This could be a load of cobblers, but rumour has it that Thomas Hampson will make his role debut as Hans Sachs at the 2013 Salzburg Festival.
The Festival plans to lift its self-imposed 'Wagner-Bann' (whereby it doesn't compete with Bayreuth's Wagner) and celebrate the 200th anniversary of the composer's birth with a new production of Die Meistersinger, conducted by Daniele Gatti. The concurrent Verdi-versary will be marked by a new Don Carlo, with Antonio Pappano as conductor.
As for next year's festival, the opera line up will be formally announced later in the year, but here's what it looks like at the moment. As already revealed, the Easter Festival Carmen (conducted by Simon Rattle and directed by Aletta Collins with Mrs Rattle in the title role) will reappear in the summer. So too will the Whitsun Festival Giulio Cesare, which stars Cecilia Bartoli and is conducted by Giovanni Antonini and directed by Ceci-faves Leiser and Caurier.
Salzburg must celebrate its most famous son, and the 2012 Mozart pick is Die Zauberflöte, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt and directed by Jens Daniel Herzog. To accompany it is a rarity, Peter von Winters Das Labyrinth oder Der Kampf mit den Elementen, a 'grand heroic-comic opera' composed in 1798 as a Magic Flute Part II. Ivor Bolton conducts the Mozarteum Orchestra and Alexandra Liedtke directs.
Also in the pipeline are La Bohème conducted by Daniele Gatti and directed by Damiano Michieletto, Ariadne auf Naxos conducted by Riccardo Chailly and directed by Sven-Eric Bechtolf and, an awesome prospect if it works out, Die Soldaten conducted by Ingo Metzmacher and directed by Peter Stein.
All details unofficial and subject to change, of course.
