<\/p>\n
With 90 minutes to go before curtain, a group of stagehands rushed to repair a broken door on the set of Verdi\u2019s \u201cMacbeth\u201d at the Grosses Festspielhaus in Salzburg, Austria. In a costume shop next door, workers combed and curled a line of unruly wigs. Lining a plaza outside, men in tuxedos and women in dirndls gathered to sip schnapps and Champagne.<\/p>\n
It was a typical August evening at the Salzburg Festival<\/a>, which every summer becomes the center of the classical music world, cramming more than 200 opera, concert and theater performances \u2014 roughly the equivalent of Carnegie Hall\u2019s entire season \u2014 into six weeks. It is a mammoth undertaking that involves about 3,500 artists; 1,000 staff members; 16 stages; and a budget of 75 million euros (about $88 million). This summer alone, there were six staged operas and four plays, featuring more than 1,500 costumes, including leopard-print hats and glittering Swarovski-covered masks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no room for error,\u201d said Georg Schlager, a stage manager overseeing repairs on the \u201cMacbeth\u201d set, which would be torn down in the wee hours to make room for an orchestral rehearsal the next morning. \u201cWe want every detail to be perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n No summer festival is quite like the one in Salzburg, a city of around 150,000 at the foot of the Austrian Alps that was the birthplace of Mozart and the bucolic backdrop<\/a> for \u201cThe Sound of Music.\u201d Here, the offerings are rich and abundant<\/a> \u2014 Mozart symphonies at 10 a.m., vocal recitals at 10 p.m. \u2014 drawing more than 256,000 visitors from around the world, including more than 500 journalists.<\/p>\n The renowned Vienna Philharmonic is the house band, performing concerts and playing in the pit for operas (the orchestra appeared in Salzburg 29 times this summer). Veterans like the mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli<\/a> sing alongside rising stars like the mezzo Lea Desandre<\/a>. On a single day in August, three of the world\u2019s leading maestros \u2014 Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Muti and Esa-Pekka Salonen \u2014 were in town, conducting Beethoven, Bruckner and Schoenberg.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cYou come here and you step into this musical kingdom in the mountains,\u201d said the pianist Lang Lang, who was making his 16th appearance at the festival. \u201cToday might not be the golden age for classical music. But in Salzburg, it always feels that way.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Visitors pack restaurants to sample Salzburger Nockerl, a souffl\u00e9 shaped like the surrounding mountains, and young musicians from nearby conservatories perform Bach suites and Paganini caprices on street corners.<\/p>\n Horse-drawn carriages shepherd concertgoers down centuries-old alleys and past the stately mustard-colored home where Mozart was born. Nearly 270 years later, his visage is everywhere in Salzburg, on lighters, spatulas, thongs, perfume bottles and the ubiquitous Mozartkugeln, pistachio marzipan sweets that are a cherished Austrian export.<\/p>\n Salzburg\u2019s Old Town fills with so many artists during the summer that it\u2019s not unusual to bump into a top soloist or an acclaimed maestro in line at a pretzel stand or a cafe.<\/p>\n \u201cIt can sometimes feel a little claustrophobic,\u201d said Salonen, over an espresso one August afternoon. \u201cBut it\u2019s nice to have this kind of density because it creates a certain type of energy.\u201d<\/p>\n Agents, publicists and impresarios flock to Salzburg too, making deals and scouting talent.<\/p>\n Peter Gelb, the general manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, who has been visiting Salzburg since the 1970s, held 10 meetings over three days this summer, working out of the Goldener Hirsch hotel in the Old Town.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like the Cannes of classical music,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity to do business on the sidelines, and to see work that I haven\u2019t seen. Even though I don\u2019t think the productions are quite as interesting as they used to be, Salzburg remains one of the most important festivals.\u201d<\/p>\n The soprano Asmik Grigorian<\/a> was in a hurry. It was opening night of \u201cMacbeth,\u201d and she had just received a spirited ovation for her portrayal of Lady Macbeth. Now she was in her dressing room, getting ready for a late-night cast party at a rococo palace.<\/p>\n As she refreshed her makeup and put on a tiara, Grigorian, 44, one of the most in-demand singers of her generation, recalled her 2017 debut<\/a> in Salzburg in Alban Berg\u2019s \u201cWozzeck,\u201d an electrifying performance that helped propel her career.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a place where an opera singer can really feel like a star,\u201d she said. \u201cSometimes we need this.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Grigorian, who is from Lithuania, has returned to Salzburg every summer since that debut; her young son and daughter have had to celebrate many of their birthdays there.<\/p>\n \u201cSalzburg has somehow become my hometown,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is my energy place.\u201d<\/p>\n She put on her lipstick. \u201cI always joke that if I can survive Salzburg,\u201d she said, \u201cI will live for another year.\u201d<\/p>\n After the curtain came down on \u201cMacbeth,\u201d Benny Bertram, a 12-year-old aspiring singer from Salzburg, rushed to a stage door with his mother. He was hoping to score an autograph from the baritone Vladislav Sulimsky, who sang the title role \u2014 the only \u201cMacbeth\u201d cast member whose signature he didn\u2019t have.<\/p>\n When Sulimsky emerged a few minutes later in a brown suit, Benny was elated, running toward him and waving his arms.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m happy, very happy,\u201d he said, holding up the photo that Sulimsky had signed. \u201cNow it feels complete.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n His mother, Nicole Bertram, a German-born singer who moved to Salzburg for her musical studies, surveyed the dressy opening-night crowd in front of the Grosses Festspielhaus.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody looks like Greta Garbo,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Salzburg is best, she added, in the fall and winter, when the streets are more still.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s too hot and there are too many people,\u201d she said of the summer. \u201cI love it when it\u2019s silent.\u201d<\/p>\n The conductor Riccardo Muti stood before the musicians of the Vienna Philharmonic and smiled.<\/p>\n \u201cBuongiorno,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to be together again.\u201d<\/p>\n Muti, 84, was leading a rehearsal of Bruckner and Schubert at the Grosses Festspielhaus on a Tuesday morning. He had performed with the ensemble more than 500 times, beginning with his debut at the Salzburg Festival in 1971, when he led Donizetti\u2019s \u201cDon Pasquale.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Back then, he was a 30-year-old novice, terrified of the Vienna Philharmonic\u2019s stern and exacting players, and towering figures like the conductor Herbert von Karajan<\/a>, who roamed the streets of Salzburg.<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t sleep for nights and nights thinking that I had to meet the Vienna Philharmonic,\u201d he recalled in an interview. \u201cNow Salzburg is much more modern. But then, it was sort of a temple.\u201d<\/p>\n At the rehearsal, Muti, the former music director of the Chicago Symphony, told the orchestra to play a bit of Bruckner \u201cwith pain,\u201d and warned that a phrase would \u201cbe a mess\u201d if the orchestra and chorus were not more balanced.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t exaggerate,\u201d he told the players. \u201cDo it always with taste.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n As he made his way to his dressing room, Muti stopped to chat with musicians, reminding them to eat well.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWhen I started with them, I was a child \u2014 a son of the orchestra,\u201d he said. \u201cNow I am much older than all the players. I am the father.\u201d<\/p>\n Backstage at the Grosses Festspielhaus on a Friday, the pianist Lang Lang was in good spirits. He was appearing that evening with his mentor, Barenboim<\/a>, the eminent conductor and pianist, as part of their European tour with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra<\/a>, which Barenboim helped found in 1999 to bring Israeli and Arab musicians together.<\/p>\n Rehearsing a Mendelssohn concerto, Barenboim, 82, a fixture at the festival for decades, had been as candid as ever, offering his prot\u00e9g\u00e9 notes on tempo, phrasing and dynamics. With a Chopin mazurka, he gave advice on rhythm.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s back to the master class<\/a>,\u201d Lang said. \u201cNo messing around.\u201d<\/p>\n On the tour, Lang said, he had made a point of reminding Barenboim, who has continued to perform despite a recent diagnosis of Parkinson\u2019s disease<\/a>, to take time to rest. But Barenboim would have none of it. Lang suggested they party instead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n At intermission, the Steinway concert grand that Lang played was loaded onto a trolley and whisked through the streets to another concert hall for a recital the next day.<\/p>\n Outside the Grosses Festspielhaus, the piano passed by Sonja Klein, 78, a retired teacher from Germany. She trailed the instrument, snapping photos as it passed a garden and a restaurant called Triangel, a post-performance haunt for artists.<\/p>\n Klein makes the pilgrimage to Salzburg every summer. During a four-day trip in August, she planned to attend three operas; two concerts; and a play, \u201cJedermann,\u201d an annual Salzburg tradition<\/a>. She rates each performance in a notebook, drawing stars next to her favorite artists.<\/p>\n Klein said she often fretted about classical music\u2019s future. But in Salzburg, she said, she felt energized.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere else in the world can you have such a feast?\u201d she said. \u201cThis is my nirvana. This is my heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n It was one of the busiest weeks of the summer, and Markus Hinterh\u00e4user, the festival\u2019s artistic director, was in his office, smoking a Chesterfield cigarette. He had long given up on sleep.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThere is a kind of energy in me which allows me to have really remarkable non-sleep,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Salzburg does not shy away from modern themes (this year, Handel\u2019s \u201cGiulio Cesare in Egitto<\/a>\u201d was set in an air raid shelter). Hinterh\u00e4user said the festival, founded in 1920, did not want to coddle its audiences, which include the wealthy and well connected. (Angela Merkel, the former German chancellor, is a regular.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThis is not a spa resort for culture,\u201d Hinterh\u00e4user said. \u201cThe greatest respect you can give an audience is to challenge them in an honest way.\u201d<\/p>\n The festival also faces challenges. Costs are rising, and it has drawn criticism<\/a> recently for its lack of female conductors and directors, though it has worked to increase diversity. Since the invasion of Ukraine, the festival has faced scrutiny for hosting artists with ties<\/a> to state-owned institutions in Russia, including the conductor Teodor Currentzis<\/a>, who led several performances this summer.<\/p>\n Some complain that the festival is still too inaccessible. While some tickets can be bought for 5 euros, or about $6, the best seats go for 475 euros, or about $555. (Performances typically sell out; this summer, about 98 percent of seats were occupied.)<\/p>\n \u201cWe want the best of the best in our audiences,\u201d said Kristina Hammer, the festival\u2019s president. \u201cBut it should not have anything to do with how much money you have \u2014 it\u2019s about how much you understand music.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n These days, the festival is focused on its next chapter: a 480 million euro (about $562 million) construction project over the next seven years that includes a new welcome center and a vast expansion of backstage facilities. The festival will create 9,000 square meters (about two acres) of space by drilling into the adjacent M\u00f6nchsberg mountain. The project is being led by the festival\u2019s executive director, Lukas Crepaz, along with Hammer and Hinterh\u00e4user.<\/p>\n In his office, Hinterh\u00e4user said he was concentrating on getting through the summer.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s completely ephemeral what we\u2019re doing,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s here, and then it\u2019s gone. It\u2019s very melancholic, but there\u2019s also an incredible beauty.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.nytimes.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With 90 minutes to go before curtain, a group of stagehands rushed to repair a broken door on the set of Verdi\u2019s \u201cMacbeth\u201d at the Grosses Festspielhaus in Salzburg, Austria. In a costume shop next door, workers combed and curled a line of unruly wigs. Lining a plaza outside, men in tuxedos and women in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2004245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[22219,365159,365160,344544,365161,365158],"class_list":["post-2004244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-classical-music","tag-giulio-cesare-opera","tag-macbeth-opera","tag-opera","tag-salzburg-austria","tag-salzburg-festival"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/In-Salzburg-a-Cultural-Kingdom-Where-Classical-Music-Still-Reigns.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2004244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2004244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2004244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2004245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2004244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2004244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2004244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}A Singer\u2019s \u2018Energy Place\u2019<\/h2>\n
Hunting for an Autograph<\/h2>\n
\u2018Father\u2019 of the Orchestra<\/h2>\n
\u2018My Nirvana\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018It\u2019s Here, and Then It\u2019s Gone\u2019<\/h2>\n