Breaking: Salzburg shoots down change
NewsThe board of the Salzburg Festival voted this afternoon to renew Markus Hinterhäuser as director for another five years, keeping him in post until 2031.
Hinterhäuser beat off strong challenges from, among others, the heads of La Scala and Bavarian State Opera, Dominique Meyer and Serge Dorny.
A statement said: ‘His artistic concept, his feeling and skill in dealing with social issues in an artistic way, as well as his courage to always break new ground, simply convinced us.’
Sounds good to me. When Richard Strauss, et al started Salzburg Festival in 1920 they had modern progressive ideas on programming and artists, until everything went south after 1938 Anschluss…
The notions of ‘progress’ and ‘modern’ had a quite different meanings at the beginning of the last century than they have today, where ‘progress’ and ‘modern’ have turned into the worst possible totalitarian ‘conservatism’. It is incredible that these silly slogans of ‘progress’ can still be heard in music life, as if concert music is something like a science.
Both La Scala and BSO hoped to get lucky but nope.
Real reason: putting butts (full house of) in seats which in today’s market is paramount.
but it’s been so boring with old lads like Sellars, awful Marthaler for a shameful Falstaff last year and conducted by Metzmacher worse than anywhere else but you pay USD 500,-
the list goes on, very bad Figaro by another overrated Kusej and in concerts the old boring ones like Muti or overrated Welser Moest etc
There was disastrous casting of Simon Boccanegra with Gergiev (they even lured Russian money after the Crimean invasion as they don’t care in Salzburg) etc etc – the unbearable hype around Grigorian thinking she can sing any repertory…
It’s been such an extremely weak period but it’s all local politics in Salzburg I was told and one reason they got this absolutely horrendous Haus (call it even shamefully ‘for Mozart’) – off to Aix as Bayreuth is in shatters too
The Austrian-German ‘mief’ they call it in politics media and culture – just think of Claudia Roth….
@Tristan – enjoy Aix – Salzburg will miss you terribly.
I was astonished to see the (smaller) hall half empty for Gerhaher and Huber’s Schumann lieder recital last August.
How were the prices? In Salzburg it seems the most expensive stuff sells out in a bid to see and be seen in the 480 euro seats…
who?
Not you.
Maybe he’s been doing a good job…