The Salzburg Easter Festival is a major cultural event and an integral part of the cultural life of the city of Mozart. Founded by Herbert von Karajan in 1967, the festival attracts people from the surrounding area and from all over the world.

What tradition the Easter Festival is and how, almost 60 years after its foundation, something new is still finding its way into this Salzburg crown jewel, gaysalzburg.at editor Sebastian Brandstätter talked to Christoph Koch, press officer of the Salzburg Easter Festival.

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gaysalzburg.at: The Easter Festival attracts people from near and far, but also from all over the world. What makes the Easter Festival such an internationally significant event?

Christoph Koch: What is special about the Easter Festival is its family character. Despite its internationality, we preserve the community tradition of its founding in the 1960s. Naturally, opera and concerts at the highest artistic level are at the centre of the festival. But since Nikolaus Bachler took over as artistic director in 2023, the festival has also opened up to contemporary dance and electronic music. The combination of tradition and innovation, as well as internationality and a family atmosphere, is what makes the Easter Festival special.

gaysalzburg.at: This year’s motto of the Easter Festival is ‘Wounds and Wonders’. How did this motto come about and where can it be found in the programme?

Christoph Koch: The motto is always a collaboration between the artists and the artistic director. ‘Wounds and wonders’ can be found in all the plays we perform. The theme of wounds in particular runs through the opera ‘CHOWANSCHTSCHINA’ by Modest Mussorgski, which actually tells of a political episode in 17th-century Russia – but many parallels can be drawn between the play and the situation in Russia today. Where the miracle, for example, finds its focus is in the choir concert II, the great oratorio ‘Elijah’ by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. The concert tells the story of the biblical prophet Elijah, which is full of miracles.

gaysalzburg.at: Since 2023, the Easter Festival programme has also included dance and electronic music. How did that come about?

Christoph Koch: The basic idea was, of course, to make the festival accessible to as many interested people as possible – especially to younger people, perhaps offering new concepts. It was very nice to see that in recent years, with the new dance and electronic sections, a completely different audience has come into contact with the Easter Festival. Of course, as a communicator for the Easter Festival, it is my dream that one day these people will also go to a concert or an opera performance and thus expand the family community even further.

gaysalzburg.at: With regard to dance, the French dancer and choreographer Angelin Preljocaj plays a central role at this year’s Easter Festival. What is his significance for the dance scene and for this year’s festival?

Christoph Koch: We are always looking for people who bring their own exciting dance language with them. Added to that is a fantastic dance company that fully engages with the choreographer. The Easter Festival deals with the themes of ‘death’ and ‘resurrection’ at this time of year.

Angelin Preljocaj’s latest choreography, ‘Requiem(s)’, is about death and all the feelings that the death of a loved one can trigger. In interviews, Preljocaj always says so beautifully that he sees the piece as a celebration of life. According to him, a positive world can arise from the great pain of loss.

gaysalzburg.at: DJ Cambis Sharegh plays a central role in the electronic section this year. Unfortunately, he passed away suddenly in November. His music is still included in the programme for the Easter Festival. What are your thoughts on this?

Christoph Koch: Cambis was our absolute dream candidate for the electronic music. I know him from my time in Munich. He is an electronic artist who thinks very conceptually and really throws himself into a project like this. I was sure that the motto ‘Wounds and Wonders’ would immediately trigger something in him. His background in Iran, from which he fled at a very young age – personal dramas are often associated with such a topic. He was hooked. He got artists like the Persian singer Sogoli Livani on board for the evening and worked diligently on the music. You could tell that it had become a very personal project of his. His sudden death, of course, affected us all deeply.

I am pleased that we now also have ‘Milk & Sugar’ on the team, who were very good friends with Cambis. Together in memory of Cambis Sharegh, we will finish ‘Wounds & Wonders’.

gaysalzburg.at: To finish with, a more personal question for you. For those who have never been to the festival, what would you recommend from your personal experience that everyone should see?

Christoph Koch: The opera ‘CHOWANSCHTSCHINA’, even if it sounds difficult at first. But it’s worth getting into it. It’s a beautiful, sometimes bittersweet music, often you can even hear Wagnerian sound floods. It is fantastically cast by the singers. Even if you don’t know much about opera, it is absolutely worth it to enter this world.

What’s more, it is being staged by Simon McBurney. He is a really big Hollywood actor who has appeared in many films, such as the new Nosferatu, Mission: Impossible and Harry Potter. He does very little theatre work, and the Easter Festival is showing one of his rare directorial efforts. This opportunity only comes around every few years, so it’s worth it.

gaysalzburg.at: Christoph Koch, thank you very much for the interview.

Salzburg Easter Festival 2025 12–21 April 2025. Click here for this year’s programme.