Western literature and revolt characterize the 2024 Salzburg Festival
Published: Wednesday, Dec 6th 2023, 15:30
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Next summer, the Salzburg Festival will focus on European literature and artists from Eastern Europe.
According to the program published on Wednesday, two of the three new opera productions are settings of Dostoyevsky's novels: star director Peter Sellars presents Prokofiev's "The Gambler" with soprano Asmik Grigorian, while his colleague Krzysztof Warlikowski takes on the modern opera "The Idiot" by Mieczyslaw Weinberg.
According to Artistic Director Markus Hinterhäuser, the program for summer 2024 is all about revolt. Many of the selected works deal with the rejection of a world that demands more from us than we want or are able to, said Hinterhäuser at the program presentation in Salzburg. The protagonists of the operas are people "who perform a kind of rebellion against this world".
The new head of drama in Salzburg, Marina Davydova, was hired by the festival management to give the Austrian festival's theater department a more international focus. However, the first season program of the theater expert, who emigrated from Russia, hardly looks beyond the European horizon. Among other things, Thomas Mann's novel "Magic Mountain" will be performed as a play. Krystian Lupa from Poland, who specializes in literary adaptations, is staging the work. In addition, Thom Luz from Switzerland is transforming the historical miniature stories from Stefan Zweig's "Sternstunden der Menschheit" into a musical theater production.
Director Nicolas Stemann's project "The Oresteia" is dedicated to the themes of violence and politics based on ancient dramas. As every year, the 2024 festival season begins with Hofmannsthal's "Jedermann". Philipp Hochmair and Deleila Piasko take on the leading roles for the first time after last summer's production caused mixed reactions.
There are no female authors or composers in the Festival's opera and theater program. Direction is also almost entirely in male hands. Mariame Clément stands out as an exception with her production of Offenbach's opera "The Tales of Hoffmann".
The festival continues to rely on the Greek-Russian star Teodor Currentzis for the selection of conductors, most of whom are also male. The maestro, who was disinvited elsewhere due to his silence on the war in Ukraine, will conduct a revival of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" in Salzburg. Conductors Christian Thielemann and Daniel Barenboim are also expected. The latter will bring his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra with Israeli and Palestinian musicians to Salzburg.
From July 19 to August 31, 172 performances can be seen and heard in Salzburg. This includes a dense concert program with a focus on the composer Arnold Schönberg, whose 150th birthday is next year. His music is still considered problematic by some, said concert director Florian Wiegand about the pioneer of twelve-tone music. "We consider him far too important to avoid him," Wiegand made clear.
©Keystone/SDA
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