Around the Music Festival

The Berlin Philharmonic is returning as the resident orchestra of the Salzburg Easter Festival. The orchestra has been the resident orchestra of the Easter Festival in Baden-Baden since 2013, a major change of course. The orchestra will continue to make regular guest appearances in Baden-Baden.

According to the announcement, he will return in 2026. Salzburg’s Easter Festival was founded in 1967 by Herbert von Karajan, a star conductor and the orchestra’s music director. It has been known as a venue for the Berlin Philharmonic to engage in an annual opera performance.

However, the Berlin Philharmonic has made a major change to perform in Baden-Baden during the Easter season since 2013. In response, Salzburg has established a new style by inviting the Staatskapelle Dresden (= Saxony State Opera Orchestra) led by Christian Thielemann as its new orchestra in residence since 2013.

However, Nikolaus Bachler, who was appointed artistic director of the festival in 2020, announced that there will be no orchestra in residence from the 2023 festival, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and its principal conductor, Andris Nelsons, have been invited for 2023.

Bachler was the general director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich from 2008/2009 season to 2020/2021 season. He is a close friend of Kirill Petrenko, who was the music director at the time in Munich. In making this decision, he said, “We are very pleased to be able to reunite the founding orchestra with this special music festival.

Meanwhile, the Baden-Baden side stated, “We are very grateful to the Berlin Philharmonic for building up the Baden-Baden Easter Festival with us and combining it with new opera works and many concerts 12 times before 2025,” and that regular guest appearances will continue in the future.

Photo：Bayerische Staatsoper　/　Wilfried Hösl