Easter Festival.
Easter, the festival and the time of change as well as renewal has been musically synonymous in Salzburg for many decades with exclusivity in the best sense! As a private festival, Herbert von Karajan founded the festival in 1967, which is financed from this idea to this day almost 90% from private funds and fulfills the greatest possible artistic freedom.
The 2023 Easter Festival will continue the tradition and at the same time break new ground, in that from now on a changing orchestra will lead the festival each year at the request of artistic director Nikolaus Bachler.
Romeo Castelluccis "Tannhäuser", with top-class cast in all roles, as well as touching orchestral concerts await you in the unique festival city of Salzburg. The oldest civic orchestra, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under their maestro Andris Nelsons are responsible, in the easterly thought of Goethe completely after the motto: "Here I am man, here I may be."
Experience a few spring-like, soothing days and come to Salzburg!

Whitsun Festival
Under the renewed leadership of Cecilia Bartoli, the 2023 Whitsun Festival is all about the supernatural power of music: they present the story of the Greek hero Orpheus, who soothes even gods, spirits and furies with his singing and thus saves his great love Eurydice. From Gluck's reform opera "Orfeo ed Euridice" from 1769, his French dance version from 1774 - which ballet master John Neumeier transfers into a modern dance academy - to Monteverdi's "L`Orfeo" as a Milanese puppet theater version or Haydn's concertante "L`anima del filosofo" - the festival approaches the subject from different angles and Cecilia Bartoli thus slips into the role of both Orfeo and Euridice. The crowning finale is the top-class gala concert "Hommage Daniel Barenboim," with which Bartoli pays tribute to her patron and now good friend.

Summer Festival
With Sartre's apt statement "Art exists only for and through others", we are all invited to a new festival season in the city on the Salzach.
Giuseppe Verdi is on the program with two new productions: first, his early work "Macbeth" and the wonderful Asmik Grigorian as Lady Macbeth. It is said that conductor Welser-Möst and Grigorian explicitly wished for this work. Second, with his late work "Falstaff," whose title role will be sung by Gerald Finley. "Le nozze di Figaro" brings a new conducting face to Salzburg, the proven expert on historical performance practice Raphaël Pichon. Gluck's "Orfeo ed Euridice" and Martinů's "Greek Passion" complete the new productions, with Purcell's "Indian Queen," Berlioz's "Les Troyens" and Bellini's "I Capuleti e I Montecchi" in three concert performances.
The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, among others, has always provided the great sound of the festival. Maestro Muti traditionally takes the podium again, as do Franz Welser-Möst, Andris Nelsons or the Czech Jakub Hrůša, who seems to get along very well with the orchestra artistically. The Berlin Philharmonic with Kirill Petrenko, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and many more underline the special quality of these festival weeks.
The founding idea of the Festival seems more relevant than ever in 2023: uniting peoples and building peace "in the heart of Europe". During these weeks, Salzburg exudes its incomparable charm and its very special atmosphere - whether during a personal analysis of the works during the breaks with a glass of champagne, at a reunion with Festival friends or at culinary "delicacies" before or after the musical performances.