SALZBURG FESTIVAL 2009
In 2009, Salzburg at Whitsun will again be dominated by Neapolitan opera.
EDITORIAL – Great and Noble Ideas
In 2009, Salzburg at Whitsun will again be dominated by Neapolitan opera. Asked what profile they wished to give the Whitsun Festival in the future, Artistic Director Jürgen Flimm and Concert Director Markus Hinterhäuser decided upon this topic together with Riccardo Muti, right at the beginning of their tenure at the Salzburg Festival. There are plenty of reasons for this, and if one wants to, one may interpret them politically: history is still the best teacher. Especially in our times, when Europe is coming closer together, it makes sense to remember one’s shared history. Vienna and Naples were two of the most important centers for music during the 18th century. But not only that: for three decades during that time, Naples was under Austrian rule.
An opera to begin with, a major oratorio at the end, and in between concerts with equally exquisite programs – that is the concept behind the Salzburg Whitsun Festival.
An opera to begin with, a major oratorio at the end, and in between concerts with equally exquisite programs – that is the concept behind the Salzburg Whitsun Festival.
Conductors, stage-directors, orchestras, singers, actors and virtuoso instrumentalists of world renown can be seen and heard in July and August in the town on the river Salzach. Even the most eminent opera stars come together here to rehearse productions intensively for several weeks, thereby fulfilling the creed of the Salzburg Festival as it was originally envisioned by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, one of the Festival's founding fathers: "Dramatic play-acting in the strongest sense is our intention; routine, run-of-the-mill performances have no place here."
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