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Wounds and Wonders - our Programme 2025

We live in wounded times. We barely stop to wonder how and why we keep inflicting wounds on ourselves. And it seems as if no amount of time can heal these wounds that are thus self-inflicted. Is there no way out? But why do we want these wounds? Why do we endure them? Why do we inflict them? Should we not rather cultivate hope for some redemptive miracle to lead us from wound to wonder? There can be no miracle without us, and we should acknowledge this fact, just as we must acknowledge the wound that such a miracle can heal – above and beyond any and all Christian iconography. Ultimately, we also have a gift that allows us to experience this miracle as otherwise only love can, namely music. Because music is both the wound, the miracle and the redemption. With this in mind, we have drawn up an unprecedentedly diverse programme for the 2025 Easter Festival, when we shall be welcoming artists from all over the world with no less than three orchestras and four conductors – one woman and three men. At the heart of the programme will be Modest Mussorgsky’s »Khovanshchina«, his »folk drama« of the late 19th century that reveals an unsettlingly topical image of Russian politics and society, characterised by violence, power struggles and class struggles. The Finnish conductor and composer Esa-Pekka Salonen will conduct this monumental work along with what is perhaps the most moving symphony in the whole repertoire – Mahler’s Second, the »Resurrection Symphony«. Salonen will be bringing the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra with him on its first-ever visit to Salzburg – an ensemble of astonishing precision and transparency. And they will naturally also be playing music by their national composer, Jean Sibelius. The young Russian conductor Maxim Emelyanychev will also be on the trail of miracles when he conducts the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s oratorio »Elijah«. I should like to offer you a warm invitation to study the Easter Festival programme on this page, where there is much still to discover, such as an evening with the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra and the soprano Sondra Radvanovsky. I look forward to welcoming you to the Easter Festival again in 2025.
NIKOLAUS BACHLER, Intendant and Artistic Director of the Salzburg Easter Festival
Browse through our 2025 Programme

Khovanshchina
Modest P. Mussorgsky

Modest Mussorgsky's fascinating folk drama will be staged by director Simon McBurney, who has been acclaimed by audiences and the press alike. The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, who will present a version of the unfinished work based solely on the testimonies left behind by Mussorgsky.

Orchestral Concert I
Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jean Sibelius

The first Orchestral Concert under the direction of Esa-Pekka Salonen features Jean Sibelius, the Finnish national composer par excellence, with his 2nd Symphony. The conductor combines this with his Cello Concerto. The young Finnish cellist Senja Rummukainen will play the solo part at the Easter Festival.

Choral Concert I
Gustav Mahler

For the first Choral Concert, Esa-Pekka Salonen has programmed Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2, the so-called »Resurrection Symphony«: »It is a work like no other, Mahler gives us the key to the reason why we are on this planet.«

Choral Concert II
FELIX MENDELSSOHN BARTHOLDY

One of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's most famous pieces - the oratorio »Elijah« - is on the programme of the second Choral Concert. Maxim Emelyanychev, one of the most exciting conductors of the younger generation, will be on the podium, while the title role will be sung by Andrè Schuen.

Orchestral Concert II
Opera Gala
PYOTR I.
TCHAIKOVSKY, ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK, UMBERTO GIORDANO, GIUSEPPE VERDI

The young Norwegian conductor Tabita Berglund makes her Salzburg debut conducting the second Orchestral Concert and, together with the musicians of the local Mozarteum Orchestra, organises an evening of arias and duets from operas such as »Macbeth«, »Andrea Chénier« and »Rusalka«. The singers are Sondra Radvanovsky, SeokJong Baek and Simon Keenlyside.

Orchestral Concert III
EDVARD GRIEG,
PYOTR I. TCHAIKOVSKY,
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH

In the first of two concert programmes by the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Gianandrea Noseda conducts Grieg's famous »Peer Gynt« suite. Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D major op. 35 with soloist Augustin Hadelich is next on the programme, before the evening ends with Shostakovich's 9th Symphony.

Late Night Tango

Finnish soprano Helena Juntunen will conjure up the melancholy depths of Finnish tango compositions in a night concert with musicians from the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

»Requiem(s)« - Dance
Angelin Preljocaj

French-Albanian choreographer Angelin Preljocaj brings his company to Salzburg for the first time and presents »Requiem(s)«, his latest creation for 19 dancers centred on the emotions felt after the death of a loved one.

»Wounds & Wonders« - Electro
DJ ALMA DJ CAMBIS

DJ Alma and DJ Cambis create a night of electro & Mussorgsky, techno & soprano and Wounds & Wonders, supported by the vocals of Persian singer Sogoli Livani.

Introductory Lecture »Khovanshchina«

»Stuck In Here«

With the 2025 programme, we are presenting the art project »Stuck In Here«: It is a series of images and testimonies dedicated to giving a voice to civilians, especially the youth, who are stuck in a situation of conflict. It is a way to give young people the opportunity to tell their story through the photographs they take of their daily lives and to exist beyond the borders. The project, which is currently focusing on Ukraine, was created first on Instagram by the artist Orianne Ciantar Olive and then exhibited in art centres including the Centre Pompidou in Paris. She has also collaborated with Revers éditions to publish a book and initiate a process of image archiving. This will ensure a wider distribution of these stories, and above all, will make sure that they won’t be forgotten.

Instagram: @_stuck_in_here

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