Results of the Supervisory Board Meeting on December 9, 2008
Artistic Director Jürgen Flimm will not renew his contract after 2011
Artistic Director Prof. Jürgen Flimm announced to the Supervisory Board that he will not renew his contract after 2011. Therefore, the Supervisory Board resolved to appoint a search committee beginning in mid-January 2009.
Thomas Oberender, Director of Drama, will leave the Salzburg Festival in September 2009.
Balance sheet for 2007–2008 / Excellent year for the Salzburg Festival
The current Chairman of the Supervisory Board, LHStv. Dr. Wilfried Haslauer, described the 2007–2008 season of the Salzburg Festival as an economically and artistically outstanding year.
It should be mentioned that operas such as Roméo et Juliette, Don Giovanni and Rusalka, cast with renowned singers and young Salzburg discoveries were overbooked, just like the performances of Crime and Punishment after Dostoyevsky at the Landestheater, The Robbers after Schiller at the Perner-Insel Hallein in the drama division, and in the concert sector the series focusing on classical modernism and contemporary music, such as the Béla Bartók series, Schubert Scenes and Continent Sciarrino – all these proved to be highly attractive to open-minded Festival audiences.
The motto For love is strong as death drew 253,850 guests to Salzburg in 37 days, amounting to a total rate of 93% of seats sold. Between July 26 and August 31, ticket revenues amounted to € 25,215,000 – a unique sum worldwide, compared to similar institutions. This was the highest amount of ticket revenues ever achieved in the Festival’s history, except for the Mozart Year 2006. The directorate’s activities were approved and gratitude expressed for its smooth running of the institution.
Renewal of the Salzburg Festival’s collaboration with the Salzburg Easter Festival
Easter Festival is planning a production of the opera Carmen. Jürgen Flimm and Sir Simon Rattle have agreed that this production will be incorporated into the Festival’s program as well. This will be the first time since Così fan tutte in 2004 that the collaboration between both Festivals, which seems logical both in artistic and economic terms, will be possible again. Simon Rattle will also conduct an opera during the summer in Salzburg for the first time since Les Boréades in 1999. The Supervisory Board explicitly approved this collaboration agreement.
Gratitude for Subsidies
For the first time, the Festival’s public subsidies will be valorized at 3% – the Festival’s subsidies have remained constant since 1997. The Festival expressed its gratitude for the increase. The total amount of subsidies for the financial year 2008–2009 is € 13,386,000 – thus, the Festival raises 76.6% of its income itself. This makes the Salzburg Festival one of the most cost-efficient cultural institutions in the world.