“Boo storms don’t exist” (nd-aktuell.de)
The “world-famous festival city” of Salzburg presents itself to its visitors as a postcard that can be walked on. You stroll along the Salzach, eat an apricot dumpling and sip on the extended one in a coffee house, maybe climb a Mönchsberg. In Mozart’s and Red Bull billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz‘ The tourist enjoys homeland reinstates the old Europe. With sufficient financial strength, it might even be enough for a visit to the Salzburg Festival. Gradually, however, dying is coming to an end. How can one actually imagine the cultural life of Salzburg in the ten months when there are no festivals?
During the long low season, the coffee houses close early again and the local three-division house takes over the opera business, there is no more international reporting, the small town (approx. 150,000 inhabitants*) is left to its own devices again. The stages of the festival halls then offer a more pleasing program including pop and hits. With the political guests of honor at the festival and their electromobility, the buzz from the self-titled city of Mozart is also disappearing. Due to the annual summer crowds of visitors from all over the world, great things also stick to the local scene. For a provincial town, a lot happens during the year: the Ensemble Bachwerkvokal, the Salzburg Club Commission [eine Interessensvertretung für DJs, Kollektive und Veranstalter*innen der Clubszene, Anm. der Red.] as well as the galleries Fotohof and Fünfzigzwanzig are, for example, four small super institutions.
Can you give us a mood picture of how people outside of the high society feel about the music theater dance?
The largest part of the festival takes place in the old town, which, after a period of silence due to the pandemic, is now full of tourists again. The festival is accepted by many Salzburg residents as a luxury enclave. This is apparently set to expand further: At the beginning of her term of office, the new President Kristina Hammer also spoke of the forthcoming expansion of this “premium brand”. In my opinion, the festival lacks a new purpose apart from profitability, and one would also have to deal with the basically provincial conditions here. In addition, I and many others do not understand why the great stage on Domplatz cannot be used by local cultural initiatives on the approximately 25 days when there are no performances in summer. However, the Easter Festival has announced the »Westbam meets Wagner« concert with the Gewandhaus Orchestra for next year, and the techno DJ is said to be mixing electronic music with Wagner’s compositions. It would be nice if this musical opening left an after-effect on the venue.
How would you summarize the festival this year? Can you see trends and developments over the past few years in terms of the aesthetic and physical aspects of the productions?
The recent collaboration between director Romeo Castellucci and conductor Teodor Currentzis on the two-part evening with Béla Bartók’s “Bluebeard’s Castle” and Carl Orff’s “De temporum fine comoedia” points to their grandiose “Don Giovanni” from last year a path for future productions. Giacomo Puccini’s opera cycle »Il Trittico«, staged by Christof Loy and conducted by Franz Welser-Möst, was also great. The performance unfolded an incredible pull over three one-act plays with a sparse stage design, the ensemble moved with its portrayal of family conflicts and overflowing emotions. All in all, the program of the festival offers many productions worth seeing every year; Due to the many cooperations with opera houses and theaters, a potpourri is created every time, which is made up of the various institutions and actors in the European theater landscape. It has to be said, however, that some productions also come across as too ironed out.
What questions will the Salzburg Festival have to deal with in the coming years?
The question of sponsorship will probably be a big issue in the next few years, and the funding for the games will depend on it. In my opinion, the accessibility and demographic mix of the event should also be given urgent consideration. Perhaps the idea of »Lumbung« from the Documenta in Kassel [ein Konzept, das auf Kollektivität in der Kunstproduktion und -rezeption setzt, Anm. der Red.] also be transferred to Salzburg. Then the festival could perhaps work together with the city to offer accommodation for a not so well-heeled audience away from the horrendous festival time surcharge of the hotel industry.
The opera director Valentin Schwarz has just been panned by the critics and booed by the audience for his production of Richard Wagner’s »Der Ring des Nibelungen« in Bayreuth. What is the situation in Salzburg – does the local audience also have certain demands on art?
So far, not much has been remembered. It seems to me that most festival visitors just want to set up a nice holiday camp in the historical setting for a few days, enjoy the performances and visit the restaurants. There are basically no boos from the boxes with this oversaturation.