(SF, 8 August 2019) In the seventh year of collaboration between Swarovski and the Salzburg Festival, seven productions receive additional sparkle from approximately two million individual crystals. “Every time I walk into the costume department, another outrageous design has been added to the costumes,” Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler enthusiastically reports. “Both the Salzburg Festival and Swarovski enjoy a worldwide reputation: at their core, both brands share a combination of utmost quality, unmistakable creativity and Austrian tradition. Therefore, I am delighted at the renewed wonderful collaboration this year.”
Nadja Swarovski, a member of Swarovski’s Executive Board, declares: “We are very proud to turn the Salzburg Festival into a sparkling experience for the seventh year in a row. The crystals’ brilliance and the extravagant constumes form a magic liaison on stage.”
Jacques Offenbach: Orphée aux enfers
Barrie Kosky directs Jacques Offenbachs Orphée aux enfers, which premieres on 14 August at the Haus für Mozart. The costume designer Victoria Behr designed the production’s outfits. 67 costumes have been embellished with Swarovski crystals, which means that approximately 1.1 million crystals will be sparkling on stage – mainly flatbacks and hotfix crystals. Kosky is pleased that it is mainly the supernumeraries which will be flashing, glittering and sparkling on stage. The skeleton costumes alone have had 400,000 crystals affixed. The skeletons are responsible for stage changes, dancing and commenting upon the action, Costume Director Jan Meier reveals. Operetta requires opulence, says director Barrie Kosky. He is impressed with the incredible quality of the costumes. “In my opinion, the costume workshops of the Salzburg Festival are the best in the world,” the director says. “The audience is in for a wonderful surprise, for it makes a huge difference whether one sews any old sequins onto costumes or affixes Swarovski crystals to them.”
“Jan Meier has opted for maximal sparkle,” says Birgit Berthold-Kremser, Senior Vice President of Swarovski, pointing to the flaming outfits of the demonic dancers. The latter offered an immediate insight into the action on stage during the press event, dancing for the journalists in their glittering costumes.
Costumes for the concert performance of Francesco Cilea‘s Adriana Lecouvreur.
In her role as Adriana Lecouvreur, Anna Netrebko wore three different gowns embellished with Swarovski crystals, all designed by Jan Meier, Director of Costumes. On the black gown, 1,000 Swarovski crystals in diamond shapes of the colour Jet Hematite were affixed using the hotfix technique. In total, 15 metres of silk duchesse were used for the two-layered design. The red resp. coral-coloured dresses required approximately 50,000 Swarovski crystals in a Xirius Rose cut and in red and yellow hues. These too were attached to the gowns using the hotfix technique. In total, these costumes required 20 metres of silk satin, 100 metres of tulle and 20 metres of silk organza. The green caftan was embellished with 3,000 sew-on and flatback crystals in the colours Denim Blue, Erenite and Emerald. They decorate the collar of the caftan, which required 30 metres of silk chiffon and 8 metres of dupioni silk.
Her counterpart, Anita Rachvelishvili as the Duchess of Bouillon, also wore a robe designed by Jan Meier incorporating innumerable Swarovski crystals.
Furthermore, the following productions were embellished with Swarovski crystals: Alcina, Idomeneo, Médée, Jedermann und die Kinderoper Der Gesang der Zauberinsel.
Jacques Offenbach (1819 – 1880)
Orphée aux enfers
Orpheus in der Unterwelt
Opéra-bouffon in zwei Akten und vier Bildern (1858)
Libretto von Hector Crémieux und Ludovic Halévy,
Neuinszenierung
Premiere: 14. August 2019
Weitere Vorstellungen: 17., 21., 23., 26. und 30. August 2019
Haus für Mozart
Enrique Mazzola Musikalische Leitung
Barrie Kosky Regie
Rufus Didwiszus Bühne
Victoria Behr Kostüme
Franck Evin Licht
Otto Pichler Choreografie
Susanna Goldberg Dramaturgie
Marcel Beekman Aristée / Pluton
Martin Winkler Jupiter
Joel Prieto Orphée
Kathryn Lewek Eurydice
Max Hopp John Styx
Anne Sofie von Otter L’Opinion publique
Peter Renz Mercure
Rafał Pawnuk Mars
Vasilisa Berzhanskaya Diane
Frances Pappas Junon
Lea Desandre Vénus
Nadine Weissmann Cupidon
Alessandra Bizzarri, Claudia Greco, Tara Randell, Martina Borroni,
Merry Holden, Michael Fernandez, Shane Dickson, Marcell Prét, Lorenzo Soragni, Damian Czarnecki, Daniel Ojeda, Kai Braithwaite, Silvano Marraffa Tänzer
Vocalconsort Berlin
David Cavelius Choreinstudierung
Wiener Philharmoniker
Koproduktion mit der Komischen Oper Berlin und der Deutschen Oper am Rhein