Salzburg Festival from Benko to Putin
Published: Monday, Jul 15th 2024, 09:00
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Money, violence and male power not only dominate the current news, but also the upcoming Salzburg Festival. This is already evident in the new production of the play "Jedermann", which opens the renowned opera, theater and concert festival on Saturday.
For director Robert Carsen, the question arose as to whether Hugo von Hofmannsthal's Jedermann was about someone like the Austrian real estate bankrupt René Benko or the convicted cryptocurrency fraudster Samuel Bankman-Fried. One thing can certainly be said about the main character in the play about wealth and death, says Carsen: "He made a shitload of money", and in a short space of time.
An everyman and two ex-everymen
This year's title role is played by Austrian Philipp Hochmair, who is well-known from the crime series "Blind ermittelt". His Swiss colleague Deleila Piasko plays the villainess. Last year's production and ensemble were surprisingly replaced after just one season.
The Everyman of 2023, Michael Maertens, can nevertheless be seen in Salzburg this year. He reads from the prison letters of Putin critic Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian prison camp in February. And another ex-everyman will be performing: Tobias Moretti is the narrator in a concert performance of the works "Il canto sospeso" and "Il prigioniero", which focus on resistance to oppression and fascism.
Focus on Russia
The renowned Austrian festival is presenting three new staged opera productions this summer. Mieczyslaw Weinberg's work "The Idiot" focuses on a Russian prince whose benevolent character seems downright scandalous today in view of Putin's war in Ukraine and the Gaza conflict, writes dramaturge Christian Longchamp. Lithuanian conductor Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla directs the performances staged by Krzysztof Warlikowski.
Benko associations also come to mind in Prokofiev's opera "The Gambler", according to director Markus Hinterhäuser. Director Peter Sellars brings the story of greed and quick profits to the stage. Star soprano Asmik Grigorian and US tenor Sean Panikkar, who are closely associated with the festival, can be heard in the leading roles.
As a contrast to the many contemporary references, Offenbach's "Les Contes d'Hoffmann" ("Tales of Hoffmann") explores the artistic soul of the 19th century. In her new production, director Mariame Clément aims to shed light on the relationship between art and reality. The program also includes two operas by Salzburg-born Mozart: "Don Giovanni" and "Clemenza di Tito".
History lessons on the theater stage
The Festival's new head of drama, Marina Davydova, is also focusing on weighty themes and names. Director Thom Luz is presenting a theatrical version of Stefan Zweig's anthology "Sternstunden der Menschheit", in which historical events involving famous men such as Napoleon or Lenin are presented as the result of mistakes or coincidences.
The theater program also includes a dramatic version of Thomas Mann's novel "The Magic Mountain" and the dance production "Mirror Neurons", in which the audience literally reflects itself through a giant mirror.
Nicolas Stemann presents his version of the ancient blood and revenge epic "Oresteia" from texts by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. The new version "is set against the backdrop of a present in which democracy is increasingly being called into question and - like pacifism - is treated as an obsolete model", according to the program text.
A total of 220,000 tickets were sold in Salzburg this summer for 172 performances over 44 days. Towards the end of the festival, German composer and theater maker Heiner Goebbels will present his performance "Everything That Happened and Would Happen". In the work, which premiered in 2018, Goebbels explores the destructive history of Europe. He begins with the First World War, which broke out 100 years ago in the summer of 1914.
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