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Walgreens is latest chain to blast classical music to dete…

by Sunset Special Markets News

Sarah Schulte Image

Friday, August 11, 2023 1:51AM

Walgreens blasts classical music to deter loiterers

CHICAGO (WLS) — There’s no science behind it, but Walgreens is the latest chain to blast classic music to deter people from loitering outside their stores.

Only certain Walgreens locations in Chicago have the caged speakers so far, playing a short playlist including Bach and Rossini’s “William Tell Overture” on repeat.

“I thought maybe their system was stuck playing the same track over and from Halloween something like that,” said customer Vincent Rodriguez.

“I don’t know how it does that. I think it’s an interesting idea, I’d like to understand the science behind if somebody has figured it out,” said customer English Dixon.

According to the Deerfield company, there’s no hard data behind it but it may be working. At midday, two locations with music did not have anyone loitering while another Walgreens without the music had people hanging out.

In a written statement, the corporation said that for more than a year it has implemented a loop of classical music at certain locations nationwide, including Chicago.

They’re not the only company to do so. Opera is the genre of choice for 7-11 stores. A few in Chicago also play music to deter loitering.

The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless blasts the tactic.

“It is essentially treating them as less than human and treating them as a nuisance, whereas there are folks that are in need of housing and supports,” said Doug Schenkelberg, executive director.

There is no music yet at the South Loop Walgreens where Robert Jackson, a 63-year-old unhoused Chicagoan, likes to hang out because it’s shady. He said a loop of music wouldn’t deter him from leaving; he would welcome it.

“I love music all types of music it wouldn’t bother me, I’d be the one right there listening to it bobbing my head,” he said.

While the music continues to play, advocates for people experiencing homelessness encourage corporations like Walgreens and 7-11 to use their resources and clout to join the conversation about why people are unhoused, and how to end it.

Copyright © 2023 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.


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13630368_081023-wls-schulte-walgreens-music-deter-5p-vid.jpg

Walgreens is latest chain to blast classical music to

by Sunset Special Markets News

Sarah Schulte Image

Friday, August 11, 2023 1:51AM

Walgreens blasts classical music to deter loiterers

CHICAGO (WLS) — There’s no science behind it, but Walgreens is the latest chain to blast classic music to deter people from loitering outside their stores.

Only certain Walgreens locations in Chicago have the caged speakers so far, playing a short playlist including Bach and Rossini’s “William Tell Overture” on repeat.

“I thought maybe their system was stuck playing the same track over and from Halloween something like that,” said customer Vincent Rodriguez.

“I don’t know how it does that. I think it’s an interesting idea, I’d like to understand the science behind if somebody has figured it out,” said customer English Dixon.

According to the Deerfield company, there’s no hard data behind it but it may be working. At midday, two locations with music did not have anyone loitering while another Walgreens without the music had people hanging out.

In a written statement, the corporation said that for more than a year it has implemented a loop of classical music at certain locations nationwide, including Chicago.

They’re not the only company to do so. Opera is the genre of choice for 7-11 stores. A few in Chicago also play music to deter loitering.

The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless blasts the tactic.

“It is essentially treating them as less than human and treating them as a nuisance, whereas there are folks that are in need of housing and supports,” said Doug Schenkelberg, executive director.

There is no music yet at the South Loop Walgreens where Robert Jackson, a 63-year-old unhoused Chicagoan, likes to hang out because it’s shady. He said a loop of music wouldn’t deter him from leaving; he would welcome it.

“I love music all types of music it wouldn’t bother me, I’d be the one right there listening to it bobbing my head,” he said.

While the music continues to play, advocates for people experiencing homelessness encourage corporations like Walgreens and 7-11 to use their resources and clout to join the conversation about why people are unhoused, and how to end it.

Copyright © 2023 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.


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Stage Notes: Review of ‘Frozen’ at Bass Hall; Hip Pocket moves indoors for now

by Sunset Special Markets News

Lauren Nicole Chapman as Anna and Dominic Dorset as Kristoff. ‘Frozen’ North American Tour. (Photo by Matthew Murphy/Disney)

Stage Notes is a weekly aggregate post about theater, classical music and stage news, events, reviews and other pertinent information.

Opening this week: 

Bishop Arts Theatre: One Year in Egypt, opened Thursday-Aug. 27.

Broadway at the Bass: Disney’s Frozen, opened Thursday-Aug. 20.

Theatre Arlington: Play Reading Club, 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday.

Art Centre Theatre: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, today-Aug 20. 

Jubilee Theatre: The Color Purple, today-Aug. 20. 

Theatre Coppell: Rounding Third, today-Aug. 27.

MainStage 222: Tigers Be Still, today-Aug. 26, pictured.

Lakeside Community Theatre: Spring Awakening, today-Sept. 2.

The Core Theatre: Last of the Boys, today-Sept. 3.

The Juno Show with Juno Birch, 7:30 p.m. Sunday at House of Blues.

Theatre Arlington: Comedy Club, 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

Onstage now:

Pocket Sandwich Theatre: Captain Blood – A Pirate Melodrama, through Saturday.

Amphibian Stage: Miss Molly, through Sunday.

Fair Assembly: As You Like It, throughn Sunday at the Wyly.

Firehouse Theatre: Newsies, through Sunday.

Rockwall Summer Musicals: Oklahoma, through Sunday.

Theatre Frisco: Pippin, through Sunday.

Uptown Players: Chicken and Biscuits, through Sunday at the Kalita Humphreys Theater, pictured.

Rover Dramawerks: The Fox on the Fairway, through Aug. 19.

Hip Pocket Theatre: White Elephant, through Aug. 20.

Auriga Productions: The Homecoming, through Aug. 26 at the Bath House Cultural Center.

Texas heat forces outdoor venue Hip Pocket Theatre indoors

For the final two weekends of its current production, the outdoor theater space and company Hip Pocket Theatre will be opting for some AC. The company will move White Elephant into the Sanders Theatre at Fort Worth Community Arts Center beginning this Friday and concluding its run on Aug. 20. The Texas heat (AKA Hell on Earth) finally got the best of the company.

“After canceling four out of the last six performances due to the extreme heat, we knew we needed to do something to continue the performances while protecting our cast, crew, staff and patrons from heat-related complications,” Managing Artistic Director Lake Simons said in the announcement.

White Elephant, written by Simons and John Dyer, features vignettes about people, animals and objects, moving from one plane to another with scant dialogue, the story is told through images, movement, puppetry, mask, super 8 film and live music.

Click here for tickets.

Review: Frozen was a cool experience with surprising depth

Caroline Bowman (Elsa) and the company of ‘Frozen’ North American Tour.(Photo by Deen van Meer/Disney)

Elsa and Anna are back in town. The Disney musical Frozen has swung around to North Texas for a second time opening Thursday night at Bass Hall. A year ago, the production landed in Dallas last July. That it hits here in the area during summer gives some nice distraction from the dang heat outside.

In every way, Frozen was what audiences expect. The show had that spectacular pizzazz, those signature Disney songs, impressive effects all wrapped around a familiar story based on the popular movie. Being a Disney production, no expense was spared and all that made for a magical watch of a blockbuster show. Children — many in Elsa dresses — were low-key singing along which was more adorable than bothersome.

The show was satisfying certainly for younger audience members but its had mature appeal and laughs was enough for adults to enjoy. Frozen did have deeper layers that sometimes served up some operatic vibes. The actors were strongly invested and in the more dramatic or tender moments, the show really succeeded in giving us fleshed out characters. As the adult Elsa and Anna, Caroline Bowman was fierce while Lauren Nicole Chapman served up the proper pluckiness and defiance as Elsa’s younger sis. Their chemistry served them well as their sibling characters.

This shouldn’t surprise as Disney wouldn’t put out a subpar product, but Frozen and other Disney shows are inherently just that — products. However, stripped of all that, the theatrical quality Thursday night was nonetheless marvelous to experience.

All the rest was just as amazing.

The special effects onstage were wondrous and the lighting effects were so smart displaying the frozen environment. Wardrobe echoed the movie precisely, but the puppetry work was phenomenal. Actor Jeremy Davis worked behind the Olaf puppet which was  confusing at times on where to place the eye, but he combined singing, dancing and puppetry all without flaw. Actor Dan Plehal (for the Thursday night performance) gave live to Sven the reindeer with charming personality.

RELATED: Queer actor helps bring lovable reindeer Sven to life in Frozen onstage

The disappointing part of Frozen was that the story itself was compelling up to its bit-too-tidy resolution, but likely worked for the youngsters. Regardles, the entire experience of Frozen was a delight that hit strong notes of drama and comedy for audience members young and not-as-young.

Frozen runs through Aug. 20 at Bass Hall.

Theatre Arlington takes a ride to Avenue Q

Theatre Arlington announced the cast and creative team for Avenue Q, the sixth show of its 50th anniversary season. The show features some hilarious and unforgettable songs mixed with some raunchy laughs. The Tony-winning puppet musical opens Aug. 25.

Theatre Arlington’s Bryan Stevenson will direct the show. He led a production of Q at Theatre Wesleyan in 2019.

“It allows us to see modern issues through the comfort and humor of puppetry. And I think in a way, that brings us back to our childhood,” he said in the press release.

Stevenson will also serve as set designer. The rest of the creative team includes Mark Mullino as music director, lighting by Kyle Harris, sound design by Ryan Simón. Hope Cox is the costume designer with Robin Dotson as props manager and scenic artistry by Bianca Folgar.

The cast includes Jessica Humphrey, Bryson Petersen, Landry Beckley, Lindsay Hayward, Lindsey Longacre, Hayden Lopez, Darin Martin, Andrew Nicolas, Brandy Raper, Jayden Russell and Brandon Wilhelm.

For those not in the know, Avenue Q contains adult content, language, situations, and humor. This production is not suitable for all audiences.

For tickets, click here.

Rover Dramawerks announces the lineup for its 24th season

Plano-based company Rover Dramawerks dropped the news on its new season that will be presented at the Cox Playhouse. The season includes eight productions with five comedies, a classic mystery, a night of winners and an entire festival. The season opens in January.

Here is the lineup for its 24th season (From Rover):

Jan. 11-27: Here Lies Jeremy Troy by Jack Sharkey and directed by Eddy Herring.

March 7-23: Take the Couch, a new comedy by Connie Schindewolf and directed by Glynda Welch.

April 11-20: 10-Minute Comedies will feature the winners of Rover’s 10-minute comedy contest.

May 30-June 15: Tons of Money by Will Evans and Valentine will be directed by Carol M. Rice. 

June 20-22: Deadline is a comedy/mystery by Don Zolidis and directed by Nicole Denson. This will be a youth production featuring a cast of actors ages 10-18. 

Aug. 1-17: Wrong Turn at Lungfish is a dramatic comedy by Garry Marshall and Lowell Ganz directed by Sara Jones. 

Sept. 7: One Day Only festival returns to Rover’s season lineup. The event features five plays that go from concept to curtain in a day. 

Oct. 3-19: Go Back for Murder. Kathleen Vaught directs the season closer based on the Agatha Christie mystery. 

Tickets and more information can be found here.

–Rich Lopez


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Salzburg Festival nearly sold out while others in classica…

by Sunset Special Markets News

SALZBURG, Austria (AP) — People fill the cobblestone streets of the city where Mozart was born, rushing to 213 performances…

SALZBURG, Austria (AP) — People fill the cobblestone streets of the city where Mozart was born, rushing to 213 performances over six weeks. While many classical music institutions struggle to regain audience, the Salzburg Festival is on track to draw people from over 75 nations to opera, concerts and drama.

“We played through the pandemic,” said Kristina Hammer, who took over as the festival’s president in 2022. “That made us not only a spotlight in Europe for culture, but we didn’t lose our customers.”

There are 179 performances over 43 days through Aug. 31 at 15 venues plus 34 youth performances. Highlights included new stagings of Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro,”Verdi’s ‘Macbeth” and “Falstaff” and Bohuslav Martinu’s rarely seen “The Greek Passion” along with Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice,” held over from this year’s Whitsun Festival. Artists in a program of unmatched depth include pianists Igor Levit, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Evgeny Kissin and Daniil Trifonov, and the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics headline concerts along with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

“There are these hidden threads,” artistic director Markus Hinterhäuser said, drawing parallels between “Macbeth” and the Ukraine war, “Greek Passion” and the migrant crisis and “Figaro” with class struggle. “What I can do is to give the audience the kind of navigation system without being didactic.”

Director Max Reinhardt, composer Richard Strauss and dramatist Hugo von Hofmannsthal founded the festival to promote peace following World War I, an idea they are said to have formed at Reinhardt’s nearby Schloss Leopoldskron.

Herbert von Karajan dominated as artistic director from 1956-88. Gerard Mortier overhauled programming from 1991-2001 and was followed by Peter Ruzicka and Jürgen Flimm. Hinterhäuser, a pianist. ran the festival for a year in 2011 before Alexander Pereira began, then took over in 2016 and has a contract running until September 2026.

Productions open after six-to-seven weeks of rehearsal, one-to-three more than the repertory house norm. Ticket prices for the most high-profile events run from 5-465 euros ($5.50-$513).

Venues are spread across both sides of the Salzach River in a city of about 150,000 crammed with restaurants, hotels and luxury boutiques, with the three largest halls carved into the Mönchsberg mountain. The Felsenreitschule, the former riding school, holds an audience of 1,437 and is known as a location for the 1965 film “The Sound of Music.” The Haus für Mozart, the former Kleines Festpielhaus, reopened in 2006 with 1,580 capacity. The 2,179-seat Grosses Festpielhaus, launched in 1960 to Karajan’s specifications, has a huge stage shaped with the aspect ratio of a movie screen; a 98-by-30 foot (30-by-9 meter) proscenium on a 328-foot-wide (100 meter) stage.

Top offerings are televised and quality is high, though there has been criticism there should be more contemporary music.

Teodor Currentzis, the conductor whose musicAeterna has been excluded from the U.S. and much of Europe over its partnership with Russia’s state-controlled VTB Bank, led two exquisite concert performances of Purcell’s “The Indian Queen” at the Felsenreitschule in a Peter Sellars reshaped version. His new Utopia Orchestra and Choir was formed last year without funding ties to Russia.

To Hinterhäuser, the antiwar theme was paramount.

“It’s not easy to plan something with Currentzis,” Hinterhäuser said. “There’s a kind of very dogmatic and also aggressive part of the critics against Currentzis because of the war but we saw one of the greatest musicians of our time. It wasn’t (Wagner Group head Yevgeny) Prigozhin who conducted ‘The Indian Queen.’ It’s not the minister of defense who conducted ‘The Indian Queen.’”

While 2020 festivals were canceled at Aix-en-Provence, France; Bayreuth, Germany; and Glyndebourne, England, Salzburg went on with its 100th anniversary program, cutting to 110 events over 30 days. About 25% of the audience was new.

This year’s festival has a 67.5 million euro ($74.5 million) budget, up from 66.8 million euros last year, when 224,933 tickets were issued and 96% of capacity was sold. About 75% of revenue comes from box office, sponsors, donors and rentals in non-festival months.

Project 2030 will blast into the mountain and add 10,000 square meters (107,600 square feet) of space, mostly for production, raising the total to 90,000 square meters (969,000 square feet). Construction is scheduled for 2025-32, and 335 million euros ($367 million) has been committed by the city, state and Austria, with fundraising to bring in more.

A visitors’ center, funded by a 12 million euro ($13.2 million) gift from Hans-Peter Wild of the juice manufacturer Capri-Sun, is to be built on Karajan Platz adjacent to the Festpielhaus after next year’s festival and to open in 2025.

“Our workshops don’t have an assembly space,” executive director Lukas Crepaz said. “We have to bring this infrastructure and this district into the future.”

A program launched last year that matched long-term customers with first-time visitors aged 16-26, given 20-euro tickets.

“We have to attract young people and we have to bring them and open their hearts for theater, concerts and opera,” Hammer said. “We need to ignite the young people because the parents and the families don’t do it anymore.”

Copyright
© 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.


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Introducing “Me dɔfo”: Announcing Don Runz’s

by Sunset Special Markets News


Introducing “Me dɔfo”: Announcing Don Runz’s Mesmerizing Amapiano Instrumental Set to Captivate Global Audiences – Music Industry Today – EIN Presswire

























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See Bose’s next earbuds and headphones from every angle in leaked images

by Sunset Special Markets News

A series of what appears to be marketing images have surfaced for Bose’s upcoming QuietComfort Ultra headphones and QuietComfort Ultra earbuds.

Posted on MySmartPrice

, the leak is fairly substantial as the photographs show both devices from a variety of angles. A list of specifications was not included so we don’t know exactly what the internal hardware will be or if there are any special features. This will be mostly speculation based on what can be interpreted through the images.




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Wolf Eyes’ End-Times Soundtrack Gave the Vera Project Crowd…

by Sunset Special Markets News

Michigan’s Wolf Eyes—John Olson and Nate Young—have been prolific noise auteurs for over a quarter century. You don’t last this long in the noise game without wiliness and a willingness to keep tweaking your sound, so as not to cause fatigue in listeners. 

Better than most in the history of noise music, Wolf Eyes understand the necessity for dynamics and tension. Their 75-minute performance at Vera Project proved yet again the duo’s mastery of these elements before a reverent, 70% capacity crowd, which, by the way, featured two-thirds of Seattle rock legends A Frames (who—newsflash—are coming out of retirement to play Clock-Out Lounge on November 11).

Though Wolf Eyes have had associations with big labels such as Sub Pop and Third Man, they’ve mostly existed as a DIY unit whose recording ethos is as simple as can be, as Olson told me in a 2004 interview: “We get wasted, we fucking jam, and we put it out [usually on their own label, American Tapes, or on former member Aaron Dilloway’s Hanson Records]. Then we get a pizza.”

Olson (who creates hilarious memes as “INZANE JOHNNY” on Instagram) and Young (who looks a helluva lot like the godlike singer Scott Walker) have gracefully moved into middle-aged respectability in both looks and onstage demeanor. Standing behind neat work stations stocked with samplers and sequencers (perhaps Elektron Octatracks?), Wolf Eyes methodically fucked with our minds. 

Wolf Eyes at Vera Project Thursday, August 10. Jonathan Ochoa

The set began with quasi-techno thumps overlaid with unsettling whistles, wheezes, sweeping bleeps, and distorted foghorn. Lesson: Always grab your audience by nads from the get-go. But as someone who felt actual ripples of pain in my testicles from Wolf Eyes’ 2006 Wooden Octopus Skull Experimental Musick Pfestival show, I can say that these days they’re more about barely suppressed rage and implied menace than the more bombastic attack of their rowdier youth. 

John Olson of Wolf Eyes playing clarinet. Jonathan Ochoa

Again deviating from noise-artist norms, Olson often plays clarinet, saxophone, and flute. In one memorable passage, he produced desolate tones on his clarinet in the gaps between Young’s subterranean rustles and well-paced detonations. Portentous drones, of course, figure heavily in Wolf Eyes’ sound, and theirs hark back to masters such as Tod Dockstader, Moton Subotnick, and Throbbing Gristle. 

Wolf Eyes at Vera Project Thursday, August 10. Jonathan Ochoa

What stood out during Wolf Eyes’ set was their use of rhythm. Most musicians use it as a facile way to trigger feelings of joyful movement and emotional release in audiences. By contrast Olson and Young tune and time their drum machines to sound like doomed heartbeats. When combined with the former’s woebegone sax wails and the latter’s disgusted growls (I couldn’t discern a single word), the music’s effect is acutely alienating. For listeners highly attuned to the world’s atrocities and imminent catastrophes, this approach really resonates. 

At this late stage, Wolf Eyes fully understand the power of restraint. Their rigorous noise sculptures keep you on edge, with no catharsis, because that would be too easy. On their third and final piece, which somehow reminded me of Tonto’s Expanding Head Band’s ominous “Jetsex,” Wolf Eyes conjured what could have been a soundtrack for the end of the world—just spirit-killing stuff. We loved it.

Wolf Eyes at Vera Project Thursday, August 10. Jonathan Ochoa

The night’s second act, Seattle trio fine, proved that there’s still juice left in the guitar/bass/drums rock setup. They divulge no details about themselves online, but my first impression is that they are young and nonchalantly brilliant and Hardly Art Records should sign them yesterday. They play stark, oblique rock with no frills and plenty of thrills. Just when you think they’re a standard-issue indie-rock band, fine subtly shift tempos or unexpectedly change keys. Tight, precise, and with surprising dynamics, fine deserve your undivided attention.

Opening act RN White (aka Rachel LeBlanc, former curator of the great Seattle festival Debacle) let loose a torrent of industrial hellroar, a molten flow of sulfuric rumbles. Her set peaked when she finessed some circular-saw buzzing into a mantric rhythm. Gradually, RN White’s noise enfolds you like a lead blanket. It was quite the cochlea-cleanser for the rest of the night.

Wolf Eyes at Vera Project Thursday, August 10. Jonathan Ochoa




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Apple Music Classical Partners with Salzburg Festival

by Sunset Special Markets News

Apple Music Classical partners with the Salzburg Festival to provide quality recordings from future editions of the festival and archive performances.

Apple Music Classical, the standalone app specifically designed for classical music, has announced a partnership with the Salzburg Festival. The deal will include exclusive audio recordings from the festival, Spatial Audio remastering of recordings from past festivals, and exclusive playlists created by the festival organization. All exclusive content from the Salzburg Festival is produced with Unitel and ORF and distributed by Platoon.

The Salzburg Festival is the latest partner organization to offer Apple Music Classical listeners new and exclusive content and recordings. These partners include the Berlin Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic, Opéra national de Paris, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and the Vienna Philharmonic.

“The Salzburg Festival, with its more than 100-year history, is very pleased to be able to present its unique lineup of incredible productions, opera, concerts, recitals, and chamber music on the newly created Apple Music Classical,” comments the Salzburg Festival in a statement.

Apple Music Classical was created to offer listeners the classical music experience they crave but have never had, with a team of engineers and musicologists working on the underlying metadata for over seven years. The result is an app with over 50 million data points for fully optimized search and browsing capabilities, enabling listeners to access the most extensive streaming catalog of classical music anywhere.

With over five million tracks, more than 120,000 works, 400,000 movements, and 20,000 composers, all available in the highest audio quality with thousands of albums in Spatial Audio, Apple Music Classical is the ultimate experience for enthusiasts. The app offers hundreds of curated playlists, thousands of exclusive albums, composer biographies, deep-dive guides for many key works, intuitive browsing features, and much more.

Apple Music subscribers can download the Apple Music Classical app as part of their existing subscription at no additional cost.


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Salzburg Festival nearly sold out while others in

by Sunset Special Markets News

SALZBURG, Austria (AP) — People fill the cobblestone streets of the city where Mozart was born, rushing to 213 performances…

SALZBURG, Austria (AP) — People fill the cobblestone streets of the city where Mozart was born, rushing to 213 performances over six weeks. While many classical music institutions struggle to regain audience, the Salzburg Festival is on track to draw people from over 75 nations to opera, concerts and drama.

“We played through the pandemic,” said Kristina Hammer, who took over as the festival’s president in 2022. “That made us not only a spotlight in Europe for culture, but we didn’t lose our customers.”

There are 179 performances over 43 days through Aug. 31 at 15 venues plus 34 youth performances. Highlights included new stagings of Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro,”Verdi’s ‘Macbeth” and “Falstaff” and Bohuslav Martinu’s rarely seen “The Greek Passion” along with Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice,” held over from this year’s Whitsun Festival. Artists in a program of unmatched depth include pianists Igor Levit, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Evgeny Kissin and Daniil Trifonov, and the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics headline concerts along with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

“There are these hidden threads,” artistic director Markus Hinterhäuser said, drawing parallels between “Macbeth” and the Ukraine war, “Greek Passion” and the migrant crisis and “Figaro” with class struggle. “What I can do is to give the audience the kind of navigation system without being didactic.”

Director Max Reinhardt, composer Richard Strauss and dramatist Hugo von Hofmannsthal founded the festival to promote peace following World War I, an idea they are said to have formed at Reinhardt’s nearby Schloss Leopoldskron.

Herbert von Karajan dominated as artistic director from 1956-88. Gerard Mortier overhauled programming from 1991-2001 and was followed by Peter Ruzicka and Jürgen Flimm. Hinterhäuser, a pianist. ran the festival for a year in 2011 before Alexander Pereira began, then took over in 2016 and has a contract running until September 2026.

Productions open after six-to-seven weeks of rehearsal, one-to-three more than the repertory house norm. Ticket prices for the most high-profile events run from 5-465 euros ($5.50-$513).

Venues are spread across both sides of the Salzach River in a city of about 150,000 crammed with restaurants, hotels and luxury boutiques, with the three largest halls carved into the Mönchsberg mountain. The Felsenreitschule, the former riding school, holds an audience of 1,437 and is known as a location for the 1965 film “The Sound of Music.” The Haus für Mozart, the former Kleines Festpielhaus, reopened in 2006 with 1,580 capacity. The 2,179-seat Grosses Festpielhaus, launched in 1960 to Karajan’s specifications, has a huge stage shaped with the aspect ratio of a movie screen; a 98-by-30 foot (30-by-9 meter) proscenium on a 328-foot-wide (100 meter) stage.

Top offerings are televised and quality is high, though there has been criticism there should be more contemporary music.

Teodor Currentzis, the conductor whose musicAeterna has been excluded from the U.S. and much of Europe over its partnership with Russia’s state-controlled VTB Bank, led two exquisite concert performances of Purcell’s “The Indian Queen” at the Felsenreitschule in a Peter Sellars reshaped version. His new Utopia Orchestra and Choir was formed last year without funding ties to Russia.

To Hinterhäuser, the antiwar theme was paramount.

“It’s not easy to plan something with Currentzis,” Hinterhäuser said. “There’s a kind of very dogmatic and also aggressive part of the critics against Currentzis because of the war but we saw one of the greatest musicians of our time. It wasn’t (Wagner Group head Yevgeny) Prigozhin who conducted ‘The Indian Queen.’ It’s not the minister of defense who conducted ‘The Indian Queen.’”

While 2020 festivals were canceled at Aix-en-Provence, France; Bayreuth, Germany; and Glyndebourne, England, Salzburg went on with its 100th anniversary program, cutting to 110 events over 30 days. About 25% of the audience was new.

This year’s festival has a 67.5 million euro ($74.5 million) budget, up from 66.8 million euros last year, when 224,933 tickets were issued and 96% of capacity was sold. About 75% of revenue comes from box office, sponsors, donors and rentals in non-festival months.

Project 2030 will blast into the mountain and add 10,000 square meters (107,600 square feet) of space, mostly for production, raising the total to 90,000 square meters (969,000 square feet). Construction is scheduled for 2025-32, and 335 million euros ($367 million) has been committed by the city, state and Austria, with fundraising to bring in more.

A visitors’ center, funded by a 12 million euro ($13.2 million) gift from Hans-Peter Wild of the juice manufacturer Capri-Sun, is to be built on Karajan Platz adjacent to the Festpielhaus after next year’s festival and to open in 2025.

“Our workshops don’t have an assembly space,” executive director Lukas Crepaz said. “We have to bring this infrastructure and this district into the future.”

A program launched last year that matched long-term customers with first-time visitors aged 16-26, given 20-euro tickets.

“We have to attract young people and we have to bring them and open their hearts for theater, concerts and opera,” Hammer said. “We need to ignite the young people because the parents and the families don’t do it anymore.”

Copyright
© 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.


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