!!!Salzburger Festspiele

Salzburg Festival: Taking up an idea promoted by the Stiftung  
Mozarteum (Mozarteum Foundation) at the end of the 19%%sup th/% 
 century to regularly hold a Mozart Festival (W. A.  Mozart) 
in Salzburg, F.  Gehmacher and H. Damisch founded the society 
"Salzburger Festspielhaus-Gemeinde" (Festival Theatre 
Committee) in 1917, with the aim of raising the funds needed for the 
construction of a Festspielhaus (Festival Theatre). In the same year 
the director and theatre manager, M.  Reinhardt, wrote a 
"Denkschrift zur Errichtung eines Festspielhauses in 
Hellbrunn" (memorandum on the establishment of a festival hall in 
Hellbrunn). After the performances of H. v.  Hofmannsthal's  
"Jedermann" at the Domplatz in 1920, by which Reinhardt 
realised his idea of an open-air festival in Salzburg for the first 
time, the Salzburg Festival quickly gained international renown due to 
the contributions of stage designer A.  Roller, composer R.  Strauss 
and conductor F.  Schalk, and in spite of the economic difficulties 
and uncertainties of the 1920s and in the absence of financial support 
by the state. After recurring financial difficulties, which were 
especially aggravated by the conversion of the court stables (dating 
from 1607) into a Festival Hall, the Salzburg Festival was guaranteed 
financial support by the city of Salzburg, the province of Salzburg 
and the Federal government.

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Although M. Reinhardt directed performances of important plays 
("Das Salzburger grosse Welttheater", "Ein treuer 
Diener seines Herrn", "Faust"), opera and concerts 
became even more important. In addition to works of Mozart, the Vienna 
classics and Italian opera buffa, contemporary music also became part 
of the Festival programme through the performance of operas of R. 
Strauss.

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In the 1930s the musical repertory was expanded: an opera by R. Wagner 
("Tristan und Isolde") was performed for the first time in 
1933, an opera by G. Verdi ("Falstaff") in 1935. When the 
National Socialist Party came to power in Germany, the Salzburg 
Festival assumed an additional role side by side with its artistic and 
social significance: by recruiting artists persecuted by the Hitler 
regime, it played a significant role in the field of cultural policy.

\\
However, this role was greatly reduced during the years 1938-1944. The 
majority of the artists who had played leading roles in the years 
before went into exile (M. Reinhardt, B.  Walter, the directors L. 
Wallerstein and M. Wallmann), while others voluntarily refrained from 
performing under the new National Socialist regime (Hans Thimig, E.  
Kleiber, A. Toscanini). Nevertheless the organisers managed to keep 
the programmatic tradition of the Salzburg Festival alive with artists 
like C.  Krauss, W.  Furtwaengler and the  Vienna Philharmonic 
Orchestra.

\\
With the support of the US occupation force after 1945 the Salzburg 
Festival became once again a symbol of the cosmopolitan cultural 
identity of Austria. Under the influence of the post-war Board of 
Directors, which included the composer G. v.  Einem and the stage 
director O. F.  Schuh, the Salzburg Festival became as 
independent as it had been before the war (resumption of 
"Jedermann") and also increasingly included contemporary 
music and drama in its programme: between 1947 and 1961 an opera from 
the 20%%sup th/%  century was performed almost every summer, many 
of them were world premieres or first performances in the German 
speaking countries. In the 1960s contemporary music became very 
important, especially with international ballet guest performances. 
After the death of W. Furtwaengler, an internationally famous 
conductor who was a permanent guest at the Salzburg Festival in the 
years after the Second World War, H. v.  Karajan, who was born in 
Salzburg, became art director (1956-1960); then, from 1964-1988, a 
member of the Board of Directors of the Salzburg Festival. He had a 
strong influence on the opera and concert programme, on the 
reconstruction of the Grosse Festspielhaus (opened in 1960), and on 
the selection of the conductors, singers, directors and stage 
designers; he impressed his stamp on the Salzburg Festival for more 
than 30 years: an international audience saw performances reaching the 
highest musical standards with the best artists especially chosen for 
specific roles. In addition to the Salzburg Festival, Karajan 
established the  Salzburg Easter Festival in 1967, a privately run 
festival originally dominated by the works of R. Wagner, but later 
co-operating closely with the Salzburg Festival. After Karajan's death 
in 1989 Sir G. Solti continued the Easter Performances, while C.  
Abbado has been in charge since 1994.

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Even after 1945, drama continued to play a subordinate role in the 
Festival, although the performances of "Jedermann" at the 
Domplatz with Austrian film stars like C.  Juergens, M.  Schell and 
K. M.  Brandauer in the leading role are still among the most 
popular performances of the Festival. Along with the principal works 
of world literature and dramas by Austrian playwrights, premieres of 
plays by T.  Bernhard and P.  Handke were staged in the 1970s and 
1980s.

\\
In 1950 a festival fund was established by law; the deficits were 
covered by the Federal government (40 %) and by the city and the 
province of Salzburg (20 % each), as well as the 
Fremdenverkehrsfoerderungsfonds (Tourism Promotion Fund). In 
deliberate contrast to the Karajan era, the new Board of Directors has 
opted for staging more works of the 20%%sup th/%  century 
(appointment of G.  Mortier as artistic director) and seeks to promote 
modern trends by engaging innovative directors and stage designers. 
The number of events rose from 85 to 197 between 1977 and 1998, the 
number of visitors from 147,000 to 238,000; over the same period, the 
box office takings increased from ATS 71 million to 
ATS 294 million, which makes the Salzburg Festival the 
biggest music and theatre festival in the world. In 1999, 72 % of 
the operating costs was met by the Festival organisation itself (e.g. 
by contracts with sponsors). The Salzburg Festival is considered one 
of the largest music and theatre festivals worldwide.

!Literature
J. Kaut, Die Salzburger Festspiele 1920-81, 1982; S. 
Gallup, A History of the Salzburg Festival, 1987; M. P. 
Steinberg, The Meaning of the Salzburg Festival. Austria as Theatre 
and Ideology 1890-1938, 1990; E. Fuhrich and G. Prossnitz, Die 
Salzburger Festspiele Ihre Geschichte in Daten, Zeitzeugnissen und 
Bildern, Vol. 1: 1920-1945, 1990; Vol. 3: Verzeichnis der 
Werke und Kuenstler 1920-1990, 1991.


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