SALZBURG FESTIVAL 20 July – 31 August 2019
The 2019 Salzburg Festival
199 Performances in 43 Days at 16 Venues
Opera: 42 Performances 5 New Productions 2 Operas in Concert 2 Revivals
Drama: 55 Performances 4 New Productions Revival of Jedermann 4 Drama Investigations 4 Readings
81 Concerts Staged Performance (Orlando di Lasso: Lagrime di San Pietro / Peter Sellars) Opera in Concert (Pascal Dusapin: Medeamaterial)
70 Concerts 4 Master Classes 5 Special Concerts Gala Soiree 2
0 Performances as part of the Children’s Programme 8 Performances of the Children’s Opera Der Gesang der Zauberinsel 8
Introductory Workshops Fun and Games 4 Public Final Performances of the Opera Camps *** Joyful Joyce –
An Installation by Ruth Beckermann Photography Exhibition Pascal Dusapin 6 Film Screenings Medea (Pier Paolo Pasolini, with Maria Callas, 1969)
OPERA
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Idomeneo
Luigi Cherubini Médée
George Enescu Œdipe
Jacques Offenbach Orphée aux enfers
Giuseppe Verdi Simon Boccanegra
George Frideric Handel Alcina
Richard Strauss Salome
Francesco Cilea Adriana Lecouvreur (in concert)
Giuseppe Verdi Luisa Miller (in concert)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Idomeneo
The opening premiere of the 2019 Salzburg Festival is Wolfgang A. Mozart’s opera Idomeneo. In 2017 Teodor Currentzis and Peter Sellars staged Mozart’s late opera La clemenza di Tito at the Salzburg Festival as a touching vision of the power of justice and reconciliation. Now the ingenious duo dedicates itself to another opera seria by Mozart during the upcoming Festival summer, the utopian work of a 25-year-old telling the world: “We must talk about the future. The time is ripe for a serious change.“ (Peter Sellars) The premiere of Idomeneo takes place on July 27 at the Felsenreitschule. Teodor Currentzis conducts the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and the musicAeterna Choir of Perm Opera. Russell Thomas (Idomeneo), Paula Murrihy (Idamante), Ying Fang (Ilia), Nicole Chevalier (Elettra) and Jonathan Lemalu (Nettuno / La voce) take the principal roles. The Samoan-born artist Lemi Ponifasio, whose career spans the world, will be responsible for the choreography.
Luigi Cherubini: Médée
In Luigi Cherubini’s opera Médée of 1797, Medea is portrayed as a passionate, strong, intelligent woman with the ability to love. Simon Stone, whose production of Aribert Reimann’s Lear provided a highlight of the 2017 Salzburg Festival, explores the reasons for Medea’s actions in a modern context, tracing the figure’s inner development from the beginning to the final catastrophe. The new production has its premiere at the Großes Festspielhaus on 30 July. Thomas Hengelbrock conducts the Vienna Philharmonic and the Concert Association of the Vienna State Opera Chorus. Sonya Yoncheva, the celebrated Poppea in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea at the 2018 Festival, takes on the title role. She is joined by Pavel Černoch (Jason), Vitalij Kowaljow (Créon), Rosa Feola (Dircé) and Alisa Kolosova (Néris).
George Enescu: Œdipe
It was a scream which George Enescu could not forget: the scream of Oedipus as he was blinded in a performance of Sophocles’ tragedy at the Comédie-Française in 1909. Shortly thereafter, in 1910, he began to sketch the music for an opera. However, it was only 26 years later, on 13 March 1936, that Œdipe, his tragédie lyrique, was first performed in Paris – proving itself a masterwork of 20th-century opera literature. Achim Freyer is responsible for directing the new production at the Felsenreitschule, as well as its sets and costumes. Ingo Metzmacher conducts the Vienna Philharmonic, the Concert Association of the Vienna State Opera Chorus and the Salzburger Festspiele und Theater Kinderchor. The role of Œdipe is sung by Christopher Maltman. Further roles feature John Tomlinson (Tirésias), Brian Mulligan (Créon), Vincent Ordonneau (Le Berger), David Steffens (Le Grand Prêtre), Gordon Bintner (Phorbas), Tilmann Rönnebeck (Le Veilleur), Boris Pinkhasovich (Thésée), Michael Colvin (Laïos), Anaïk Morel (Jocaste), Clémentine Margaine (La Sphinge), Chiara Skerath (Antigone) and Anna Maria Dur (Mérope). The premiere takes place on 11 August 2019.
Jacques Offenbach: Orphée aux enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld)
Accustomed to success, shortly before his 40th birthday Jacques Offenbach had run into financial turbulence with his theatre near the Champs-Élysées in 1858. His revision and setting of a libretto about Orpheus by Ludovic Halévy and Hector Crémieux brought the much-needed coup: with Orphée aux enfers, he created the prototype of the “Offenbachiade” – and saved his theatre from ruin. The version Barrie Kosky has created for Salzburg essentially keeps to the form of the two-act opéra-bouffon of 1858, with the addition of some elements from the 1874 version which Offenbach had inserted in reaction to the change in social circumstances. Barrie Kosky makes his Salzburg Festival debut with Orphée aux enfers, as does the conductor Enrique Mazzola. In addition to the Vocalconsort Berlin and the Vienna Philharmonic, Kathryn Lewek sings the role of Eurydice and Joel Prieto that of Orphée. The cast also includes Marcel Beekman (Aristée), Martin Winkler (Jupiter), Max Hopp (John Styx), Anne Sofie von Otter (L’Opinion publique), Peter Renz (Mercure), Vasilisa Berzhanskaya (Diane), Frances Pappas (Junon), Lea Desandre (Vénus) and Nadine Weissmann (Cupidon). The new production at the Haus für Mozart premieres on 14 August.
Giuseppe Verdi: Simon Boccanegra
Simon Boccanegra may be Giuseppe Verdi’s most personal work; it is certainly his darkest and most pessimistic one, in which familiar and political conflicts keep clashing: “The human heart is a fount of never-ending woe”. Andreas Kriegenburg, who garnered rave reviews with his production of Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District in 2017, directs Giuseppe Verdi’s opera at the Großes Festspielhaus. Valery Gergiev returns to the Salzburg Festival as an opera conductor, leading the Concert Association of the Vienna State Opera Chorus and the Vienna Philharmonic. Luca Salsi sings the role of Simon Boccanegra, Marina Rebeka that of Amelia Grimaldi and René Pape that of Jacopo Fiesco. The cast also includes Charles Castronovo (Gabriele Adorno), André Heyboer (Paolo Albiani) and Antonio Di Matteo (Pietro). The premiere takes place on 15 August.
George Frideric Handel: Alcina
Directed by Damiano Michieletto and featuring Cecilia Bartoli in the main role, George Frideric Handel’s Alcina is a revival from the Salzburg Whitsun Festival and premieres at the Haus für Mozart on 8 August. Gianluca Capuano conducts Les Musiciens du Prince – Monaco and the Salzburg Bach Choir. Cecilia Bartoli is joined on stage by Sandrine Piau as Morgana, Kristina Hammarström as Bradamante, Christoph Strehl in the role of Oronte and Alastair Miles as Melisso. Philippe Jaroussky sings the role of Ruggiero, which Handel tailored to the voice of castrato Giovanni Carestini in 1735.
Richard Strauss: Salome
Audience and media agreed that the 2018 production of Richard Strauss’ Salome would go down in Festival history as an overwhelming experience. In 2019 we offer three further performances of the production by Romeo Castellucci (director, sets, costumes and lighting). The cast is the same as last season: the incomparable Asmik Grigorian is joined by John Daszak (Herodes), Anna Maria Chiuri (Herodias), Gábor Bretz (Jochanaan) and Julian Prégardien (Narraboth), among others. The Vienna Philharmonic performs under the baton of Franz Welser-Möst. The premiere is scheduled for 25 August at the Felsenreitschule.
Francesco Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur
Francesco Cilea’s opera Adriana Lecouvreur is performed in concert three times with Anna Netrebko in the title role at the Großes Festspielhaus. Yusif Eyvazov sings the role of Maurizio, Count of Saxony; Anita Rachvelishvili embodies Adriana Lecouvreur’s adversary, the Princess de Bouillon. The cast also includes Nicola Alaimo (Michonnet), Mika Kares (Prince de Bouillon) and Andrea Giovannini (Abbot of Chazeuil). Marco Armiliato conducts the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg and the Philharmonia Chorus Vienna. The performances take place on 28 and 31 July and on 3 August.
Giuseppe Verdi: Luisa Miller
Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Luisa Miller, based on Schiller’s Kabale und Liebe, will be heard in two concert performances on 25 and 31 August at the Großes Festspielhaus: Plácido Domingo sings the role of Miller; Piotr Beczala is heard as Rodolfo and Nino Machaidze as Luisa; together they face the merciless severity of Conte di Walter, sung by Roberto Tagliavini. The cast also includes Teresa Iervolino (Federica) and John Relyea (Wurm). James Conlon makes his Festival debut, conducting the Concert Association of the Vienna State Opera Chorus and the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg.
DRAMA
One world premiere, three further new productions, the revival of Jedermann, four drama investigations, four readings – including another world premiere – and an installation: all these are included in the 2019 programme of the Festival’s drama department. Hugo von Hofmannsthal Jedermann Ödön von Horváth Jugend ohne Gott (Youth Without God) Maxim Gorky Summerfolk Ferenc Molnár Liliom Theresia Walser Die Empörten (The Outraged Ones) Drama Investigations Readings · Installation
CONCERTS “There are tears at the heart of things, and mortal things touch our minds,” Virgil’s Aeneid claims. The ancient epics stand as an impressive testament to the extent to which narration also started out as song. Expressing great emotions, tears and lamentations played a central role – also in the vocal tradition: they underscored sorrow, rage, desperation, longing and fear. They honoured the dead and offered relief to those grieving. This year’s Ouverture spirituelle also focuses on grief and lamenting, giving them resounding shape and touching the heart: whether in Orlando di Lasso’s Lagrime di San Pietro, in works by Palestrina, Gesualdo and Bach, or in the music of Dmitri Shostakovich or Luigi Nono, Sofia Gubaidulina and Wolfgang Rihm. The Ouverture spirituelle opens with Lagrime di San Pietro, a masterwork of the a-cappella literature. In the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s overwhelming staged adaptation by Peter Sellars, this final work by Orlando di Lasso is performed twice at the Kollegienkirche. “I bear responsibility” is the central theme of these madrigals setting texts by Luigi Tansillo (1510- 1568), which portray the anguish of St. Peter after his denial of Jesus. Sorrow and lamenting – set to music by Palestrina, Victoria or Gesualdo as well – resound in the face of the cross, whether in Bach’s cantata Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen and its echo in Franz Liszt, in Wofgang Rihm’s motets setting texts of the Passion, in Sofia Gubaidulina’s text-less Sieben Worte and in settings of the Miserere, the mass and requiem services through the centuries, of which the programme features examples by Jan Dismas Zelenka, Anton Bruckner and Arvo Pärt. Tears of innocent suffering well from Mary’s eyes, resounding through the Stabat Mater settings by Marc-Antoine Charpentier and Domenico Scarlatti performed by Jordi Savall and his ensembles La Capella Reial de Catalunya and Le Concert des Nations at the Kollegienkirche. John Dowland’s sorrowful collection Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares still touches our hearts today in its sublime melancholy. Tears of a more recent past are recalled by Shostakovich’s monumental Symphony No. 7, the “Leningrad”, and by Luigi Nono’s Il canto sospeso, based on the farewell letters from members of the anti-fascist resistance before their execution. Both works are performed by the SWR Symphony Orchestra, the former with its new chief conductor Teodor Currentzis, the latter together with the SWR Vocal Ensemble under Peter Rundel. Pascal Dusapin’s opera Medeamaterial offers a direct connection with the myths of antiquity; Heiner Müller’s text combines the ancient tale of Medea with dark visions of the future. The concert performance with Jennifer France as Medea and the Vocalconsort Berlin and the Akademie für Alte Musik under Franck Ollu also marks the start of the series Time with Dusapin, which continues with the performance of Granum sinapis and the French composer’s requiem settings Umbrae mortis and Dona Eis. Pascal Dusapin, born in Nancy in 1955, discovered the organ as his instrument at the age of ten. At eighteen, he decided to become a composer after hearing Edgard Varèse’s Arcana. In Dusapin’s own words, Varèse became his “musical grandfather” – and Iannis Xenakis, with whom he studied from 1974 to 1978, his “musical father”, who also awakened his interest in architecture and mathematics. Dusapin also integrates influences of folk music and jazz and has a predilection for subjects from the depth of mythology. As part of the series Time with Dusapin, one of the most comprehensive works by his teacher Iannis Xenakis, Kraanerg, will be heard at the Kollegienkirche – played by the Klangforum Wien under the baton of Sylvain Cambreling. Georg Nigl (baritone) and Olga Pashchenko (piano) perform Dusapin’s song cycle O Mensch! at the Mozarteum. Emilio Pomàrico uses a concert by Klangforum Wien to juxtapose Dusapin’s works with those of Anton Webern. The ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna performs the large-scale orchestral work Morning in Long Island at the Felsenreitschule. Pascal Dusapin is also an acclaimed photographer. The Leica Gallery Salzburg shows an exhibition documenting the photographic output of the composer from 25 July onwards. The Salzburg Festival also dedicates “Time with…” to the oeuvre of the Rumanian composer George Enescu (1881-1955). As a child, Enescu was so fascinated by the songs and dances of the Romani people that he built himself a toy violin. At the age of seven, he was sent to Vienna for his violin studies, and at 14, Enescu was already a composition student in Paris. The child prodigy became an all-round musician, successful as a conductor, violin virtuoso, teacher, musicologist and organizer in the USA and Rumania and everywhere in between. Today, his music seems more impressive than ever. Transcending the boundaries between epochs, worlds and styles, George Enescu can now be rediscovered as one of the most original composers of his time. The series Time with Enescu offers not only his magnum opus, Œdipe, as directed by Achim Freyer and conducted by Ingo Metzmacher, but also five concerts: together with their musical partners, the violin virtuosos Maxim Vengerov, Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Renaud Capuçon and the violist Tabea Zimmermann explore Enescu’s chamber music cosmos, juxtaposing his works with those by Johannes Brahms and Maurice Ravel, who was a friend of Enescu during their student days. Members of the Vienna Philharmonic perform what may be Enescu’s most momentous chamber music work: his Octet for Strings. The Vienna Philharmonic traditionally presents five concert programmes: Riccardo Muti dedicates the performances of Giuseppe Verdi’s Messa da Requiem to the memory of Herbert von Karajan († 16 July 1989). The soloists are Krassimira Stoyanova, Anita Rachvelishvili, Francesco Meli, Ildar Abdrazakov, joined by the Concert Association of the Vienna State Opera Chorus. Herbert Blomstedt conduct’s Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 9, Daniel Barenboim his Kindertotenlieder and Symphony No. 5. Franz Welser-Möst leads the Viennese orchestra in works by Richard Wagner, Richard Straus and Dmitri Shostakovich: the soloists in Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 14 will be Asmik Grigorian and Matthias Goerne. Bernard Haitink concludes the concert series of the Vienna Philharmonic at the 2019 Salzburg Festival, interpreting Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 Op. 58 with Murray Perahia at the piano as well as Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7.In the series of Guest Orchestras, Teodor Currentzis returns to the Salzburg Festival, performing for the first time as the new chief conductor of the SWR Symphony Orchestra. The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, which celebrates its 20-year anniversary next year, is joined by Anne-Sophie Mutter and Martha Argerich as soloists. The WEDO will also perform Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 under the baton of its founder Daniel Barenboim – a work which also graced the programme of its very first concert. After conducting operas for the past two seasons, Mariss Jansons brings his Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra back to Salzburg in 2019 – and Kirill Petrenko his Berlin Philharmonic. One fixture of the concert programme is the appearance of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra: in the summer of 2019, it performs under the baton of Herbert Blomstedt and with Christian Gerhaher as soloist. The ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna offers a concert led by Jonathan Nott and also plays the Prize Winner’s Concert with the winner of the 2018 Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award, Gábor Káli. Andris Nelsons rounds out the series of guest orchestras with his new ensemble, the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, playing Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8. Chamber concerts will be performed this coming summer by Martha Argerich and Daniel Barenboim with members of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, playing works by Sergei Prokofiev, Robert Schumann and Dmitri Shostakovich. The Quatuor Ebène offers works by Johannes Brahms, Henri Dutilleux and Ludwig van Beethoven; the Quatuor Modigliani is joined by Lawrence Power (viola) and Sabine Meyer (clarinet) in quintets by Mozart. Mitsuko Uchida closes the series of chamber music concerts together with clarinettist Jörg Widmann and soprano Anna Lucia Richter. Song recitals will be performed by Christian Gerhaher, Georg Nigl, Patricia Petibon, Mauro Peter and Diana Damrau, together with their artistic partners at the piano or harp. A special song recital features the legendary Winterreise by Schubert, interpreted by Matthias Goerne and Markus Hinterhäuser and directed and with visualizations by William Kentridge. This “trio for singer, pianist and film projector” has been celebrated around the world. Once again, the Solo Recitals feature the greatest pianists of our times: Igor Levit, Grigory Sokolov, Evgeny Kissin, Arcadi Volodos, Maurizio Pollini, Mitsuko Uchida and Khatia Buniatishvili. The series also presents Maxim Vengerov and Patricia Kopatchinskaja. The Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg offers its traditional Mozart Matinees under the baton of its chief conductor Riccardo Minasi, its conductor laureate Ivor Bolton and Ádám Fischer. After his outstanding success last summer, Raphäel Pichon returns to the podium with the Mozarteum Orchestra, presenting an extraordinary Mozart Academy: together, they follow the musical traces of the development of Mozart’s Da Ponte cycle. Andrew Manze makes his Mozart Matinee debut and leads the traditional performance of the Mass in C-Minor at the Salzburg Festival. Andrew Manze conducts the Camerata Salzburg and the Salzburg Bach Choir in the C-Minor Mass. The Camerata Salzburg also performs with its conductor laureate Roger Norrington, with Lorenzo Viotti and Manfred Honeck. The soloist in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Camerata Salzburg under Manfred Honeck will be Lang Lang. With the Young Singers Project, the Salzburg Festival created a high-carat platform to support young vocalists. In 2019 this project looks back upon eleven years of successful history. Participants of the Young Singers Project perform this year’s children’s opera, Der Gesang der Zauberinsel, a world premiere by Marius Felix Lange, and are involved in several other performances during the 2019 Festival season. In a final concert, the YSP members present themselves to the Salzburg audience. Public master classes in 2019 will be led by Christa Ludwig, Anne Sofie von Otter, Malcolm Martineau and Helmut Deutsch.