The central attraction of the upcoming Salzburg Easter Festival, between 31 March and 9 April 2012, is one of the best-loved and most frequently performed of all operas: Georges Bizet’s Carmen. Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker will be presenting the work in Fritz Oeser’s reconstruction of the original version. In the title role of the indomitable femme fatale: mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená; as the hopelessly smitten Don José: tenor Jonas Kaufmann.The other principal roles are being taken by Genia Kühmeier (Micaëla) and Kostas Smoriginas (Escamillo). The chorus is from the Vienna State Opera, and the staging is by the British director, choreographer and dancer Aletta Collins.
The opera performances, as is traditional, frame three concert programmes. In the first, the Berliner Philharmoniker under the baton of Zubin Mehta will play Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8. In the second, Murray Perahia will be the soloist in the Schumann Piano Concerto, with the orchestra under Simon Rattle also performing Luciano Berio’s O King and the Fauré Requiem, with Rundfunkchor Berlin and soprano Kate Royal and baritone Christian Gerhaher as the vocal soloists. The third programme, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, also contains a piano concerto – Beethoven’s No. 2 in B flat with Emanuel Ax as soloist – as well as a performance of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter and tenor Jonas Kaufmann.
Of course the festival will once again feature the series “Kontrapunkte”, in which ensembles and members of the Berliner Philharmoniker can be heard performing chamber works. This year the artists will be devoting themselves to French music.
Tickets for the opera performances and concerts of the Berliner Philharmoniker at the 2012 festival are available from the Salzburg Easter Festival box office.
