Breaking: Major festival replaces the Berlin Philharmonic
NewsThe over-endowed Baden-Baden Festival, backed by legions of oligarchs, has announced ‘a new artistic constellation’ for its Easter Festival from 2026.
In place of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, which has been the festival’s mainstay for a decade, the ambitious director Benedikt Stampa is bringing in a three-year joint residence by Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with Klaus Mäkelä and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra with Joana Mallwitz.
Stampa describes this as ‘a bold investment in the future’.
So the Berllin Philharmonic is history?
They will stagger on for the next two Easters, bearing the stampa of rejection.
Still, there’s always Salzburg.
The Berlin Philharmonic has announced long ago that they will move back to Salzburg for the Easter festivities, starting from 2026. Baden Baden has been looking for a replacement ever since.
Thanks. Exactly.
The B Ph announced last year it would be returning to Salzburg for the Easter Festival in 2026.
I think you’ve got it wrong. The BPO is dumping Baden-Baden, not the other way around. At least that’s what I understood when the BPO announced their departure from Baden-Baden some time ago.
I think the Festspielhaus wasn’t capable of holding on to BPh – last year they canceled a program, supposedly because there was not enough rehearsal time for the Opera, which suddenly occurred to them in the fall after announcing the whole thing (as usual) in spring, and scheduled the same concert program on Sunday and Monday – and also expected people who had tickets for both concerts to listen to the same program twice – btw there are now only two concert programs scheduled, much less than at the beginning of the festival in 2013 and the following years – the opera/theater production with Theater Baden Baden has also been eliminated without a word – although every change is advertised as an artistic awakening – something special – way better than ever before – it’s all very transparent. Nevertheless I’m looking forward to the new artists – I happen to appreciate all of them (including Mäkelä)!
All of them orchestras sound the same today. Who cares? And management is dictatorial. Everywhere.
Never let the facts get in the way of a good headline.
Or a catchy article.
Oh dear the over rated Klaus Makela
I think you underrate spelling, and literacy in general.
Dear Mr. Lebrecht,
reading your post about our Baden-Baden Easter Festival I‘d like to ask you:
1) Why is Festspielhaus Baden-Baden over-endowed in your eyes? Do you know about our budgets or about the artistic quality at the moment? Have you been here during the last 5 years?
2) Why are you telling the festival is payed by oligarchs? Do you know any oligarch who is involved? Do you know about corruption here?
Thanks for clearing this as I like to know that in behalf of more than 1500 private German supporters of the Festival.
3) Are you still in contact with Berliner Philharmoniker? Why don‘t you know about their plans that have been published a year ago?
Yours sincerley
Rüdiger Beermann
Festspielhaus Baden-Baden
1 Baden-Baden is one of the wealthiest festivals on the circuit.
2 It engaged Currentzis, Netrebko and other banned pro-Putin artists with the apparent aim of sustaining an oligarch audience.
3 We are well aware of Berlin Phil activities.
The previous commentator forgot to identify himself as Baden-Baden’s press spokesman. Here’s a note we received from a musician who has performed there frequently:
Having spent months of life in Baden Baden the town is now 40% russian ladies coming for cosmetic procedures with husbands in tow. The breakfast menus at every nice hotel are in russian and german. As soon as the bandages come off it’s to the spa or the festspielhaus. Stampa is relatively good but until B-B releases their complete financials I have questions. No one in Germany has That much money. The housing and per diem costs alone for visiting orchs and staff have to be north of 150K euro per day.
Thank you very much for your cooments and questions. Both help bring some clarity to those of us who know how little we know.
Baden-Baden was always a watering hole for the Russians. Dostoevsky wrote the Gambler there based on his experiences at the Casino. Turgeniew’s villa is there and and and. And yes, attendance has been dropping and the BPO dumped the Festspielhaus, most likely because Salzburg is more lucrative.
Everything you say is correct. But Salzburg Easter is their historical home. It makes sense to go back. Baden Baden is just weird. I mean, love the spas and Leo’s and there is a super Indian restaurant, but musicians call it Boring- Boring for a good reason. Also: that hall is terrible. Like playing in a gym.
the Festival Hall is awful and designed by the same who did the horrible one called Haus for Mozart in Salzburg – zero atmosphere
No wonder they leave and isn’t Salzburg much more charming? Look what Germany has become
The RCO ain’t exactly chopped liver.