Director
25 November 1943, Ghent, Belgium - 8 March 2014, Brussels, Belgium
Gerard Mortier arrived at the Salzburg Festival in 1992 and immediately started dismantling what Karajan had built. Audiences booed. The Salzburg establishment was furious. By the time he left in 2001, the Festival was once again the most discussed event in the operatic world.
Gerard Mortier was born in Ghent and built his reputation at the Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels before taking over the Salzburg Festival artistic directorship in 1992. He arrived with a clear diagnosis: the Festival had become a luxury showcase built around star conductors and safe repertoire, and it had stopped meaning anything artistically.
His remedy was systematic provocation. He invited director Peter Sellars and others whose work challenged operatic convention, programmed contemporary music alongside the classical repertoire, and replaced the conductor-as-celebrity model with a director-led approach that made productions the centre of attention. The Salzburg establishment, accustomed to Karajan’s certainties, was outraged. Conservative subscribers cancelled. There were public protests and institutional pressure to remove him.
Mortier stayed for the full nine years of his contract. During that time the Festival regained international critical relevance, Anna Netrebko had her breakthrough on his stages, and Markus Hinterhauser, who would later become Artistic Director himself, built his career through Mortier’s programming. When Mortier left in 2001 the rupture was real; his successors have been negotiating between his legacy and the pre-Mortier tradition ever since.
On the map
The 3 places on this page, where they actually stand.
Locations
Built 1693
The Felsenreitschule is a theater carved directly into the Moenchsberg cliff face, which means the backstage wall is living rock and three tiers of 17th-century arcades form the auditorium. It was originally built in 1693 as a summer riding school for the Archbishop's horses.
Completed 1960
The Grosses Festspielhaus (Large Festival Hall) opened in 1960 as a major expansion of Salzburg's Festspielhaus complex, carved in large part from the Moenchsberg cliff face to achieve its 2,179-seat auditorium. Architect Clemens Holzmeister cut the main stage directly into the rock, creating one of the widest stages in the world at 100 meters.
Renamed 2006
Formerly the Kleines Festspielhaus, renamed "Haus für Mozart" in 2006 after major renovation. Primarily used for Mozart operas during the Salzburg Festival. Acoustically designed for the scale and intimacy of Mozart's operatic works.
Organizations
One of the world's most prestigious performing arts festivals. Held annually late July to end of August. Founded 1920 by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Max Reinhardt, Richard Strauss, Franz Schalk, and Alfred Roller. Inaugural event: Jedermann on Domplatz. Herbert von Karajan defined the postwar era. Opera, drama, concerts.
