Salzburg: City of Music Festivals

Salzburg, the capital of Austria is a cultured city; influential amongst the worlds of music, art and opera. So, it comes as no surprise that during Easter it is also temporary home to the Berliner Philharmoniker, who under the guidance of their celebrated musical director, Sir Simon Rattle stages a number of operatic and orchestral concerts over ten glorious days.

Wagner’s opera Siegfried will be both the opening and closing feature of the 2009 Salzburg Easter Festival. The first production opening the Festival is on April 4th and tickets are guaranteed to be in demand. Following that splendid operatic aperitif there will be a series of orchestral concerts spread over seven days and also performed in the Large Festival Hall, before the closing version of Siegfried will be performed on April 13th.

As the Easter Festival is totally self-funding ticket prices can be quite steep, especially in recent times of poorly performing sterling when tickets are priced in Euros. But, that will not prevent the festival from achieving commercial as well as artistic success. It is also supported by a number of local and foreign patrons who flock from all corners of the globe to witness the Berliner Philharmoniker.

Later in the year it is the turn of the home grown Vienna Philharmonic to put on a musical extravaganza in the Summer Festival, which is staged during July and August annually. Local musical legend Richard Strauss along with two other musical luminaries, Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Max Reinhardt were jointly responsible for presenting the first summer festival held in 1920.

An intriguing mix of dramatic plays, pure orchestral pieces, dramatic opera and other artistic and cultural delights; the 2009 Salzburg Summer Festival draws visitors from all over Europe. As well as being a showpiece for the celebrated Vienna Philharmonic, other celebrated orchestras are invited to perform at the festival, including in 2009 a return for the Berlin Philharmoniker and also the Cleveland Orchestra from the USA. And its continued success ensures that flights to Salzburg during the summer months are relatively busy, carrying eager festival goers!

Dramatic performances at the 2009 Summer Festival will include a performance from celebrated actress Vanessa Redgrave in Joan Didion’s epic, “The Year of Magical Thinking” and Dostoyevsky’s “Crime and Punishment”, as well as a version of Schiller’s “The Robbers”.

Whether opting for the Easter or Summer Festivals, or even both, Salzburg offers an incredible choice of musical interludes from top quality international orchestras during 2009. If you are thinking of attending, it would be best to book soon or you may miss out altogether!

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