Sven-Eric Bechtolf takes over Salzburg Festival

For now anway. Following Alexander Pereira's appointment as La Scala superintendant-designate, the Salzburg Festival have decided to boot him out as quickly as possible: September 2014. The festival's theatre head, Sven-Eric Bechtolf, will take over the 2015 and 2016 seasons "in keeping with the committee’s existing budgetary guidelines".  Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler will take over Pereira's commercial responsibilities for this period. A new artistic director for the 2017 and future seasons will be sought as soon as possible.

This leaves the path clear for the innovative Markus Hinterhäuser, a popular interim director during the season prior to Pereira's arrival. Hinterhauser's current contract as head of the Wiener Festwochen conveniently expires in 2016.

Comments

[John Marston]

As your diagram shows, no-one has lasted long in the Salzburg post since Mortier, who did the job for a decade. Looking through the gigantic programme for this year's Festival (which is actually a collection of booklets in a file), it all looks a bit old-fashioned. Mortier programmed most of the operas in Brussels in the 1980s; the explosion of interest in baroque music is not reflected at all; the Mahler symphony cycle omits the tenth (and the Song of the Earth); and the Hagens' complete Beethoven cycle looks uncompelling. Music programming has moved on over the last 10-20 years, as a look at the Proms shows. And it appears that a start will not be made on refocusing Salzburg until 2017!

[William Lau]

Is the programme for this year and last planned by Pereira? I'm asking this because this year would be my first time attending the festival. Looking back past programmes before Pereira, I could sure pick up stuff that I'd like to see, but one or two goodies would not be enough for a trip from Asia.

I understand and probably agree with arguments against Pereira's programming. But strangely, the programme this year and last are very tourist-friendly. The opera commissions for the coming years are very substantial. I wonder if the idea is from Pereira? Although Kurtag fails to deliver his opera this year, the replacement, Birtwistle's Gawain, is an excellent choice.

If in fact, Hinterhauser is behind the things I like, then he'd be the ideal successor.
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Intermezzo replies - It's substantially Pereira's programme, except that the operas have been programmed and staffed in advance of his appointment to some extent. But the largely ex-Zurich casting is evidence of his involvement.