Salzburg Festival: history and repertoire, 1935–1937

This is a list of the operas performed by Salzburg Festival during the music directorship of Arturo Toscanini and Bruno Walter (1935–1937). This period was ended by the invasion and annexation of the Republic of Austria by Nazi Germany in March 1938. Arturo Toscanini, an avid opponent of the Nazi regime, thereafter declined to come back to Salzburg. Bruno Walter was forced to flee to the United States.

New opera productions

The period 1935 to 1937 was extremely successful for the Salzburg Festival. The percentage of tickets sold rose from 53% in 1934 to 89% in 1937. Each year during this period of the Salzburg Festival, Arturo Toscanini presented one new production of an opera suitable to the Salzburg atmosphere. He insisted on major fundings and on the best available singers. In 1935 he presented Giuseppe Verdis last opera, Falstaff, performed for the first time at the Salzburg Festival. His choice of Wagners Meistersinger von Nürnberg in 1936 was seen as an act of opposition to the Bayreuth Festival, insisting that this opera belongs to the cultural heritage of the world and not to Nazi Germany. His last Salzburg premiere was dedicated to the genius loci, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and his masterpiece Die Zauberflöte. Another political statement of Toscanini was that each year he conducted Beethoven's freedom opera Fidelio, a masterpiece against tyranny.[1]

Meanwhile, Bruno Walter, who was the only conductor fully accepted by Toscanini, concentrated himself on majors works of Mozart, presented a highly acclaimed production of Glucks Orfeo ed Euridice and expanded the Salzburg repertory by adding rarely performed operas like Wolfs Der Corregidor and Webers Euryanthe. He too insisted on conducting Wagner in Salzburg – Tristan und Isolde with a splendid cast led by Anny Konetzni and Josef Kalenberg.[2]

1935

Orchestra and Choir
Conductor
Director
Settings and Costumes
Female Roles Male Roles
Die Entführung aus dem Serail by Johann Gottlieb Stephanie and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, August 12, 21 and 29
Vienna Philharmonic
Choir of Vienna State Opera
Bruno Walter
Herbert Graf
Oscar Strnad Settings
Margherita Perras Konstanze
Margit Bokor/Lotte Schöne Blondchen
Alfred Muzzarelli Bassa Selim
Charles Kullmann Belmonte
William Wernigk Pedrillo
Berthold Sterneck/Ludwig Hofmann Osmin
Falstaff by Arrigo Boito and Giuseppe Verdi, July 29 and August 3, 17 and 26
Vienna Philharmonic
Choir of Vienna State Opera
Arturo Toscanini
Guido Salvini
Robert Kautsky, Ladislaus Czettel
Margarete Wallmann Choreography
Maria Caniglia/Dusolina Giannini Mrs. Alice Ford
Edith Mason Nannetta
Angelica Cravcenco Mrs. Quickly
Mita Vasari Mrs. Meg Page
Mariano Stabile Sir John Falstaff
Piero BiasiniFord
Dino Borgioli Fenton
Angelo Badà Dr. Cajus
Giuseppe Nessi Bardòlfo
Fernando Autori Pistòla

1936

Orfeo ed Euridice by Ranieri de' Calzabigi and Christoph Willibald Gluck, August 1 and 17
Vienna Philharmonic
Choir of Vienna State Opera
Bruno Walter
Margarete Wallmann
Robert Kautsky, Ladislaus Czettel
Kerstin Thorborg Orfeo
Jarmila Novotna Euridice
Margit Bokor Amor
Dora Komarek Seliger Geist
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg by Richard Wagner, August 8, 14, 18 and 22
Vienna Philharmonic
Choir of Vienna State Opera
Arturo Toscanini
Herbert Graf
Robert Kautsky, Willi Bahner
Lotte Lehmann Eva
Kerstin Thorborg Magdalena
Hans Hermann Nissen Hans Sachs
Herbert Alsen Veit Pogner
Georg Maikl Kunz Vogelsang
Rolf Telasko Konrad Nachtigall
Hermann Wiedemann Sixtus Beckmesser
Viktor Madin Fritz Kothner
Anton Dermota Balthasar Zorn
Eduard Fritsch Ulrich Eißlinger
Hermann Gallos Augustin Moser
Alfred Muzzarelli Hermann Ortel
Carl Bissuti Hans Schwarz/Ein Nachtwächter
Karl Ettl Hans Foltz
Charles Kullmann Walther von Stolzing
Richard Sallaba David
Wolf Daucha, Marie Eder, Ludwig Fleck,
Josef Fruchter, Lucy Haupt, Martha Karl,
Marie Langhans, Erich Majkut, Matthias Oswald,
Hans Rosenberg, Oskar Schweiberer, Otto Zuzan Lehrbuben
Der Corregidor by Rosa Mayreder and Hugo Wolf, August 11 and 21
Vienna Philharmonic
Choir of Vienna State Opera
Bruno Walter
Lothar Wallerstein
Robert Kautsky, Ladislaus Czettel
Kerstin Thorborg Donna Mercedes
Jarmila Novotna Frasquita, Gattin des Müllers
Polly Batic Duenna, im Dienste des Corregidors
Bella Paalen Manuela, Magd bei Juan Lopez
Gunnar Graarud Don Eugenio de Zuniga, Corregidor
Carl Bissuti Juan Lopez, Alkalde
William Wernigk Pedro, dessen Sekretär
Nicola Zec Tonuelo, Gerichtsbote
Ludwig Hofmann Repela, Diener des Corregidors
Alfred Jerger Tio Lukas, Müller
Hermann Gallos Ein Nachbar
Alfred Muzzarelli Ein Nachtwächter

1937

Die Zauberflöte by Emanuel Schikaneder and Wolfgang, July 30, August 7, 16 and 31
Vienna Philharmonic
Choir of Vienna State Opera
Arturo Toscanini
Herbert Graf
Hans Wildermann Settings
Júlia Osváth Königin der Nacht
Jarmila Novotna Pamina
Hilde Konetzni Erste Dame
Stefania Fratnik Zweite Dame
Kerstin Thorborg Dritte Dame
Dora Komarek Papagena
Alexander Kipnis Sarastro
Helge Roswaenge Tamino
Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender Papageno
Alfred Jerger Sprecher
Richard Sallaba Priester
William Wernigk Monostatos
Anton Dermota, Carl Bissuti Zwei Geharnischte
Kurt Pech, Albert Feuhl, Fritz Mascha Drei Knaben
Hugo Lindinger, Harry Horner, Eduard Fritsch Drei Sklaven
Le nozze di Figaro by Lorenzo Da Ponte and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, August 11, 19 and 30
Vienna Philharmonic
Choir of Vienna State Opera
Bruno Walter
Lothar Wallerstein
Alfred Roller
Margarete Wallmann Choreography
Aulikki Rautawaara Contessa d'Almaviva
Esther Réthy Susanna
Angelica Cravcenco Marcellina
Jarmila Novotna Cherubino
Dora Komarek Barbarina
Maria Kastl, Grete Zehetmayer Brautjungfern
Mariano Stabile Conte d'Almaviva
Ezio Pinza Figaro
William Wernigk Basilio
Virgilio Lazzari Bartolo
Viktor Madin Antonio
Giuseppe Nessi Don Curzio
Euryanthe by Helmina von Chézy and Carl Maria von Weber, August 18 and 25
Vienna Philharmonic
Choir of Vienna State Opera
Bruno Walter
Lothar Wallerstein
Clemens Holzmeister, Marielouise Luksch
Margarete Wallmann, Willy Fränzl Choreography
Maria Reining Euryanthe von Svoyen
Kerstin Thorborg Eglantine von Puiset
Dora Komarek Bertha
Herbert Alsen König Ludwig VI
Karl Friedrich Adolar, Graf von Nevers
Alexander Svéd Lysiart, Graf von Forest
Eduard Fritsch Rudolf, ein Lehensmann

Repertory

In addition to the new productions the following works from the repertory were performed at the Salzburg Festival.

1935

1936

1937

Salzburg Festival: history and repertoire, 1922–1926

Sources

  • Kaut, Josef (1982). Die Salzburger Festspiele 1920–1981, Mit einem Verzeichnis der aufgeführten Werke und der Künstler des Theaters und der Musik von Hans Jaklitsch. Salzburg: Residenz Verlag. ISBN 3-7017-0308-6.

References

  1. Stephen Gallup: Die Geschichte der Salzburger Festspiele, Vienna: Orac 1989, ISBN 3-7015-0164-5, p. 124–154 (Chapter: Der glorreiche Toscanini).
  2. Robert Kriechbaumer: Zwischen Österreich und Großdeutschland. Eine politische Geschichte der Salzburger Festspiele 1933–1944. Vienna: Böhlau 2013, ISBN 978-3-205-78941-3, Herein esp. p. 77–79, 125–136, 142–144, 257–262.
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