Now it is actually done: Salzburg Festival in Corona times is possible. A balance sheet interview with Markus Hinterhäuser.
Salzburg - Slowly, the tension of the artistic director also gives way. Especially when the recorder is turned off. The Salzburg Festival, which ended on Sunday evening, actually made it: 110 dates, a maximum of 1000 listeners in the hall - and that in the middle of the pandemic. The entire cultural world observed the experiment in order to draw their own, hopefully positive, conclusions. An encounter with Markus Hinterhäuser on a terrace above the old town - when it rains, you warm up with tea and espresso.
Do you feel misunderstood in the way the festival is perceived? Because it's not so much about art, but about the fact that something is happening at all?
Hinterhäuser: I've never experienced a summer in Salzburg that was as much about art as this one. We had an audience that was incredibly indulgent and followed everything that was made possible with enormous affection. It was a mixture of joy and gratitude to be able to get back together. The latter in particular is a precious process: You meet at a certain place at a certain time for art. All of this generated passion and solidarity, both of which I felt very strongly.
Also the risk?
Hinterhäuser: It wasn't risk-free, I admit that. But, and I don't even want to pat us on the back, it was extremely important to make this attempt. Not only to celebrate 100 years of the Salzburg Festival, but also as a signal to European culture and politics: something can be possible! We are currently experiencing something that has never been before in this drastic form. Everything that has to do with education, with culture, with “raising the heart”, as Flaubert put it, is not only questioned, it is even made impossible. You can go to restaurants, you can travel, you can go to the office to work - but educational and cultural institutions are closed. This is dangerous. We are currently in danger of losing crucial things.
Couldn't that also be a hibernation situation, after which everything will be the same as before in 2021 or 2022?
Hinterhäuser: That will be going in that direction, especially since there should be drugs and a vaccine in the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, the consequences of the past few months cannot be foreseen. By that I mean the psychological, but also the enormous financial ones. A comparatively large amount of money is currently being invested in coping with the pandemic. That has to come back at some point - via taxes and cuts. The latter will certainly not stop at culture. The danger is that at some point you will rub your eyes and say: “Was there something? We live quite well without opera, concerts and drama. ”And now I'm not talking about the Salzburg Festival, but about a comprehensive, fantastic cultural supply. The small theaters are at least as important as Salzburg. This consensus, which is indispensable for the constitution of a society, can be lost.
Is your planning now for the next festival rounds wasted? Because you have to react even more quickly and flexibly?
Hinterhäuser: I don't know - also because I can't see into a crystal ball. I don't know if we can run a full program with full seats in 2021. We want to announce our plans in December. This year we would normally have offered 240,000 tickets. By the time of the lockdown we had sold well over 180,000, in the end only 80,000 could be sold. However, we are completely dependent on this sale. We're not even a quarter subsidized.
Will you get through another year like this?
Hinterhäuser: Like now and without additional help: no. But we were aware of this situation and did not blindly get into a situation. We were under worldwide observation. And yet we know: we will have to continue to live with this virus. We can't lock everything up. We are happy to talk about art and aesthetics, everything is beautiful. But you also have to know that these are jobs. Around 240 from carpenters to cleaning and cloakroom staff to steel construction and ushers. And this situation exists in every cultural institution. Thousands upon thousands of jobs! When a drugstore chain goes bankrupt, that's the headline. In the cultural sector, however ...
Has the cultural scene made the mistake of putting pressure on politics too late with creativity and concepts?
Hinterhäuser: I know the situation in Germany, but I lack the final insight. I can only talk about Austria. In Salzburg we had given ourselves a schedule of when to make which decision. Whether cancellation, as in the case of the Whitsun Festival, or implementation, as in the case of the summer program. From mid-May the number of infections calmed down, there were easing in supermarkets and in many other industries. There was a lot of pressure on the part of the cultural workers, who said: “If they are allowed to, then we too.” So politicians developed the step-by-step plan with increasing audience numbers. Incidentally, we spent over 400,000 euros on our hygiene concept.
So did you just hit the right window? Would the festival still be possible now?
Hinterhäuser: We actually caught the right moment. If the festival were to take place, hypothetically, from October or November, it would probably be much more difficult.
Specifically about one of the two opera productions: Mozart's “Così fan tutte” was an overwhelming success. A performance that was realized in a very short time and with a visual reduction, the latter even being its strength. Do you take away from the Corona phase that opera productions don't need so much effort or ornament?
Hinterhäuser: You shouldn't make the mistake of drawing systematic conclusions here. The matter is much more complex. This “Così” was actually a very spontaneous project that came about in a conversation between director Christof Loy and me. The only gift Corona gave us was that these wonderful artists were all available. For the first time, I didn't just have to say to the “Così” team: “I'm really sorry, we can't have a premiere party - but there is one for the Dernière.” Christof Loy found the best answer imaginable: “Markus, do it yourself don't worry - the biggest celebration is that we can be here. "
Salzburg without après-art, a completely new experience.
Hinterhäuser: That's how it is. We have done without a lot. There was no bling at all this summer. A serious story in the most beautiful sense of the word. Everyone took part, and the public more and more naturally complied with the protective measures. Everything was internalized. It is not overwhelming to put on a mask or to go without a glass of champagne during a break that does not take place at all.
Would you have wished for more demand? Not all performances were sold out.
Hinterhäuser: We have reversed 180,000 tickets for the time being. An insane process, a logistical masterpiece that our ticket office managed. In this respect there were no excessive expectations. We have been sold extremely well. Usually we have audiences from over 80 countries. It was not even possible to travel from two thirds of these nations. There was also a psychological threshold, and there is a so-called risk group who did not want to travel here. In the course of the festival, sales increased noticeably because there was less shyness. I am completely happy with the result.
Before the festival, you always talked about the “thin ice” on which you move. Did you feel calmer inside during the four weeks?
Hinterhäuser: Again: We took a big risk. The conviction that we can hold the festival in this form has always been there. But it is understandable that one has one or the other mood fluctuation. Of course at some point I counted the days.
Do you now feel like you are at the top of your class because you've shown the cultural world that it works?
Hinterhäuser: No, I was never and never want to be something like that. There are no feelings of triumph. Our decision was very well thought out and supported by a very clever pragmatism. I believe we can be happy in a certain way.
Before the beginning of the festival, the Bavarian Cabinet said with hardly disguised criticism: Well, the Salzburgers are pretty sporty ...
Hinterhäuser: ... but the Bavarian Minister of the Interior came to "Così". And what does sport mean anyway? There was a corona cluster at Lake Wolfgang, okay. But if something similar happens at Chiemsee - do I have to close the Munich Opera? All of this is thought far too schematically. In the past few weeks in particular, the authorities have learned that the infection process has to be dealt with much more regionally. Even in the pandemic, you have to develop the ability to proceed in a more intelligent and differentiated manner. I would like Bayern to be a bit sportier - not just in the Champions League.
The interview was conducted by Markus Thiel.