| Music Encyclopedia: Salzburg Festivals |
(Austria). Mozart festivals were held occasionally from 1842. The annual summer festival was established in 1920; it includes opera and concerts (especially Mozart), ballet and contemporary music. The Easter festival (founded 1967) features Wagner. A Mozart Week is held in the winter.
| Columbia Encyclopedia: Salzburg Festival |
The modern series of festivals began on Aug. 22, 1920, when Hofmannsthal's adaptation of the medieval English morality play Everyman was given in a production by Reinhardt in the cathedral square. The following year Mozart operas were added to the festival program. In 1926 the former archiepiscopal stables were converted into the Festival Hall, and concerts by the Vienna Philharmonic became a regular feature. In succeeding years, as the festival became internationally celebrated, performances of spoken drama in German declined in prominence in favor of music programs.
The festival probably achieved its greatest brilliance in the 1930s, when Arturo Toscanini and Bruno Walter were its leading conductors. Vienna State Opera productions of works by Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, and Verdi directed by these maestros were especially distinguished. When the Nazis took over Austria in 1938, the festival declined in significance, as many musicians could not (e.g., Walter) or would not (e.g., Toscanini) participate. Nevertheless, the festival continued through 1943. It was revived as an international event in the summer of 1945, immediately following the Allied victory in Europe, and has been held every summer since then. From the late 1950s into the late 1980s the festival's character was largely shaped by the conductor Herbert von Karajan. From 1992 the festival was led by the Belgian Gérard Mortier who, somewhat controversially, performed many contemporary works and encouraged modern interpretations of the classics. German conductors succeeded Mortier as artistic director: Peter Ruzicka, from 2002 to 2006, and Jürgen Flimm, since 2007. Today's performances include opera, drama, and instrumental concerts, and the music performed represents a broad spectrum, from Mozart to contemporary works.
Performances of music and drama at the Salzburg Festival are given in the "Old" Festival Hall, the "New" Festival Hall (built 1960), and the 17th-century Riding School in the Cliff. The residential palace of the archbishop and several other venerable venues are also used for music. Performances of Everyman are still held in the elegant 17th-century square in front of the cathedral.
| Wikipedia: Salzburg Festival |
The Salzburg Festival (Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) within the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In modern time there is also an annual Salzburg Easter Festival held by the same organization.
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The summer festival was first founded in 1877 but was discontinued in 1910. At the close of World War I in 1918, its revival was championed by five men now regarded as the founders: poet and dramatist Hugo von Hofmannsthal, composer Richard Strauss, scenic designer Alfred Roller, conductor Franz Schalk and the director of the Salzburg City Theater, Max Reinhardt.
The Festival was officially reborn on 22 August 1920 with a performance of Hofmannsthal's play Jedermann on the steps of Cathedral Square. The practice has become a tradition, and Jedermann is now always performed at Cathedral Square.
In 1926 the old Archbishop's stable Felsenreitschule was converted into a theater and the Festival Hall (Salzburger Festspielhaus) opera house opened its doors. As this summer festival gained fame and stature as the premier venue for opera, drama play, and classical concert presentation, its musical repertory concentrated on Mozart and Strauss, but other works, such as Verdi's Falstaff and Beethoven's Fidelio were also performed.
1934 to 1937 represents a golden period when the famed conductors Arturo Toscanini and Bruno Walter conducted many performances. In 1936, the festival featured a performance by the Trapp Family Singers, whose story was later dramatized as the musical and film The Sound of Music (featuring a shot of the Trapps singing in Felsenreitschule Theater). In 1937, Boyd Neel and his orchestra premiered Benjamin Britten’s Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge at the Festival.[1]
The Festival's popularity suffered a major blow once Austria was annexed into Germany in 1938, though it remained in operation until closing temporarily in 1943. With the end of World War II, the Salzburg Festival reopened in 1945 immediately following the Allied victory in Europe.
The post-war Festival slowly regained its prominence as the premier summer opera festival, especially in works by Mozart.
In 2006, the festival celebrated the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth by staging all 22 of his operatic works (including two unfinished operas), to great acclaim. All 22 were filmed and were released to the general public in November 2006. Since 2002 the festival has been led by Artistic Director Markus Hinterhäuser. Alexander Pereira is scheduled to succeed Hinterhäuser after the 2011 summer festival.
The Salzburg Whitsun Festival (Salzburger Pfingstfestspiele) is an extension of the traditional Salzburg Summer Festival, and presents productions of operas along with works from the great baroque orchestral repertoire at the Grosses Festspielhaus during Whitsun (or Pentecost) weekend. In 2005, it presented Handel's Acis and Galatea and his oratorio Solomon.
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 | Music Encyclopedia. The Concise Grove Dictionary of Music. Copyright © 1994 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more |
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