Easter Festival 2023: preview of Tannhäuser
Culture
After ten years with conductor Christian Thielemann as artistic director at Salzburg’s Easter Festival, the festival is to be realigned from next year. For the first time there is electronic music, dance and a subscription that is reduced by a third. In addition, the orchestra should change every year.
This year, the Sächsische Staatskapelle from Dresden will be the festival orchestra of the Easter Festival for the last time – together with its chief conductor Christian Thielemann. As artistic director in Salzburg, he also has to resign. The supervisory board has entrusted Nikolaus Bachler with the artistic direction from 2023.
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra is coming
And he announced on Thursday morning that the Gewandhaus Orchestra from Leipzig would play all the concerts and the opera next year – under chief conductor Andris Nelsons.
The musical focus next year revolves around Richard Wagner – with the opera Tannhäuser. The new head chef, Nikolaus Bachler, is the former director of the Vienna Volksoper, the Burgtheater and most recently the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. Tannhäuser is taken over from there with a new production by director Romeo Castellucci and performed for the first time ever at the Wagner Festival in Salzburg – with a few innovations.
Jonas Kaufmann as Tannhauser
Bachler emphasizes that the piece cannot be set better at the moment: “Above all, we have a few debuts with us. Jonas Kaufmann sings his first Tannhäuser, Elina Garanca sings her first Venus. You’ve never heard of any of this before.
In addition, a 30 percent discounted subscription for three performances is also offered. Culture lovers have to pick this up in person in Salzburg. It’s called “Abo to go”.