After attending a concert by the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Christian Thielemann in the Großer Festspielhaus with their wives, the two presidents made a statement in the sponsors’ lounge of the Salzburg Festival. Van der Bellen was impressed by the musical performance and also by mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca. “It’s a bit difficult to speak to them from the musical atmosphere,” he said to the journalists with a smile. He then also praised the organizational performance of the management and staff of the festival for organizing the festival this year, albeit to a limited extent, and for having managed to reverse and re-handle ticket sales.
Van der Bellen pointed out that many cultural workers still had no opportunity to perform and therefore “need all of our support”. He looked back on the year 1920, when the founders of the Salzburg Festival wanted to create a work of peace with the highest artistic standards after the storms of the First World War. This world class level was also achieved this year despite all adverse circumstances. This year’s Corona-related conditions cannot be compared with those of 1920, said Van der Bellen. With the aid package that was decided at the recent EU summit, a clear signal was set to master the corona crisis across borders, including a restart in the economy and culture.
Steinmeier meets Van der Bellen
Germany’s Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was in the same direction. The Salzburg Festival has been presenting world-class classical music and theater for 100 years. In times of the pandemic this is also important for the artists, which he was able to experience “very clearly” today at the concert of the Vienna Philharmonic. He remembered festival co-founder Max Reinhardt and emphasized that culture is not a luxury good, but a food.
The festival management planned the festival very carefully and responsibly, explained Steinmeier. He had been looking forward to it for weeks and it was an honor for him to be able to attend the concert on today’s anniversary day of the Salzburg Festival and in the evening at the invitation of the Austrian Federal President to visit “Jedermann”. The culture and cultural presentation have a binding force that also helps to maintain the partnership between the European states. In view of the pandemic, it was noticed “that we need each other”.
Presidents attend “Everyman” performance
After Van der Bellen’s concert visit with First Lady Doris Schmidauer and Steinmeier with his wife Elke Büdenbender, the two presidents had a face-to-face conversation and a visit to the exhibition “Places of Exile” in the Museum der Moderne. In the evening the presidents and their companions will visit Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s play “Jedermann”, which had its festival premiere exactly 100 years ago, on August 22, 1920, directed by Max Reinhardt at the Salzburg Cathedral Square. This is also the founding day of the Salzburg Festival.
Salzburg Festival celebrates its 100th birthday
“The first performance struck on August 22, 1920 at 5 p.m. […] Jedermann marks the birth of the Salzburg Festival “, is written on the first page of the little Jedermann booklet that the Festival is distributing in the city on the 100th anniversary of its foundation. The whole city celebrated the festival’s birthday with a special program under special conditions.
It all started with an emergency solution. Since it was not yet possible to afford a festival hall in 1920, the Domplatz was quickly turned into a backdrop for the “rich man’s death”. Thanks to Corona, you have to make your way with emergency solutions 100 years later. So the birthday party took place under the appropriate hygiene measures at different locations. A total of five “Everymans” were in the city today, Saturday: Klaus Maria Brandauer, Cornelius Obonya, Peter Simonischek, the incumbent Tobias Moretti and Philipp Hochmair, who stood in for five performances in 2018 for the sick Moretti. They all held small readings throughout the day and told themselves about their time in Salzburg.
(Those: APA)
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