Probably no other work is as closely associated with the Salzburg Summer Festival as Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s (1874-1929) "Jedermann. Das Spiel vom Sterben des reichen Mannes." Every summer, in good weather, Salzburg’s famous Cathedral Square is transformed into the beautiful backdrop for the play - which can by now look back on nearly 700 performances. Central issue of the Salzburg Festival classic is the timeless question of death and the afterlife. Even Hugo von Hofmannsthal was aware that dealing with death had increasingly moved to the margins of society. A fact that has become even more acute for today’s generation, although the current pandemic shows us how quickly this can change in public discourse. As a basis Hofmannsthal used an English play of the 16th century, "Everyman. A Morality Play," as well as various songs from medieval Minnesang. Despite both, classical and medieval references, von Hofmannsthal deliberately created a work free of any time of action.

"Macbeth" is Giuseppe Verdi’s (1813-1901) second of seven literary operas and is based on the drama of the same name by William Shakespeare. The premiere took place in 1847 at the Teatro alla Pergola in Florence, and revised versions were staged for the first time several years later in St. Petersburg and Paris.The creation of "Macbeth" falls into the late period of bel canto; Verdi dissolves the firmly established schemes in the singing and in this opera puts all his wealth of ideas into the focus of the orchestration, which was to become a signpost for his further compositions. The work was very well received on the whole, even if the lack of a love scene was criticized - in fact, "Macbeth" is one of the few operas whose plot is determined by greed for power and its resulting consequences.In 11th century Scotland, witches prophesy a future as king for the general Macbeth, which he acquires in a bloody manner. He is fired by his power-hungry wife, Lady Macbeth, whose character Verdi allows much greater room for maneuver than is the case in Shakespeare’s original. Macbeth’s tragic end concludes this opera rich in dramatic scenes.After several decades of oblivion, "Macbeth" is now part of the traditional Verdi repertoire and is performed on all the major stages.

“Le nozze di figaro” marked the beginning of the happy and fruitful collaboration between W. A. Mozart (1756-1791) and his librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, which was to bring both success and artistic satisfaction. Although Da Ponte, as a precautionary measure and in view of the sharp censorship, dispensed with the biting sarcasm of Beaumarchais’ original, which served as the model for the new opera buffa, there was still enough fuel in it to deal with a major theme of the time: The examination of the complex relationships between the social classes, or rather the discrimination of the lower classes by the upper ones.While Count Almaviva embodies a reactionary representative of the nobility, the shrewd Figaro is presented as a representative of the rising third class. Two forces face each other here, each claiming power in pre-revolutionary Europe. Mozart found in this passionate and ironic piece so much of the shame and disappointments he had experienced during his artistic life that he let all his bitter experiences and mental anguish flow into the composition.Despite the explosive theme, the premiere performance in Vienna in 1786 under the reign of Emperor Joseph II was a great success. Today "Le nozze di figaro" is one of the most popular and most performed operas worldwide.