A House for Mozart -
every note counts
We have been able to benefit from the momentum of the artistic and financial success of a superb festival season and carry on working with renewed energy and enthusiasm. In September work began on the renovation and adaptation of the Kleines Festspielhaus to make it a “House for Mozart”. The square in front of the festival hall has now become a huge building site because on the other side too, in the otherwise so idyllic Furtwängler garden, building work is also in progress. From 2005 the Great Hall (Aula Academica) of the university will be available not only for academic ceremonies but also for Salzburg Festival performances. The renovation has been made possible by our great sponsor Donald Kahn who is most generously offering financial support not only for the Great Hall but also for the re-building of the Kleines Festspielhaus.
Festival
President Helga Rabl-Stadler
However, next year when you come to the Festival again, you will not be able to notice much. For one thing between May and September 2004 building work will of course be interrupted, and on the other, much of the renovation will have taken place behind the scenes. This means that next year you will have a last chance to experience the Kleines Festspielhaus in its original condition. I should therefore particularly like to encourage you to see the new production of the opera Die tote Stadt by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Impressive music in a hall where we will all have a sense of nostalgia.
From September 2004 the maxim will then be “full steam ahead” for work on the conversion and alterations. During the 2005 season the Kleines Festspielhaus will remain closed. Instead we will again use the wonderful Residenz courtyard which has a unique atmosphere as a festival venue. In 2006 the opening production in the new “House for Mozart” will be Le nozze di Figaro conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. We need three things so that these ambitious plans can be realised:
- good fortune so that no unforeseen problems cause us trouble;
- competent experts so that this demanding building project can be ideally implemented;
- some more money so that we can complete the project whose costs are limited to ? 29 million without going into debt.
This is also the reason why we are launching a building-brick initiative and so finally I have a request: we should like to ask all Mozart lovers from near and far to make a contribution, no matter how small or large, in order to make the “House for Mozart” possible.
Helga Rabl-Stadler
