Music History

Composer, muse, diarist, and the magnetic centre of European modernism. She married Gustav Mahler (who insisted she stop composing), had a passionate affair with Oskar Kokoschka, then married the Bauhaus architect Walter Gropius, then the novelist Franz Werfel. As Mahler's wife she was present at the Salzburg Festival's founding era.

Mozart's first love, and the woman who rejected him. He met her in Mannheim in 1778 and became deeply infatuated. Her younger sister Constanze later became Mozart's wife. Aloysia became a successful soprano at the Vienna court. She died in Salzburg in 1839, three years before Constanze.

The soprano who defined the Salzburg Festival's public face for the first two decades of the 21st century. Her 2002 Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni was the international breakthrough. No singer since Maria Callas has been so completely identified with a single festival house.

Court organist in Salzburg from 1750, colleague of Leopold Mozart and Michael Haydn. He collapsed and died while playing the organ at Salzburg Cathedral during a service on 22 December 1777, at the age of 48. One of the more dramatic exits in music history.

Born in Mattsee, a small Salzburg Flachgau town. Diabelli circulated a waltz theme to 51 composers asking each for one variation. Beethoven responded not with one but with 33, producing the Diabelli Variations (Op. 120), widely considered the greatest variation work in the piano repertoire.

Imperial Kapellmeister in Vienna for 36 years and Mozart's most famous rival. The legend of his poisoning Mozart, dramatised in Peter Shaffer's Amadeus, is almost certainly false. He taught Beethoven, Schubert, and Liszt.

The conductor who made Salzburg the unquestioned summit of the musical world. Toscanini conducted at the Salzburg Festival from 1934 to 1937. He reportedly called Salzburg "the most perfect musical event in the world." When Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938, he refused to return.

One of Mozart's most gifted piano students. Mozart composed two of his greatest concertos specifically for her: Piano Concerto No. 14 (K. 449) and No. 17 (K. 453), both in 1784. K. 453 is among his finest, and Ployer gave its premiere. Her Salzburg origins make her a genuine point of connection.

The man who shaped the Mozarteum and the early Salzburg Festival more durably than almost anyone else. Director of the Mozarteum for over four decades (1917-1959), bridging the Festival's founding generation and the Karajan era.

A devoted disciple of Gustav Mahler and one of the foundational conductors of the Salzburg Festival. Walter gave the world premieres of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde and the Ninth Symphony. Alongside Arturo Toscanini and Furtwangler, he formed the triumvirate that defined the young Festival's artistic identity. Forced to flee after the 1938 Anschluss.

The decisive bridge between Mozart and Wagner. Weber's Der Freischutz (1821) established German national opera. Richard Strauss, co-founder of the Salzburg Festival, grew up within a tradition Weber had fundamentally shaped.

Widely regarded by musicians as the greatest conductor of the latter 20th century. Carlos Kleiber conducted perhaps 96 concerts in his entire career, compared to hundreds per year for his contemporaries. What he did conduct he performed with an incandescence that left audiences stunned.

One of the most celebrated mezzo-sopranos of her generation, and Artistic Director of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival (Pfingstfestspiele) since 2012. One of the few singers whose connection to Salzburg is both personal (as performer) and institutional (as director).

Artistic Director of the Salzburg Easter Festival from 2013, taking over from Seiji Ozawa. One of the foremost interpreters of Wagner, Brahms, and Richard Strauss of his generation. In the conducting lineage of Furtwangler and Bohm.

One of the supreme conductors of the late 20th century. Chief Conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic and then the Berlin Philharmonic, Abbado shaped the sound of the two most important orchestras in the German-speaking world and brought both repeatedly to the Salzburg Festival.

The man who built the Salzburg Festival from a promising young institution into the most prestigious music event in the world. Artistic Director 1926-1934, close friend of Richard Strauss, and co-librettist of Capriccio. Arturo Toscanini then crowned the foundations Krauss had laid.

Wife of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whom she married in Vienna in 1782. After his death, Constanze dedicated decades to preserving his legacy. She returned to Salzburg in later life, where she died in 1842 and is buried in St. Sebastian's Cemetery.

The greatest baritone of the 20th century and the supreme interpreter of the German Lied. Fischer-Dieskau performed at the Salzburg Festival across four decades. His Lieder recitals there, especially Schubert's Winterreise, are among the most celebrated performances in Festival history. The voice of the German-Austrian musical tradition made audible.

One of the supreme sopranos of the 20th century and a defining voice of the Salzburg Festival. She studied with Lotte Lehmann, placing her in direct lineage with Salzburg's interwar golden tradition. Her interpretations of the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier under Herbert von Karajan remain the reference against which all successors are measured.

One of the great Romantic composers. Mendelssohn travelled through Salzburg in 1831 on his celebrated Italian journey, writing to his family in enthusiastic terms about the city and the alpine landscape. He died at only 38, having already transformed German musical life.

The greatest operetta composer of the early 20th century. Lehar spent his summers in Bad Ischl for decades, as part of the same tradition as Emperor Franz Joseph I. His summer villa, the Leharvilla Bad Ischl, is now a museum. He died there in 1948.

The greatest piano virtuoso in history. In 1856, the centenary year of Mozart's birth, Liszt came to Salzburg to participate in the Mozart celebrations, conducting and performing in the city. A lifelong champion of Mozart and a musical grandchild of the Viennese school that formed Mozart's world.

One of the five co-founders of the Salzburg Festival (1920), alongside Hofmannsthal, Reinhardt, Strauss, and Roller. A pupil of Bruckner and long-serving director of the Vienna State Opera, Schalk brought institutional authority and conducting leadership to the fledgling Festival.

The greatest composer of Lieder and one of the supreme masters of the symphony. Born in Vienna in 1797, died there in 1828 at 31.

The schoolteacher and church organist who composed the melody of Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Silent Night) after Joseph Mohr brought him the lyrics on Christmas Eve 1818. One of the most consequential premieres in the history of popular music. Gruber later moved to Hallein, where he died in 1863 and is buried.

The man who finished Mozart's Requiem. When Mozart died in December 1791 leaving the work incomplete, Constanze asked Sussmayr to complete it. Every performance of the Mozart Requiem is partly Sussmayr's work, whether the programme notes say so or not.

Mozart's younger son, born just weeks before his father's death. Had a modest career as a pianist and composer, overshadowed by his father's name. A founding member of the Dommusikverein und Mozarteum, predecessor of the Mozarteum Foundation.

A crucial bridge between Italian baroque and the German-Austrian tradition. Muffat studied in Rome with Corelli and in Paris with Lully, then brought the Italian concerto grosso style to the Salzburg court (1678-1690) under Max Gandolph von Kuenburg. His Armonico Tributo (1682) is a landmark of early baroque chamber music.

One of the supreme conductors of the 20th century. Solti's Ring Cycle recordings with the Vienna Philharmonic remain the standard against which all subsequent recordings are measured. A major presence at the Salzburg Festival.

One of the great late-Romantic composers and supreme conductors of his era. Mahler composed his 2nd and 3rd symphonies at Steinbach am Attersee in the Salzkammergut (1893-1896). The Mahler tradition is deeply embedded in the Salzburg Festival through his influence on conductors from Bruno Walter to Harnoncourt.

The greatest violinist of the 17th century and one of the most important composers of the baroque era. Biber spent almost his entire career at the Salzburg court, rising to Hofkapellmeister in 1684. His Mystery (Rosary) Sonatas are among the most technically and spiritually demanding pieces in the baroque repertoire.

Herbert von Karajan

conductor1908 - 1989

Born in Salzburg, died near Salzburg. Widely regarded as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century. Artistic director of the Salzburg Festival for much of the postwar period. The square in front of the Grosses Festspielhaus bears his name. His legacy dominates the classical music world to this day.

Leopold Mozart's direct professional superior and the central musical figure in Salzburg in the generation immediately before the Mozarts. Court Kapellmeister from 1749, Eberlin contributed over 6,000 works to the Salzburg court repertoire. Almost entirely forgotten today, but the young Wolfgang studied several of his works.

Mozart's most famous private student. From 1786 to 1788, the seven-year-old Hummel lived in the Mozart household in Vienna, studying directly with Mozart as his teacher and guardian. The most direct musical heir of the composer whose name defines Salzburg.

"The Waltz King." Composer of The Blue Danube, the sonic symbol of Austria. Strauss spent his summers in Bad Ischl in the same imperial spa circle as Brahms, Emperor Franz Joseph I, and Empress Elisabeth.

One of the supreme composers of the 19th century. Brahms spent sixteen consecutive summers in Bad Ischl from 1880 onwards, composing his Symphony No. 4, the Clarinet Sonatas, the late piano intermezzi, and the Double Concerto. His close friend Theodor Billroth joined him at Attersee to play chamber music by the lake.

The defining dramatic tenor of his generation. Kaufmann's appearances at the Salzburg Festival include landmark productions that define what the Festival can be at its most ambitious. He is the tenor the Festival returns to when it wants an event rather than a performance.

Joseph Haydn

composer1732 - 1809

One of the greatest composers of the Classical era and elder brother of Michael Haydn. His warm friendship with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is one of the most celebrated artistic bonds of the 18th century. Haydn famously told Leopold Mozart that Wolfgang was "the greatest composer known to me."

The man who wrote the words to Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Silent Night). Born illegitimate at Steingasse 9 in Salzburg's historic right-bank quarter, Mohr brought the poem to Franz Xaver Gruber in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, and the two performed it together for the first time on Christmas Eve 1818.

The finest bel canto tenor of his generation and the face of Mozartwoche in Salzburg. His connection to Mozart's birthplace city is deep and ongoing. In 2007 at La Scala, he became the first singer in 74 years to be granted an encore mid-performance.

One of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, deeply associated with the Salzburg Festival across four decades. Richard Strauss himself chose Bohm to conduct premieres of Daphne and Die schweigsame Frau. He died in Salzburg, the city to which he returned again and again.

One of the most charismatic musicians of the 20th century. Bernstein's 24 December 1989 performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, with Freiheit (Freedom) substituted for Freude (Joy) to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall, is one of the most watched concerts in television history. The Salzburg Festival was a recurring stage throughout his career.

Court musician, Vice Kapellmeister, and the father and first teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Author of the influential Versuch einer grundlichen Violinschule (1756). Lived with his family at Getreidegasse 9 and later at Makartplatz 8. Buried in St. Sebastian's Cemetery.

The single most important figure in the prehistory of the Salzburg Festival. Not to be confused with Lotte Lehmann. From 1901, Lilli Lehmann organised the Salzburg Mozart Week, the annual series that directly laid the groundwork for the permanent Festival that Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Max Reinhardt, and Richard Strauss would formally establish in 1920.

One of the greatest sopranos of the 20th century and one of the most significant personalities in Salzburg Festival history. Richard Strauss wrote several roles with her voice in mind. She fled the Nazi regime in 1938 and founded the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara. She also played a documented role in launching the Trapp Family Singers.

The most famous operatic tenor in history. Pavarotti made opera accessible to hundreds of millions of people. He performed at the Salzburg Festival on multiple occasions, including a debut recital in 1976 and a celebrated 1983 Idomeneo at the Grosses Festspielhaus. One of the Three Tenors, alongside Domingo and Carreras, conducted by Zubin Mehta.

The defining soprano of the 20th century. Despite her famous partnership with Herbert von Karajan, Callas never actually performed at the Salzburg Festival: the Karajan productions sometimes linked to Salzburg, above all their Lucia di Lammermoor, took place elsewhere (a La Scala staging taken to Berlin in 1955 and Vienna in 1956).

Younger brother of Joseph Haydn, Michael Haydn spent most of his career in Salzburg as court musician and organist. A friend and colleague of Leopold and Wolfgang Mozart, he composed over 800 works and is buried in the crypt of St. Peter's Abbey.

Wolfgang's elder sister, herself a child prodigy who toured Europe to enormous acclaim. Her talent was considered equal to Wolfgang's in their early years. Convention curtailed her performing career. She married and moved to St. Gilgen, returned to Salzburg, outlived Wolfgang by nearly 38 years, and is buried at St. Peter's Cemetery.

The conductor who changed how the world plays and hears baroque and classical music. Harnoncourt founded the Concentus Musicus Wien in 1953 and was a defining presence at the Salzburg Festival and Mozartwoche for decades. He died in St. Georgen im Attergau, a few kilometres from the Attersee.

The most versatile of the Three Tenors and one of the greatest singers of the 20th century. Has sung over 150 operatic roles across every major style. Performed at the Salzburg Festival across four decades. His range, intelligence, and longevity across over sixty years are without parallel.

One of the most important conductors of the late 20th and early 21st century. Muti has conducted at the Salzburg Festival across many decades, leading the Vienna Philharmonic in opera and concert programmes that have become part of the Festival's core identity. Known especially for Verdi, Mozart, and Cherubini.

Composer of The Sound of Music (1959) with Oscar Hammerstein II. Rodgers wrote every note of the music that millions of visitors now hum as they walk through Mirabell Gardens, up to Nonnberg Abbey, and across the hills outside the city. Indirectly, one of the greatest contributors to Salzburg's modern identity.

Co-founder of the Salzburg Festival (1920) alongside Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Max Reinhardt. One of the great composers of the late Romantic and early modern era, celebrated for Der Rosenkavalier, Salome, and Elektra. His relationship with the Festival and with Salzburg remained central to his life.

The most influential opera composer in history. Wagner's operas became central to the Salzburg Festival's identity from the postwar era onwards. Herbert von Karajan's legendary Ring cycle productions made Salzburg a Wagner city as much as a Mozart city. Richard Strauss, Festival co-founder, directly built upon the tradition Wagner established.

One of the first Asian conductors to lead major Western orchestras, and a protege of Karajan whose Salzburg connection ran for decades: he made his Salzburg Festival debut in 1966 and returned for some four dozen performances. From 2002 to 2010 he was Music Director of the Vienna State Opera.

One of the supreme conductors of the 20th century, and perhaps the most controversial. Furtwangler's decision to remain in Germany during the Nazi period made him a figure of perpetual moral debate. His post-war Salzburg Festival performances in the early 1950s are among the most legendary in recording history.

One of the most celebrated composers in the history of Western music. Born at Getreidegasse 9 in Salzburg's Altstadt on 27 January 1756. Salzburg's entire cultural identity is shaped around his legacy.

The conductor who brought classical music to genuinely global audiences. Music Director of the Israel Philharmonic for over fifty years and one of the Vienna Philharmonic's most beloved conductors. Conducted the legendary Three Tenors concert in Rome (1990), watched by an estimated 800 million people.