Elektra by Richard Strauss in Hofmannsthal’s version of the ancient tragedy.
Wolfgang Rihm’s new music-theatre work, which will be given its worldpremiere in Salzburg, is about Dionysus and is based on texts by Nietzsche.
And Orpheus, artistic colleague of us all – oh dear, he has lost his Eurydice, will be performed in the version by Gluck.
The unfortunate Oedipus by Sophocles, no less worthy of pity, and Phaedra by Racine will tread the boards that mean the world.
Woman eternal draws us on high, says Goethe, probably Lulu too, a modern, almost mythical creature; the magnificent, incomparable piece of music-theatre by Alban Berg and Frank Wedekind will be performed in the Felsenreitschule.
Furthermore there will be highly interesting concerts and plays and once again you will be in for stimulating discussions.
“Only if you are always willing to rethink everything your firm or institution will be successful – that is equally true for Roche as it is for a university or the Salzburg Festival,” Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler is convinced.
Once again, the program of the 2010 Festival is a mixture of classics, rarities and novelties – in opera, concert and theater – hopefully a successful mixture which will bring the Festival the title “World’s Best Festival” once again in its 90th year.
Thanks to Roche, the festival within the Festival will once again be the Continent of contemporary music – this year devoted to Wolfgang Rihm.
Four years ago we were preoccupied with the “Nocturnal Side of Reason”. In the following years we asked ourselves whether love can overcome death, and we observed how the mighty play their games with us. In the coming summer we are focusing our attention on myths, which are reflected in a very special way in a whole series of operas and plays.
This time we are rather like archaeologists opening up a door and going down to explore and remind ourselves about the interrelated origins and contradictions of our history and of our civilisation. We want to try and find traces of what we still are nowadays and follow up memories. We also want to show how the ancient themes of tragedy are timeless and still relevant.