After 178 performances spread over 43 days at 15 venues, the Directorate of the Salzburg Festival, Kristina Hammer, Markus Hinterhäuser and Lukas Crepaz, is delighted to report that the 2023 season was an extraordinarily successful one.
Les Troyens 2023: Ashley Riches (Panthée), Laurence Kilsby (Iopas / Hylas), William Thomas (Narbal), Beth Taylor (Anna), Dinis Sousa (Conductor), Michael Spyres (Énée), Paula Murrihy (Didon), Adèle Charvet (Ascagne), Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, Monteverdi, photo SF/Marco Borrelli
The record quota of 98.5% of seats filled constitutes an outstanding, successful result. More than 241,000 visitors from 79 nations, 40 non-European nations among them, attended this year’s programme. In addition, 40,000 guests watched 49 screenings of the Siemens Festival>Nights on Salzburg’s Kapitelplatz. More than 11,000 free tickets were distributed for the two-day Festival Opening Party alone.
The Greek Passion 2023: Sebastian Kohlhepp (Manolios), Charles Workman (Yannakos), Concert Association of the Vienna State Opera Chorus, photo SF/Monika Rittershaus
The opera programme included 34 performances of five staged and three concert productions, in addition to 86 concerts. 14 of these formed part of the series Ouverture spirituelle, inscribed with the motto “Lux aeterna” this year. The Salzburg Festival dedicated an extensive concert series to György Ligeti, one of the essential composers of the 20th century.
Falstaff 2023: Jens Larsen (Pistola), Thomas Ebenstein (Dr. Cajus), Liliana Benini (Robinia), Simon Keenlyside (Ford), Bogdan Volkov (Fenton), Tanja Ariane Baumgartner (Mrs. Quickly), Giulia Semenzato (Nannetta), Cecilia Molinari (Mrs. Meg Page), Elena Stikhina (Mrs. Alice Ford), photo SF/ Ruth Walz
In addition to the concerts, the lion’s share of the Festival’s programming, Florian Wiegand, the head of concerts, was also responsible for a broad resonance worldwide: 14 television and streaming productions, 21 radio broadcasts and 2 audio play versions of dramas ensured a comprehensive Festival echo in the media. Three new opera productions and nine concerts were recorded audiovisually for television and streaming. The partners of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) ensured that the radio broadcasts and the audiovisual broadcasts reached additional millions of listeners.
Macbeth 2023: Soloist of the St Florian Boys’ Choir (Apparition), Vladislav Sulimsky (Macbeth), Concert Association of the Vienna State Opera Chorus, Extras of the Salzburg Festival, photo SF/Bernd Uhlig
In her seventh and last season as the head of drama, Bettina Hering also delivered a strong final programme. In addition to four staged new productions and Jedermann, the readings and drama investigations conceived by her, the dance performance Into the Hairy and the film series all won acclaim from audience and reviewers alike.
Orfeo ed Euridice 2023: Cecilia Bartoli (Orfeo), Dancers, photo SF/Monika Rittershaus
One new production, one German-language premiere and one world premiere commissioned by the Salzburg Festival were featured in the youth programme jung&jede*r, which has had a fixed place in the Festival’s programming since 2020 and is headed by Education Manager Ursula Gessat. The Festival mentorship programme continued successfully; furthermore, 6,000 discounted tickets to performances in all the Festival’s three genres were sold to young people under the age of 27.
I Capuleti e i Montecchi 2023: Giovanni Sala (Tebaldo), Walter Zeh (Chorus Master), Aigul Akhmetshina (Romeo), Marco Armiliato (Conductor), Elsa Dreisig (Giulietta), Roberto Tagliavini (Lorenzo), Michele Pertusi (Capellio), Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, photo SF/Marco Borrelli
Summer Revenue
29 million Euro gross
Visitors
207,430
5,312 at 4 ticketed dress rehearsals
12,931
225,673
15,711
241,384
The rate of occupied seats will be 98.5%.
Le nozze di Figaro 2023: Andrè Schuen (Il Conte di Almaviva), Adriana González (La Contessa di Almaviva), photo SF/Matthias Horn
Provenance of Visitors
79 Nations in total, of which
40 Non-European Nations
Boston Symphony Orchestra · Nelsons 2023: Anne-Sophie Mutter (Violin), Andris Nelsons (Conductor), Boston Symphony Orchestra, photo SF/Marco Borrelli
The Press Office accredited 531 journalists from 31 countries this year.
Vienna Philharmonic · Muti 2023: Riccardo Muti (Conductor), Serafina Starke (Soprano), Vienna Philharmonic, Concert Association of the Vienna State Opera Chorus, photo SF/Marco Borrelli
The 49 screenings of the Siemens Festival >Nights on Kapitelplatz allowed more than 40,000 guests to view current and historical Salzburg Festival performances between 22 July and 27 August.
Recital Kissin 2023: Evgeny Kissin (Piano), photo SF/Marco Borrelli
(After Final Report on the 2023 Salzburg Festival)
Marijan Zlobec