Christian Thielemann is a compelling advocate for German music, and his Salzburg Festival 2020 programme with the Wiener Philharmoniker is smack-dab at the heart of his favoured repertoire. For his long-awaited return to the Summer Festival, he opens with Wagner's Wesendock Songs, considered musical sketches for the opera Tristan und Isolde, with terrific Latvian mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca as soloist. The centerpiece is Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4, the Romantic. Storms of applause. “Together with an orchestra that breathes with her, Elina Garanca proved that she currently represents the non plus ultra in the mezzosoprano category. Grandiose the fusion of intensity and noble sound” (Der Standard) “An event with goose bumps“ (Kurier)

Verdi's masterpiece "Simon Boccanegra" is presented in a "clear and levelheaded" (The New York Times) staging by Andreas Kriegenburg from the Salzburg Festival. The tragedy of the corsair who becomes Doge of Genoa and is poisoned shortly after having found his lost daughter is conducted by Valery Gergiev, "makes for gorgeously beautiful tone colours" (Der Kurier). The excellent cast includes Luca Salsi ("Italy's finest baritone today", Financial Times) in the title role, Ren� Pape ("in sumptuous voice", Financial Times) as his contrahent Fiesco, as well as Marina Rebeka and Charles Castronovo as the loving couple Amelia and Adorno who "together create islands of bliss in duet and action." (Neue Z�rcher Zeitung). Valery Gergiev provides for an excellent musical realization, the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor perform superbly: "The Wiener Philharmoniker seemed to have virtually conspired with the conductor and the work, shining into every hidden sound angle, playing out all their sovereignty and opera experience" (S�ddeutsche Zeitung).

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Acclaimed by critics as an evening of superlative, Martha Argerich – arguably the greatest living pianist – joins Daniel Barenboim and his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra for an unforgettable interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto. Argerich’s playing is full of astonishing virtuosity and uncompromising, alternating with breakneck passages and tender tones: “Martha Argerich is and remains unique” (Die Presse). In addition to Tchaikovsky’s brilliant piece, Schubert’s Symphony “Unfinished” is played, a work that has never been performed during the composer’s lifetime. “Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra provide an exceptional atmosphere in the Festspielhaus.” (Salzburger Nachrichten)

Richard Strauss’s opera at the Salzburg Festival, staged by Romeo Castellucci at the Felsenreitschule, was nothing short of a sensation! Debuting in the title role, Asmik Grigorian propelled herself to international stardom with her mesmerizing singing and acting abilities. The exceptional soprano recently won the International Opera Award as best singer. To witness Maestro Franz Welser-Most performing together with the Wiener Philharmoniker and an outstanding cast “makes you think you are hearing the piece in its most perfect incarnation yet” (Financial Times). “Asmik Grigorian sweeps all in her wake in the title role of Strauss’s opera. […] Here is a Salome to end all Salomes. […] In total, it is stunning…" (Financial Times) “thrilling” (Spiegel Online) “A breathtakingly dense, musically epoch-making […] Salome, which brought the house down!” (Neue Zurcher Zeitung)

 

In its 100th anniversary edition, the Salzburg Festival celebrates a real triumph with a mind-blowing new production of Elektra, one of the most famous masterpieces of opera history by the two festival founders Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The Lithuanian soprano Ausrine Stundyte as vengeful and traumatized Elektra turns the opening of the Festival into a real knockout performance! Her sister Chrysotemis is sung by her compatriot Asmik Grigorian, who made her international breakthrough as acclaimed Salome at the 2018 Salzburg Festival, and whose performance once again draws the audience into spell. Tanja Ariane Baumgartner as Klytämnestra, Derek Welton as Orest and Michael Laurenz as Ägisth complete an ensemble of top-notch singers. The staging by Krzysztof Warlikowski of this work about matricide, obsession, revenge and physical degradation is a deep psychological study of a broken family. Franz Welser-Möst brings his trademark flair to the pit where the brilliantly effervescent and then again heartrendingly gentle playing Wiener Philharmoniker create gloriously exultant Strauss moments. “To have chosen Elektra of all pieces, was audacious – and to have brought it off so well, triumphant” (The Times) “One Highlight of the centenary season.” (The Telegraph)

In its 100th anniversary edition, the Salzburg Festival celebrates a real triumph with a mind-blowing new production of Elektra, one of the most famous masterpieces of opera history by the two festival founders Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The Lithuanian soprano Ausrine Stundyte as vengeful and traumatized Elektra turns the opening of the Festival into a real knockout performance! Her sister Chrysotemis is sung by her compatriot Asmik Grigorian, who made her international breakthrough as acclaimed Salome at the 2018 Salzburg Festival, and whose performance once again draws the audience into spell. Tanja Ariane Baumgartner as Klytämnestra, Derek Welton as Orest and Michael Laurenz as Ägisth complete an ensemble of top-notch singers. The staging by Krzysztof Warlikowski of this work about matricide, obsession, revenge and physical degradation is a deep psychological study of a broken family. Franz Welser-Möst brings his trademark flair to the pit where the brilliantly effervescent and then again heartrendingly gentle playing Wiener Philharmoniker create gloriously exultant Strauss moments. “To have chosen Elektra of all pieces, was audacious – and to have brought it off so well, triumphant” (The Times) “One Highlight of the centenary season.” (The Telegraph) Last year, the Salzburg Festival defied whatever conventions existed in the early months of the pandemic when it refused to cancel its centennial season, opting instead for extreme hygiene protocols. The director Krzysztof Warlikowski and the conductor Franz Welser-Möst embraced that rebellious spirit with their production of Richard Strauss's visceral one-act opera "Elektra," which opened the 2020 season and is now available on DVD and Blu-ray. Warlikowski dispenses with the cliche of Elektra as a semi-feral Greek princess driven mad by her desire to kill her mother, Klytämnestra, in revenge for killing her father, Agamemnon; here, she's a poor little rich girl whose party dress osbcures the depths of her family trauma. The soprano Ausrine Stundyte embodies the character's complexity with singing of astonishing delicacy and potency, and she finds worthy foils in Asmik Grigorian's confident Chrysothemis and Tanja Ariane Baumgartner's haunted yet haughty Klytämnestra. Under Welser-Möst, the Vienna Philharmonic plays with a sumptuousness typically reserved for Strauss's lyric works. ()-Oussama Zahr

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Acclaimed by critics as an evening of superlative, Martha Argerich – arguably the greatest living pianist – joins Daniel Barenboim and his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra for an unforgettable interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto. Argerich’s playing is full of astonishing virtuosity and uncompromising, alternating with breakneck passages and tender tones: “Martha Argerich is and remains unique” (Die Presse). In addition to Tchaikovsky’s brilliant piece, Schubert’s Symphony “Unfinished” is played, a work that has never been performed during the composer’s lifetime. “Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra provide an exceptional atmosphere in the Festspielhaus.” (Salzburger Nachrichten)

Jean-Jacques Rousseau hailed “Platée” as “the best musical play ever to be heard in our theatres.” In Robert Carsen’s production, the mythological events take place in the world of Parisian haute couture and Jupiter is portrayed as the fashion god Karl Lagerfeld (1933-2019) – who has now really been transferred up to Olympus. This ingeniously apt transposition of this satirical opera into the modern day has long been a hit! The renowned specialist in baroque music, William Christie, conducts his Les Arts Florissants, the Arnold Schoenberg Chor and a fantastic cast. “A candy-colored baroque dream” Salzburger Nachrichten // “A must-see - and not only for fashion freaks!” (Bühne)

Jean-Jacques Rousseau hailed “Platée” as “the best musical play ever to be heard in our theatres.” In Robert Carsen’s production, the mythological events take place in the world of Parisian haute couture and Jupiter is portrayed as the fashion god Karl Lagerfeld (1933-2019) – who has now really been transferred up to Olympus. This ingeniously apt transposition of this satirical opera into the modern day has long been a hit! The renowned specialist in baroque music, William Christie, conducts his Les Arts Florissants, the Arnold Schoenberg Chor and a fantastic cast. “A candy-colored baroque dream” Salzburger Nachrichten // “A must-see - and not only for fashion freaks!” (Bühne)

No more Bruckner under Haitink, that's a cut in the history of interpretation (Wiener Zeitung) To end his active conducting career after 65 years, maestro Bernard Haitink together with the Wiener Philharmoniker gives a farewell concert at the Gro�es Festspielhaus at Salzburg Festival, leaving no doubt of being one of the best Bruckner interpreters ever. The Dutch conductor, who was appointed honorary member of the Wiener Philharmoniker shortly before the concert, is joined by star pianist Emanuel Ax in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4: a musical interaction "of a depth of sentiment and an agreement in making music together that sounds wonderfully natural" (Salzburger Nachrichten). The concert ends with Bruckner's monumental Symphony No. 7 with it's famous second movement, which marked the composer's breakthrough and remains one of his most popular symphonies. The Wiener Philharmoniker play under Haitink's masterful baton completely focused, but dynamic and with deepest sensation. The atmosphere of this last performance is without doubt exceptional and a visibly emotional Haitink was celebrated by the audience with long standing ovations. "You shouldn't throw terms like 'magic moments' around easily. But what could be heard in Salzburg was certainly one" (Klassikinfo. De)

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Operetta enthusiast Barrie Kosky has landed a gigantic success with Offenbach’s subversive and hilarious reversion of the Orpheus myth at the Salzburg Festival. Kosky created a magically precise and witty staging with numerous extravagant costumes in a glittering opulent scenery and a literally devilish choreography. For the dialogues he has found an impressively ingenious solution as they are not spoken by the singers. Rather they are performed by the brilliant German actor Max Hopp as John Styx “who performs a true vocal miracle” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung) in a slapstick-like manner. The superb cast impresses with virtuoso singing as well as ravishingly comedic acting, first and foremost the American coloratura soprano Kathryn Lewek as Eurydice “with crystal clear coloraturas and sovereign top tones” (Salzburger Nachrichten), the Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter as severe L’Opinion publique or the Austrian bass baritone Martin Winkler as foolish father of the gods Jupiter. Under the Italian conductor Enrique Mazzola’s precise conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker provide an exquisite “sparkling orchestral sound” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). “A frantic and fabulous show” (New York Times)

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“He was out to create something ‘unheard-of’,” observed conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt beforehand. And true to form: What the conductor had offer as he commenced his Mozart/Da Ponte cycle in the Theater an der Wien was something we “had never before heard like this” (Kurier). Nikolaus Harnoncourt, “master” of period performance practice, realized a project that had long been one of his dearest wishes: for the first time, he and his “original-sound orchestra” Concentus Musicus and his personal choice of singers were presenting the complete Mozart/Da Ponte cycle and harvesting the fruits of his Mozart research – an “enthusiastically acclaimed cycle!” (news.at). During an intensive phase of rehearsal and preparation, he was in search of a Mozart hermeneutic resting on historical sources and yet anchored in our own time, in order to stage the whole Da Ponte “trilogy” – Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte – in a matter of a mere six weeks. “The culmination of Harnoncourt’s involvement with [Mozart’s Da Ponte operas] – “A Mozart drawn from historical sources and yet anchored in our own time.” (Die Presse)

“He was out to create something ‘unheard-of’,” observed conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt beforehand. And true to form: What the conductor had to offer as he commenced his Mozart/Da Ponte cycle in the Theater an der Wien was something we “had never before heard like this” (Kurier). Nikolaus Harnoncourt, “master” of period performance practice, realized a project that had long been one of his dearest wishes: for the first time, he and his “original-sound orchestra” Concentus Musicus and his personal choice of singers were presenting the complete Mozart/Da Ponte cycle and harvesting the fruits of his Mozart research – an “enthusiastically acclaimed cycle!” (news.at). During an intensive phase of rehearsal and preparation, he was in search of a Mozart hermeneutic resting on historical sources and yet anchored in our own time, in order to stage the whole Da Ponte “trilogy” – Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte – in a matter of a mere six weeks. “The culmination of Harnoncourt’s involvement with [Mozart’s Da Ponte operas] – A Mozart drawn from historical sources and yet anchored in our own time.” (Die Presse)

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“He was out to create something ‘unheard-of’,” observed conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt beforehand. And true to form: What the conductor had offer as he commenced his Mozart/Da Ponte cycle in the Theater an der Wien was something we “had never before heard like this” (Kurier). Nikolaus Harnoncourt, “master” of period performance practice, realized a project that had long been one of his dearest wishes: for the first time, he and his “original-sound orchestra” Concentus Musicus and his personal choice of singers were presenting the complete Mozart/Da Ponte cycle and harvesting the fruits of his Mozart research – an “enthusiastically acclaimed cycle!” (news.at). During an intensive phase of rehearsal and preparation, he was in search of a Mozart hermeneutic resting on historical sources and yet anchored in our own time, in order to stage the whole Da Ponte “trilogy” – Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte – in a matter of a mere six weeks. “The culmination of Harnoncourt’s involvement with [Mozart’s Da Ponte operas] – “A Mozart drawn from historical sources and yet anchored in our own time.” (Die Presse)

With the "Méditation", Jules Massenet probably wrote one of the most famous melodies of our time. It originates from his Comédie-lyrique "Thaïs", which – unlike Massenet's operas "Werther" or "Manon" – never made it into the international opera repertoire. Presumably because the two main roles of Thaïs and Athanaël demand something almost superhuman from the singers. In the new production by Peter Konwitschny at the Theater an der Wien, the American soprano Nicole Chevalier is one of the most exciting singers currently on stage in the title role. At her side, the young Austrian bass-baritone Josef Wagner celebrates his house debut. This is a fascinating and musically excellent performance of a timeless classic of the opera repertoire. “Gigantically well told (...) Grandiose!” (Der Kurier) // “An acoustic delight” (Der Standard)