor Benjamin Bernheim was recognized as Best Male Singer. Anita Rachvelishvili was Best Female Singer and Hans Neuenfels was given a Lifetime Achievement Award. Best Performance went to the Opéra National de Paris’ “Les Indes Galantes,” while Best World {…}

Oct 6, 2020

Salzburg Festival Announces Massive Renovation Plan

(Credit: © Luigi Caputo) The Salzburg Festival has announced a massive renovation plan with plans to invest 263 million euros over the course of the next 10 years. According to the plan, the festival venues will be completely renovated and extended. This massive project has the goal of fully maintaining the operating functions of the festival in the long term. {…}

Sep 26, 2020

Q & A: Soprano Natalia Tanasii on the Salzburg Festival, Sting, & Strauss

(Credit: Natalia Sedinta) Moldovan soprano Natalia Tanasii was only 21 when she made her professional stage debut as Countess Almaviva (“Le nozze di Figaro”) at the Moldovan National Opera. Her unforgettable Salzburg Festival debut followed in Krzysztof Warlikowski’s staging of “Elektra” this year. In an interview with OperaWire, Ms. Tanasii discussed her career moves, repertoire choices, and her preparation process {…}

Sep 25, 2020

Alex Esposito Named Kammersänger in Munich

(Credit: Opus 3 Artists official website) The Bayerische Staatsoper has announced that the Italian bass-baritone Alex Esposito has been awarded the honorary title of the Kammersänger of the state of Bavaria. Esposito is regarded as one of the most talented opera singers of his generation. He has appeared on the leading stages, including Teatro alla Scala, Wiener Staatsoper, Royal Opera {…}

Sep 14, 2020

Q & A: Mezzo-Soprano Katie Coventry on ‘Elektra’ in Salzburg, Her Inspirations, Being a Modern Opera Singer

(Credit: Doris Wild) Scottish mezzo-soprano Katie Coventry was facing what a lot of singers in the opera world have endured throughout 2020. As she sat in her apartment on lockdown waiting for some good news, she saw all of her professional engagements slowly disappear as the threat of COVID-19 continued to loom large. And then she got the call from {…}

Sep 11, 2020

Q & A: Conductor Ivor Bolton on History with Salzburg Festival & Cultural Crisis Caused by COVID-19

(Credit: Ben Wright Photography) This year marked the 100th anniversary of the renowned Salzburg Festival in Austria. A critical milestone for the festival, they chose to still responsibly present the event this summer, albeit with a severely reduced program and heightened safety and security in response to the global pandemic. British conductor Ivor Bolton lead the Mozarteumsorchester Salzburg performing a {…}

Sep 8, 2020

Q & A: Bass-Baritone Derek Welton on ‘Elektra,’ Greek Tragedy, & the Salzburg Festival

Bass-baritone Derek Welton started his journey toward performing on the big stages in Australia when, after language studies and social work in 2004, he discovered his passion for singing. Then, an unexpected grant and a victory in the Australian Singing Competition helped Welton continue his path to Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Soon thereafter, the singer was {…}

Sep 7, 2020

Doris Soffel to Star in ‘Elektra’ at Wiener Staatsoper

(Credit: Boris Streubel) The famed German mezzo-soprano Doris Soffel will appear in the role of Klytämnestra in Richard Strauss’ opera “Elektra” at the Wiener Staatsoper on September 8, 2020. Doris Soffel is one of the leading Wagnerian and Straussian singers, having taken on such roles as Kundry in “Parsifal,” Ortrud in “Lohengrin,” and Fricka and Erda in the composer’s iconic {…}

Sep 3, 2020

The Pandemic Prevention Plan That Enabled the Salzburg Festival’s 100th Edition to Take Place

Every year, the Salzburg Festival fascinates with its superhuman efforts to nurture the prosperous cultural life of the city. During the summer they organize and present to the public the full seasonal repertoire of the opera house, drama theater, and concert hall. This year, with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and the collapse of almost the entire world’s cultural {…}