Q & A: Johannes Martin Kränzle on Christof Loy’s New ‘Così fan tutte’ at the Salzburg Festival, Role Preparation, & German Vocal Instruction

Before German baritone, composer, and instrumentalist Johannes Martin Kränzle joined the ranks of singers, he studied violin and directed music theater in Hamburg. The baritone studied voice with Martin Gründler and began his operatic career at such venues as Theater Dortmund, Staatsoper Hannover, and the ensemble of Oper Frankfurt. Since then, Kränzle has sung at the Metropolitan Opera; the Royal Opera House; {…}

Sep 1, 2020

Q & A: Tenor Matthäus Schmidlechner on ‘Elektra’ At Salzburg & Managing the Challenges of Performance & Preparation in the Time of COVID

Born and raised in Salzburg, tenor Matthäus Schmidlechner was brought to Linz by his career. While he works as an ensemble member of the state opera theater of Linz, each year he also makes appearances in his birth town, performing on stage of Salzburg Festival. In 2018 and 2019 he performed the role of the first Jew in R. Castellucci’s {…}

Aug 27, 2020

Anna Netrebko & Yusif Eyvazov’s Salzburg Concert To Be Streamed

(Credit: Marco Borelli) Arte.tv is set to stream Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov’s Salzburg Festival concert on August 27. The concert, which comes from Netrebko and Eyvazov’s performance on August 25, will stream at the 8:30 p.m. Local time / 2:30 p.m. ET and will showcase the soprano and tenor in excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s “Iolanta,” Eugene Onegin,” and “The Queen {…}

Aug 25, 2020

Salzburg Festival 2020 Review: Così Fan Tutte

(Credit: Monika Ritterhaus) Who would have thought that an opera could be staged in just a few weeks? Probably the fastest production in the world was the minimalist, but extremely lively production of Mozart’s opera “Così Fan Tutte” staged at this summer’s Salzburg Festival. The tension of times – pandemic, anniversary, unexpected project, opportunity to return to work, new roles, {…}

Aug 24, 2020

New Subsidiary Association of the Friends of the Salzburg Festival to be Founded in France

(Credit: SF/Marco Borrelli) A new subsidiary association of the Friends of the Salzburg Festival is about to be founded in France to celebrate the Centennial Edition of the festival. “Les Amis Français du Festival de Salzbourg” is the fifth subsidiary association of this kind. Previously, similar associations have been founded in Germany, the United States of America, Switzerland, and Russia. {…}

Aug 18, 2020

Daniel Barenboim Celebrates 70th Anniversary on Stage

On August 19, 2020, Daniel Barenboim will celebrate the 70th anniversary of his stage debut. The famed pianist and conductor will perform a solo recital at the Großes Festspielhaus with music by Beethoven. The repertoire will be similar to his August 19, 1950 recital, and first public concert in Buenos Aires at the age of seven. In that recital, he performed {…}

Aug 17, 2020

Franz Welser-Möst Given Major Award at Salzburg Festival

(Credit: Julia Wesely) After a performance of “Elektra” on August 17, 2020, conductor Franz Welser-Möst was awarded with the Ruby Festival Brooch at the Salzburg Festival. The award was presented to the conductor on his 60th birthday by Salzburg Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler. Welser-Möst made his debut with the Festival back on August 29, 1985 in a concert featuring works by {…}

Aug 15, 2020

Q & A: Elsa Dreisig on ‘Così Fan Tutte,’ COVID-19, the Salzburg Festival & Her Rising Star Status

Earlier this season, rising star soprano Elsa Dreisig was set to make her role debut as Fiordiligi in “Cosi Fan Tutte” in Berlin. However, as was the case with most plans in 2020, COVID-19 canceled out that possibility. For the time being, it seemed that that auspicious debut would have to wait. But as fate would have it, Dreisig, a {…}

Aug 14, 2020

Q & A: Tenor Bogdan Volkov on Making his ‘Unexpected’ Debut at the Salzburg Festival

(Credit: Kristina Kalinina) Among the many performers at this year’s unique Salzburg Festival is tenor Bogdan Volkov. A former student at the Glier Kiev Institute of Music and Tchaikovsky Kiev National Academy of Music, and a frequent performer at Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, Volkov is making his debut with the festival as a part of this year’s production of “Così {…}

Aug 10, 2020

Salzburg Festival 2020 Review: Elektra

(Credit: Salzburg Festival / Bernd Uhlig) Entering the dark Felsenreitschule hall of the Salzburg Festival, carved into the rock of a mountain, you feel uncomfortably crammed inside the mountain – in a terribly unfamiliar space that hides something in the distance of the stage. So far you can’t see or hear anything but in the air, you feel uncertainty, tension, {…}

Aug 7, 2020

Salzburg Festival Bans Usage of Fans During Performances

(Credit: (c) Tourismus Salzburg GmbH, Günter Breitegger) The management of the Salzburg Festival has decided to ban the usage of cooling fans during performances, for safety reasons related to COVID-19 circumstances. The festival has adopted strict hygiene measures in order to keep both the artists and audiences safe during performances. All artists are regularly tested for COVID-19, and they have {…}