Every summer for a century, Salzburg has surrendered to Hugo von Hofmannsthal's medieval Jedermann mystery. The first staging of this very free version of The Great Theater of the World was done by Max Reinhardt and premiered on August 22, 1920 in the Cathedral Square. That Calderonian liturgyit marked the beginning of a festival that was to be centenary in that it laid the foundations for a new era for European cultural identity. Hofmannsthal wrote this "theatrical scene about the death of a rich man" three years before the outbreak of the First World War. Since then, the protagonists of the play have danced in front of the cathedral's façade in a frenzied dance that denounces megalomania and waste. Tradition compels applause in the tuxedo paradox and the purgatory of hotel reservations. Reinhardt's utopia was humanistic, yes, but also nutritional and even touristy.

The Salzburg Festival was born 100 years ago as an alternative to the Bayreuth Festival and a bastion against Wagnerian anti-Semitism. Stefan Zweig shut himself up to write for long periods in the old hunting lodge in the Kapuzinerberg forest , half an hour's walk from Mozart's house. " Salzburg seemed to me the most ideal of all the small towns in Austria , not only because of its landscapes, but also because of its geographical location," we read in Yesterday's World . "It was a real starting point for Europe." The cultural hegemony of Salzburg as the permanent venue for what Zweig called " the Olympic Games of art " collapsed after the Anschluss, although it did not stop taking place and always stood up despite adversity. Perhaps that is why, because the only precedent for the cancellation of the festival dates back to the summer of 1944 , after the failed attack against Hitler, its current president has decided to stand up to the pandemic.

"We are facing the greatest challenge that our society has faced since the end of the Second World War", Helga Rabl-Stadler tells EL MUNDO, who has managed to keep a reduced program still standing, with only two operas ( Elektra and Così fan tutte , a tragedy and a light comedy), albeit ambitious and loaded with stellar names: Christian Thieleman, Gustavo Dudamel, Daniel Barenboim, Cecilia Bartoli, Riccardo Muti, Anna Netrebko ... “ I would have been ashamed if I hadn't tried . Even in the worst moments, when Salzburg was reduced to rubble after the bombings, the arts have served as food for the soul. Why should we give up this beacon today on our way back to normal? ' In front of the 270,000 visitors of previous editions, they will have to settle for less than a quarter, most of them native . The use of masks is not mandatory while the music is playing, but before and after, also during the applause, and the use of fans is strictly prohibited.

To compensate for capacity limitations, the ARTE channel offers free streaming of all the concerts and operas in the program. "We are the world's leading classical music festival," boasts its artistic director, Markus Hinterhäuser. «In 2019 we offered 199 performances over the course of 43 days. This year the figures will be different, but our efforts to preserve this city as the epicenter of the extraordinary will be remembered as a historic landmark. Faced with the motto of past editions (human passions, lust for power ...), this summer's programming revolves around the relationship of individuals with the community and the longing for hope in a troubled world . "The Hofmannsthal himself wrote it down: when the will awakens, the action ceases to be a dream", asserts the superintendent Rabl-Stadler: "The Salzburg Festival was conceived as one of the first peace projects on the ruins of the ancient empire Austro-Hungarian. 100 years later, we have picked up the baton to show that with idealism, creativity, perseverance and courage we will be victorious.

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