The first reaction was prompt: After director Yana Ross and writer Lukas Bärfuss asked the Salzburg Festival to part with their criticized sponsor Solway on Wednesday (FAZ from April 21), the festival management announced on the same day , the company had previously been asked to comment and required a “detailed, objective and transparent” review of the allegations.

"The Salzburg Festival will await the results of these investigations and then draw the necessary conclusions."

Hubert Spiegel

Editor in the Feuilleton.

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The private mining company Solway, based in Zug, Switzerland, has been accused of human rights abuses, environmental degradation and harassment of journalists, among other things, in Guatemala, where Solway operates a nickel mine on Lake Izabal.

The company has denied the allegations and announced its own investigation.

In a statement published in early March, Solway condemned the Russian government's actions against the Ukrainian population and announced that it would cease its business activities in Russia immediately.

"Toxic Sponsorship"

Bärfuss and Ross have linked their demand to end Solway's "toxic sponsorship" with an ultimatum that expires on July 27.

The premiere of the new version of Schnitzler's "Reigen", which Ross and Bärfuss are working on on behalf of the festival, is to take place one day later.

Yana Ross told online theater portal Nachtkritik.de that it is "very important that the festival belongs to the artists and not the sponsors, so it's our duty to taxpayers and the public to do the work they commission.

Therefore, we have no right to stop the work, but we have the right to draw the festival's attention to the mistakes made."

The Solway Investment Group in Zug is managed by Dan Bronstein, the parent Solway Holding based in Malta reports to Aleksandr Bronstein, who was born in what was then Leningrad and now lives in Tallinn.

Among other things, the company supports the Creative Fellowship project in Salzburg, which enables two young people from Guatemala, Ukraine or North Macedonia to take part in an opera camp at the festival each year.

Solway also supports the festival's youth program, most recently with 150,000 euros.

In its statement, the festival management assures that the topic of financing and sponsorship is dealt with transparently: "All main, project and product sponsors as well as those foundations that support the festival or individual productions can be viewed on the homepage."

"Great project"

But how do art and money, festival directors and CEOs, conductors and heads of marketing find each other?

Helga Rabl-Stadler, President of the Salzburg Festival from 1995 until a few weeks ago, ensured transparency on this point in an interview with the "Neue Zürcher Zeitung" in 2017 and gave an example that refers to Dan Bronstein, the chairman of the Solway Investment Group: “I go to many occasions to get to know people who might interest me in festival projects.

Dan Bronstein was one of those with his company Solway.

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He lives in Geneva, his two daughters dance, his wife is a pianist and the whole family is very musical.

We told him in 2015 that we were planning a great project with the conductor Teodor Currentzis.

Then we went to see the fabulous performance of 'Macbeth' together in Zurich and afterwards we were in the conductor's room - Mr. Bronstein was blown away!

A close bond has since developed between Currentzis and the Bronsteins.”

However, the close connection between Currentzis and the Salzburg Festival is currently under scrutiny.

The Russian-Greek conductor and his ensemble MusicAeterna are accused of being supported by a Russian bank that is on the sanctions list.

The Ukrainian ambassador in Austria has spoken out vehemently against the planned Currentzis concerts in Salzburg.

The Wiener Konzerthaus therefore recently canceled a planned benefit concert with Currentzis.

In Salzburg, the conductor has so far been retained.