„Heartbroken“
In the cultural sphere, it is groundbreaking to try new things and broaden one’s horizons. In addition to the ‘dance’ category, the Salzburg Easter Festival has opened up another artistic field since 2023: electronic music, this year with ‘Heartbroken’.
This year, the tradition of the Salzburg Easter Festival once again meets innovation. The work ‘Heartbroken’ brings Richard Wagner’s musical creations to life in a whole new way.
Ring der Nibelungen
One of Richard Wagner’s most famous works is the opera cycle ‘Der Ring des Nibelungen’ (The Ring of the Nibelung). For this musical masterpiece, the German composer and writer drew on Norse myths such as the dragon ‘Fafner’ and heroic figures such as Siegfried, Brunnhilde and Hagen. In his opera in four acts, ‘Das Rheingold’, ‘Die Walküre’, ‘Siegfried’ and “Götterdämmerung”, Wagner’s work tells a story of love, guilt and betrayal. The finale is Götterdämmerung, in which everything comes to an end: gods, heroes and the warrior paradise ‘Valhalla’.
Berlin musician Anja Schneider and Berlin photographer Sven Marquardt have taken up this legendary material and used it to create their new work: ‘Heartbroken’. For her reworking of the Nibelungen saga, Schneider envisages an ‘urban, technoid, dubby sound – dark and mysterious’.
“Berlin-based musician Anja Schneider is a fixture in the electronic music scene. As a DJ, producer and label boss, she has been a decisive influence on German and international house and techno culture since the 1990s. Her sound is characterised by great emotional depth, combining elegant melodies and energetic beats – a style that can be found in both her DJ sets and her own tracks” (from Anja Schneider’s biography on the Salzburg Easter Festival 2026 website).
Heartbroken: ‘A bridge between festival tradition and club aesthetics’
Sven Marquardt is responsible for the visual atmosphere. Like his musical colleague, he envisions a dark space for the event, in keeping with the electronic sounds. ‘I find it particularly appealing to build a bridge between festival tradition and club aesthetics,’ says Marquardt.
Sven Marquardt, born in East Berlin, is probably the most famous face of Berlin’s club scene. From the mid-1980s onwards, the author and photographer played a key role in the emergence of the punk, new wave and artist scene in the Prenzlauer Berg district. At the end of the 1990s, he began working as a bouncer at the legendary Berlin club Ostgut. This made him an icon of nightlife” (from Sven Marquardt’s biography on the Osterfestspiele Salzburg 2026 website).
From risk to guidepost
The reorientation of the 2023 Easter Festival is intended to appeal to a new audience. Heartbroken in particular makes it easier for cultural novices to enter the world of the renowned Easter Festival, thanks to affordable ticket prices. Heartbroken is for anyone who wants to experience Wagner’s genius in a new way and immerse themselves in the dark, mysterious world of electronic music.
Sebastian Brandstätter
‘Heartbroken’ 2 April 2026 at 10 p.m. at the Felsenreitschule. Tickets are available here
Priscilla – Queen of the Desert
The film and musical ‘Priscilla – Queen of the Desert’ tell the story of two drag queens, Mitzi and Felicia, and a trans woman, Bernadette, who travel through the Australian outback in an ageing bus called ‘Priscilla’ to put on a show in Alice Springs. The musical will premiere at the Salzburg State Theatre on 6 December 2025, directed by Ramesh Nair. [Read more]
Dance of the Planetary Wanderers
The sky and the planets – the stuff dreams are made of. The Salzburg Easter Festival takes up precisely this dream material in the field of dance. ‘Planet [wanderer]’ aims to entice the audience to surrender to this cosmic material. But what exactly can we expect from the performance, and who is behind this dance journey into space? [Read more]
DomquartierI gladly recommend a visit to the Domquartier in museum …
Der Salzburg Queer Guide 2026 für die LGBT Community ist jetzt erhältlich: 68 Seiten voller Infos und Events zum queeren Salzburg. Hier bestellen und per Post ins Haus kommen lassen. Hier geht‘s zum E-paper.
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