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 return 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, Arturo Toscanini presented one new production of an opera suitable to the Salzburg atmosphere. He insisted on major funding and the best available singers. In 1935 he presented Giuseppe Verdi's last opera, Falstaff, performed for the first time at the Salzburg Festival. His choice of Wagner's 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.Stephen Gallup: Die Geschichte der Salzburger Festspiele, Vienna: Orac 1989, , p. 124–154 (Chapter: Der glorreiche Toscanini).
Meanwhile, Bruno Walter, who was the only conductor fully accepted by Toscanini, concentrated on majors works by Mozart, presented a highly acclaimed production of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, and expanded the Salzburg repertory by adding rarely performed operas like Wolf's Der Corregidor and Weber's Euryanthe. He, too, insisted on conducting Wagner in Salzburg – Tristan und Isolde with a splendid cast led by Anny Konetzni and Josef Kalenberg.Robert Kriechbaumer: Zwischen Österreich und Großdeutschland. Eine politische Geschichte der Salzburger Festspiele 1933–1944. Vienna: Böhlau 2013, , Herein esp. p. 77–79, 125–136, 142–144, 257–262.
1935 Orchestra and ChoirConductorDirectorSettings and CostumesFemale RolesMale Roles Die Entführung aus dem Serail by Johann Gottlieb Stephanie and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, August 12, 21 and 29 Vienna PhilharmonicChoir of Vienna State OperaBruno WalterHerbert GrafOscar Strnad SettingsMargherita Perras KonstanzeMargit Bokor/Lotte Schöne BlondchenAlfred Muzzarelli Bassa SelimCharles Kullmann BelmonteWilliam Wernigk PedrilloBerthold Sterneck/Ludwig Hofmann Osmin Falstaff by Arrigo Boito and Giuseppe Verdi, July 29 and August 3, 17 and 26Vienna PhilharmonicChoir of Vienna State OperaArturo ToscaniniGuido SalviniRobert Kautsky, Ladislaus CzettelMargarete Wallmann ChoreographyMaria Caniglia/Dusolina Giannini Mrs. Alice FordEdith Mason NannettaAngelica Cravcenco Mrs. QuicklyMita Vasari Mrs. Meg PageMariano Stabile Sir John FalstaffPiero BiasiniFordDino Borgioli FentonAngelo Badà Dr. CajusGiuseppe Nessi BardòlfoFernando Autori Pistòla
1936 Orfeo ed Euridice by Ranieri de' Calzabigi and Christoph Willibald Gluck, August 1 and 17Vienna PhilharmonicChoir of Vienna State OperaBruno WalterMargarete WallmannRobert Kautsky, Ladislaus CzettelKerstin Thorborg OrfeoJarmila Novotna EuridiceMargit Bokor AmorDora Komar Seliger Geist Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg by Richard Wagner, August 8, 14, 18 and 22Vienna PhilharmonicChoir of Vienna State OperaArturo ToscaniniHerbert GrafRobert Kautsky, Willi BahnerLotte Lehmann EvaKerstin Thorborg MagdalenaHans Hermann Nissen Hans SachsHerbert Alsen Veit PognerGeorg Maikl Kunz VogelsangRolf Telasko Konrad NachtigallHermann Wiedemann Sixtus BeckmesserViktor Madin Fritz KothnerAnton Dermota Balthasar ZornEduard Fritsch Ulrich EißlingerHermann Gallos Augustin MoserAlfred Muzzarelli Hermann OrtelCarl Bissuti Hans Schwarz/Ein NachtwächterKarl Ettl Hans FoltzCharles Kullmann Walther von StolzingRichard Sallaba DavidWolf 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 21Vienna PhilharmonicChoir of Vienna State OperaBruno WalterLothar WallersteinRobert Kautsky, Ladislaus CzettelKerstin Thorborg Donna MercedesJarmila Novotna Frasquita, Gattin des MüllersPolly Batic Duenna, im Dienste des CorregidorsBella Paalen Manuela, Magd bei Juan LopezGunnar Graarud Don Eugenio de Zuniga, CorregidorCarl Bissuti Juan Lopez, AlkaldeWilliam Wernigk Pedro, dessen SekretärNicola Zec Tonuelo, GerichtsboteLudwig Hofmann Repela, Diener des CorregidorsAlfred Jerger Tio Lukas, MüllerHermann Gallos Ein NachbarAlfred Muzzarelli Ein Nachtwächter
1937 Die Zauberflöte by Emanuel Schikaneder and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, July 30, August 7, 16 and 31Vienna PhilharmonicChoir of Vienna State OperaArturo ToscaniniHerbert GrafHans Wildermann SettingsJúlia Osváth Königin der NachtJarmila Novotna PaminaHilde Konetzni Erste DameStefania Fratnik Zweite DameKerstin Thorborg Dritte DameDora Komarek PapagenaAlexander Kipnis SarastroHelge Roswaenge TaminoWilli Domgraf-Fassbaender PapagenoAlfred Jerger SprecherRichard Sallaba PriesterWilliam Wernigk MonostatosAnton Dermota, Carl Bissuti Zwei GeharnischteKurt Pech, Albert Feuhl, Fritz Mascha Drei KnabenHugo Lindinger, Harry Horner, Eduard Fritsch Drei Sklaven Le nozze di Figaro by Lorenzo Da Ponte and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, August 11, 19 and 30Vienna PhilharmonicChoir of Vienna State OperaBruno WalterLothar WallersteinAlfred RollerMargarete Wallmann ChoreographyAulikki Rautawaara Contessa d'AlmavivaEsther Réthy SusannaAngelica Cravcenco MarcellinaJarmila Novotna CherubinoDora Komarek BarbarinaMaria Kastl, Grete Zehetmayer BrautjungfernMariano Stabile Conte d'AlmavivaEzio Pinza FigaroWilliam Wernigk BasilioVirgilio Lazzari BartoloViktor Madin AntonioGiuseppe Nessi Don Curzio Euryanthe by Helmina von Chézy and Carl Maria von Weber, August 18 and 25Vienna PhilharmonicChoir of Vienna State OperaBruno WalterLothar WallersteinClemens Holzmeister, Marielouise LukschMargarete Wallmann, Willy Fränzl ChoreographyMaria Reining Euryanthe von SvoyenKerstin Thorborg Eglantine von PuisetDora Komarek BerthaHerbert Alsen König Ludwig VIKarl Friedrich Adolar, Graf von NeversAlexander Svéd Lysiart, Graf von ForestEduard Fritsch Rudolf, ein Lehensmann
Repertory In addition to the new productions, the following works from the repertory were performed at the Salzburg Festival.
1935 Così fan tutte, cond. Felix von Weingartner, August 5 and 19 Don Giovanni, cond. Bruno Walter, August 1, 8, 15, 23 and 28 Fidelio, cond. Arturo Toscanini, August 7, 14, 24 and 31 Le nozze di Figaro, cond. Felix von Weingartner, August 13 and 30 Der Rosenkavalier, cond. Josef Krips, July 30, August 9 und 27 Tristan und Isolde, cond. Bruno Walter, July 27
1936 Così fan tutte, cond. Felix von Weingartner, July 29 and August 25 Don Giovanni, cond. Bruno Walter, July 28, August 4, 13 and 24 Falstaff, cond. Arturo Toscanini, July 31, August 10, 20 and 26 Fidelio, cond. Arturo Toscanini, July 25, August 5, 16 and 31 Le nozze di Figaro, cond. Felix von Weingartner, July 27 and August 29 Tristan und Isolde, cond. Bruno Walter, August 27
1937 Don Giovanni, cond. Bruno Walter, August 2, 13 and 28 Elektra, cond. Hans Knappertsbusch, August 8 and 22 Falstaff, cond. Arturo Toscanini, July 26, August 9 and 23 Fidelio, cond. Arturo Toscanini, August 24 and 26 Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, cond. Arturo Toscanini, August 5, 12 and 20 Orfeo ed Euridice, cond. Bruno Walter, July 31 and August 14 Der Rosenkavalier, cond. Hans Knappertsbusch, July 27, August 6 and 24
Salzburg Festival: history and repertoire, 1922–1926 Salzburg Festival: history and repertoire, 1922–1926
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