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10 Reasons for Travel to Salzburg in 2016
Provincial Exhibition | Event Highlights | Museums
Magnificent baroque buildings, world-famous music festivals, unique art treasures,
fascinating museums and beautiful parks: All of this and more distinguishes UNESCO
World Cultural Heritage City Salzburg in the heart of Europe. It is a city people fall in
love with, and return to time and again. A city that constantly changes, yet still
remains the old one. In 2016 the city marks a very special anniversary: 200 years of
Salzburg under Austrian sovereignty. The Provincial Exhibition “Bishop. Emperor.
Everyman. 200 years of Salzburg in Austria” at the Salzburg Museum shows treasures
on loan from European museums returning to Salzburg for the first time in some two
centuries. But that is just one of ten good reasons to pay a visit to Salzburg “City of
Mozart” in 2016.
1. “Mozart Week 2016” hosted by Mozarteum Foundation Salzburg
Great choral and orchestral works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Felix Mendelssohn
Bartholdy are the focus of the renowned Mozart Week from 22 to 31 January 2016. The
diverse oeuvre of Henri Dutilleux will further enrich this internationally acclaimed festival
which opens each year’s panoply of exciting highlights. Music lovers can look forward to over
forty individual events in 2016: from concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic, Camerata
Salzburg and the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra to chamber, soloist and museum concerts
as well as roundtables and film presentations.
In 2016, the Mozarteum Foundation marks the 20th anniversary of reconstruction of the
Mozart Residence on Makartplatz Square: The Ichi Life Insurance Company (Tokyo)
provided generous support to the project in 1996, since which time the city has maintained
close contact with the sponsor. The Mozart Residence has developed into a museum that
unites traditional and modern under one roof. It also promotes a successful symbiosis of
exhibitions, concerts and musicology. The Mozart Audio & Film Collection celebrates its 25th
birthday. In honor of these special occasions, two Museum Weeks will be held – from 22 to
26 February and from 21 to 25 November 2016 – with a focus on “String Instruments”
(February) and “Keyboard Instruments” (November).
Mozart Week | 22. to 31.01.2016 | |www.mozarteum.at
2.
“Provincial Exhibition 2016” – valuable art treasures return for a short time to
Salzburg
In May 1816, the Kingdom of Bavaria was compelled to cede Salzburg to the Habsburgs:
Salzburg became Austrian. This 200-year anniversary will be given a fitting celebration: True
to its motto “Salzburg 20.16 – A Changing Land”, numerous special events, festivals,
scientific symposiums, special exhibitions, concerts etc. will accompany this anniversary
year. Also, the film to be shown during the interval of the New Year’s Day Concert 2016 was
shot in and around Salzburg.
The heart of all the festivities is the provincial exhibition “Bishop. Emperor. Everyman. 200
years of Salzburg in Austria” at the Salzburg Museum from 30 April until 30 October 2016. It
actually encompasses three special exhibitions: “Treasure House Salzburg”, “Tell Me About
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Salzburg” and “On the Scene”. Within the framework of the special exhibition “Treasure
Chamber Salzburg”, some 25 valuable objects will return temporarily to their “home” in
Salzburg, having left the city during the Napoleonic Wars and under changing rulers, now in
the collections of various European museums. Visitors will be able to see, amongst other
pieces, the “Griffon’s Claw” of Salzburg archbishop Gregor Schenk von Osterwitz: an ornate
drinking vessel made of gilt silver and enamel, which actually left the city in the luggage of
prince-elector Ferdinand of Tuscany. Other items on loan include the armor of archbishop
Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau (1559 – 1617) as well as the sculpture “Hesperides feeding the
dragon Ladon”: This sculpture from the hand of the “Master of the Furies” is one of the
highest quality ivory pieces from the former prince archbishops’ collection and was
completed from a single piece of ivory. Today it represents one of the very best examples of
ivory craftsmanship in the Chamber of Art & Wonders at the Art History Museum in Vienna.
Provincial Exhibition | 30.04. to 30.10.2016 | www.salzburgmuseum.at
Salzburg Easter Festival 2016 – From Othello to
Shakespeare’s Female Figures
Herbert von Karajan, founder of the Salzburg Easter Festival, was uncompromising in his
demand for artistry of the absolute highest standard. Since then, and without interruption,
Salzburg has remained true to that expectation. Christian Thielemann – formerly Karajan’s
musical assistant – has held the post of Artistic Director since 2013, and will now cast the
festival spotlight on “Otello” in 2016. Thielemann will provide musical direction for this new
production of Verdi’s “Otello”, while renowned opera director Vincent Boussard is responsible
for the stage production, Vincent Lemaire for set design and Christian Lacroix for costumes.
The season’s program as a whole will focus on the poet upon whose drama Verdi’s opera is
based: William Shakespeare. The concerts reflect the scope of his influence, from Weber’s
Oberon overture and Mendelssohn’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream”, Tchaikovsky’s fantasy
overture “Romeo and Juliet” and Henze’s Eighth Symphony, to the first performance of a
new work by Manfred Trojahn entitled “Four Women from Shakespeare”. Spiritual
counterpoints are provided by the great masses of Bach and Beethoven.
Salzburg Easter Festival | 12. to 27.03.2016 | www.osterfestspiele-salzburg.at
3.
Cecilia Bartoli dedicates “Salzburg Whitsun Festival 2016”
to the great love between Romeo and Juliet
The fifth Salzburg Whitsun Festival under the direction of Cecilia Bartoli is dedicated from 13
to 16 May to Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers “Romeo and Juliet”. The thematic musical
and theatrical focal point will be Leonard Bernstein’s composition “West Side Story”.
Probably the most famous adaptation of this immortal story, it can be enjoyed in a new
production by Phil McKinley, with Cecilia Bartoli as Maria and Norman Reinhardt as Tony.
Bartoli has also succeeded in engaging an orchestra that was practically predestined for this
work: the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela under the direction of Gustavo
Dudamel. During the Whitsun Festival, we encounter Romeo and Juliet in a multitude of
manifestations: In Nicola Antonio Zingarelli’s opera “Giulietta e Romeo” (concert
performance) at the Haus für Mozart, as a ballet evening, reading, gala dinner, and also in
the cinema. A chamber-music matinee with German violinist Julia Fischer, a gala concert
with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Ádám Fischer, and spiritual choral music with
Britain’s “The Tallis Scholars” complete the program marvelously.
Salzburg Whitsun Festival | 13. to 16.05.2016 | www.salzburgfestival.at/pfingsten
4.
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5. Salzburg Festival Summer 2016
The Salzburg Festival is one of the world’s most famous. In summer 2016, we can look
forward to performances, not only of Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s “Jedermann” – a uniquely
successful highlight that has taken center stage on the program every year since 1920 – but
also of three Mozart operas, “Le nozze di Figaro”, “Don Giovanni” and “Cosi fan tutte”, under
the direction of Sven-Eric Bechtolf. The libretti of all of these Mozart masterpieces were
penned by Italian Lorenzo Da Ponte: In 2016, audiences in Salzburg will be treated to superb
interpretations and an unsurpassed cast of performers.
“Ouverture spirituelle” is dedicated to spiritual music by the Eastern Christian Church. British
composer Thomas Adès created his opera “The Exterminating Angel” especially for this
occasion, providing the official opening of the Festival. Other highlights of the Festival, the
leitmotif for which is “Dreams”, include Charles Gounod’s “Faust”, Cecilia Bartoli’s “West Side
Story” and William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”. The Vienna Philharmonic, the Mozarteum
Orchestra, Anna Netrebko, Plácido Domingo, Nicholas Ofczarek, Tobias Moretti, Riccardo
Muti, Rolando Villazón and many other renowned artists from around the globe will once
again guarantee the excellence for which the Festival is acclaimed worldwide.
Salzburg Festival | 21.07. to 31.08. 2016 | www.salzburgfestival.at
The mysterious Princes’ Chambers at Hohensalzburg Fortress more resplendent
than ever
Dating from the 11th century, Hohensalzburg Fortress is one of the biggest castles in Europe,
home to a true treasure in the form of its mysterious “Princes’ Chambers”. These
sumptuously appointed rooms are some of the most important monuments to Late Gothic
secular architecture that exist. In all of Europe, nowhere else comes even close to comparing
to its 15th-century décor. The Princes’ Chambers will continue to undergo extensive
restoration until the end of 2016, yet can still be visited without restriction. In addition, the
Fortress Museum and the Museum of the House Regiment in the Hoher Stock are being
remodeled, the goal being to further enhance the visitor experience.
Beginning provisionally in April 2016, Hohensalzburg Fortress will revive yet another tradition
from the 15th and 16th centuries: fanfares from the “Trumpeter Tower”. Every Sunday
morning, two trumpeters forge a special musical link to the days of long ago.
Also new at Hohensalzburg Fortress: online ticketing as of 01.01.2016
Hohensalzburg Salzburg | Museum Redesign | www.salzburg-burgen.at
6.
7. New Permanent Exhibition “Markus Sittikus – My Worldview” in Hellbrunn
Commissioned by prince archbishop Markus Sittikus, in just three years architect Santino
Solari was able to construct Hellbrunn Palace and its broad park grounds – a true jewel on
the southern outskirts of Salzburg City. In honor of its 400-year anniversary, 2015 has
already seen the partial opening of a new permanent exhibition entitled “Markus Sittikus – My
Worldview”, which will be completed in spring 2016. It sees itself as a medium to present
“Hellbrunn as a complete work of art”, the palace, trick fountains and park being a personal
expression of the powerful prince archbishop himself. The primary focus of the new
permanent exhibition is thus on its builder: Markus Sittikus is depicted as a man of the
church, politics, as well as the societal and cultural life of his time.
The remodeling work will also create a visitor center as well as a small café in the palace.
Hellbrunn – Pleasure Palace in Salzburg | Exhibition from 24.03.2016 | www.hellbrunn.at
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Unique in Europe – Salzburg’s New Museums:
“Bible World” Museum and the “Salzburg Christmas Museum”
Since April 2015, visitors can discover the treasures of the Bible in the new 600 m² “Bible
Museum”; a journey in time back through the history of mankind and the Orient. Bible stories
are brought right into the modern world, with visitors able to interact with, and personally
experience their message; making Bible World at St. Elisabeth’s Church very much like an
adventure playground. The entrance leads through an oversized ear, while the audio guide
takes you through this unconventional exhibition with its 40 ² map of the Mediterranean, dark
passages and wobbly floors, a subterranean dungeon and a “Grace Machine”.
Bible World | open Friday through Monday | www.bibelwelt.at
The new Salzburg Christmas Museum at No. 2 Mozartplatz guides you through the
wondrous world of traditional festivals during Christmastime – Advent, St. Nicholas’ Day,
Christmas Eve and New Year’s – in the predominantly Catholic, German-speaking regions.
And it does so year-round. The permanent exhibition “Christmastime – festivals between
Advent and New Year’s in Southern Germany and Austria 1840 – 1940” is divided into
eleven different theme areas and features countless pieces from the Ursula Kloiber
collection, which had formerly been displayed at the Bavarian National Museum in Munich.
There is no other museum or collection in Europe of such cultural and historical breadth
focused on the Christmas theme. The displays include valuable Christmas objects from the
Vienna Workshops, magical wooden items and toys from the Erzgebirge region, as well as
an authentic replica of a room depicting Christmas as it was celebrated in the late 19 th
century, including a Christmas tree decorated with around 1,000 ornaments.
The permanent collection is accompanied by a rotating series of special exhibitions.
Salzburg Christmas Museum | www.salzburger-weihnachtsmuseum.at
8.
9. “Mozart in Residence” – a new concert series in the Neue Residenz
In the historic Kuenburg Hall of the Neue Residenz, in the heart of Salzburg’s Old City, the
new concert series “Mozart in Residence” will take place at 5 p.m. every Tuesday, Thursday
and Saturday between 19 March and 15 October 2016.
The diverse 70-minute program performed by the “Salzburg Mozart Players” encompasses
the classical masterpieces of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, occasionally with vocalists. The
small chamber orchestra of twelve musicians, together with a presenter who explains the
works and reads from Mozart’s letters, make these concerts a truly special experience of the
highest quality. The “Salzburg Mozart Players” are an ensemble made up of members of
various Salzburg orchestras. The musicians also perform at the Salzburg Festival,
Mozarteum Salzburg as well as the Bruckner House in Linz, and are also regularly on tour.
Mozart in Residence | 19.03. to 15.10.2016 | www.mozart-in-residenz.at
10. “Mountains, trees, animals, water” – the Salzburg historical district promises very
special nature experiences in an urban setting
Culture and nature exist in unique symbiosis in Salzburg: The city mountains shape the
silhouette of Salzburg as do the baroque domes of its churches. Living in harmony amongst
them are people, wild creatures such as chamois and owls, as well as rare plants. The
Salzburg “Old Town”, with its parks and gardens, the city mountains and forests, abbeys and
countless refreshment opportunities, invites people to enjoy delightful strolls and lengthier
hikes. Barely have you begun your walk or climbed a few steps, than you find you have left
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the hustle and bustle of the city far behind: The mountains afford breathtaking views of the
city, the fortress and deep into the surrounding countryside.
The green oases of the city include world-famous Mirabell Gardens, the Hellbrunner Allee
flanked by ancient trees, Furtwängler Park in the Festival District, the idyllic setting of the
Leopoldskroner Weiher and, of course, the banks of the River Salzach itself. In total, some
35,000 trees grow within the Salzburg city limits.
Yet another special aspect of Salzburg is its water: Crystal-clear and pure enough to drink, it
is one of those “Made in Salzburg” products that is justifiably a great source of pride. The
nearby Untersberg is Salzburg’s most important water resource. In fact, the former prince
archbishops would actually have this valuable commodity transported into the city daily by
so-called “water riders”. A veritable lifeline for the city was created in the 8th century with the
building of the “Almkanal” canal: To this very day, the water of the Königsseeache continues
to bubble up from beneath the ground in the very heart of the Salzburg historical district. You
can see it, amongst other places, at the Stiftsbäckerei in St. Peter’s Cemetery.
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Additional Information:
Salzburg City Tourist Office, Auerspergstraße 6, A-5020 Salzburg, Tel.: +43/662/889 87 - 0,
Fax: +43/662/889 87 - 32, www.salzburg.info
Martina C. Trummer Tel.: +43/662/889 87 - 605, Email: presse@salzburg.info