Salzburg
Whitsun Festival
From 22 May to 25 May 2026
Type of stay

Musical journeys

Availability

Inscriptions ouvertes

Price

From €3,915 per person

Set at the crossroads of Europe’s great musical tradition and a Baroque architectural heritage recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Salzburg stands among the most emblematic cities of classical music. Cultural capital of Austria and birthplace of Mozart in 1756, the city has preserved an artistic radiance that permeates its cobbled streets, sun-washed squares and halls renowned for their flawless acoustics. Throughout the year, Salzburg lives to the rhythm of concerts, recitals and operas, yet it is during its great festival seasons that the city reveals the full breadth of its musical vitality, drawing music lovers, artists and connoisseurs from across the world.

 

Founded in 1973 by Herbert von Karajan, the Whitsun Festival (Salzburger Pfingstfestspiele) occupies the Pentecost period with an exceptional programme of operatic and instrumental works, traditionally centred on Baroque and Classical repertoire. Since 2012, it has been under the artistic direction of Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli. The 2026 edition, conceived around the theme Bon Voyage, invites audiences to explore the many historical, mythological and imaginary journeys inspired by music, from nineteenth-century bel canto to Homer’s Odyssey, and through the enchanted seas of legend and fairy tale.

The program
Il Viaggio a Reims, by G. Rossini
Friday 22 May 2026
The Little Mermaid, by J. Neumeier
Saturday 23 May 2026
Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria, by C. Monteverdi
Sunday 24 May 2026
Ciao, Bella Ciao
Sunday 24 May 2026
FRIDAY 22 MAY 2026

6.30 p.m., at the Haus für Mozart:

IL VIAGGIO A REIMS, by G. Rossini

Les Musiciens du Prince – Monaco

Chorus of the Monte-Carlo Opera

Gianluca Capuano Conductor
Barrie Kosky

 

Director

 

Cecilia Bartoli Corinne
Marina Viotti Marchesa Melibea
Mélissa Petit Contessa di Folleville
Tara Erraught Madama Cortese
Edgardo Rocha Cavalier Belfiore
Dmitry Korchak Conte di Libenskof
Ildebrando D’Arcangelo Lord Sidney
Florian Sempey Don Profondo
Misha Kiria Barone di Trombonok
Peter Kellner Don Alvaro
Giovanni Romeo Don Prudenzio
Helena Rasker Maddalena
Rodolphe Briand Zefirino
Rafał Pawnuk

 

Antonio

 

Written for an exceptional occasion—the coronation of Charles X—Il Viaggio a Reims remains one of Rossini’s most singular operas. Less a journey than a thwarted departure, the work transforms prolonged waiting into a pretext for a dazzling gallery of European characters. Within a provincial inn, aristocrats, artists and eccentrics engage in vocal one-upmanship in a score conceived as a bel canto firework display. Barrie Kosky’s production turns enforced immobility into exuberant theatrical play, where excess, humour and collective energy reveal character. Cecilia Bartoli embodies a radiant poetic presence, surrounded by a stellar cast including Marina Viotti, Mélissa Petit, Tara Erraught, Florian Sempey and Ildebrando D’Arcangelo. Under Gianluca Capuano’s precise and elegant direction, Les Musiciens du Prince – Monaco restore the score’s rhythmic vitality and textural clarity, reminding audiences how Rossini made theatre an art of shared joy.
SATURDAY 23 MAY 2026

7.30 p.m., at the Grosses Festspielhaus:

THE LITTLE MERMAID, by J. Neumeier

Vienna Symphony Orchestra

Hamburg Ballet

Simon Hewett Conductor
John Neumeier

 

Choreography and director

 

With The Little Mermaid, John Neumeier offers a profoundly introspective reading of Hans Christian Andersen’s tale. Far removed from naïve illustration, the ballet explores transformation as an existential experience: the sacrifice of self in pursuit of another world. Performed by the Hamburg Ballet, the choreography mirrors the fluidity of water and the harshness of the terrestrial realm, playing with contrasts of weight, texture and line. The Vienna Symphony Orchestra, under Simon Hewett, sustains the journey with unbroken dramatic intensity. Here, the mermaid becomes a figure of passage, exile and the quest for the absolute. A sensitive reflection of the festival’s theme of travel understood as inner transformation rather than physical displacement.
SUNDAY 24 MAY 2026

11 a.m., at the Haus für Mozart:

IL RITORNI D’ULISSE IN PATRIA, by C. Monteverdi

Compagnia Marionettistica Carlo Colla & Figli

Les Musiciens du Prince – Monaco

Gianluca Capuano

 

Conductor

 

Vito Priante Ulisse
Sara Mingardo Penelope
Arianna Vendittelli Minerva
Massimo Altieri Telemachus
Alessandro Ravasio Time / Neptune
Raffaele Giordani Jupiter / Eurycleia
Carlotta Colombo Amore / Melantho
Jiayu Jin Juno
Francesca Cassinaro Fortune
Stefano Gambarino Eumaeus
Jacpo Facchini

 

Pisander

 

With Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, Monteverdi composed not only one of the earliest great operas in history, but also one of its most moving. Ulisse’s epic becomes an intensely human drama of waiting, recognition and the passage of time. This Salzburg production unites the singers with the ancestral art of puppetry from the Compagnia Carlo Colla & Figli, creating a striking dialogue between flesh and symbol. Vito Priante portrays a Ulisse marked by ordeal, while Sara Mingardo lends Penelope an inward nobility of rare intensity. Under Gianluca Capuano, Les Musiciens du Prince – Monaco reveal the expressive modernity of Monteverdi, where every musical inflection mirrors a state of the soul.

 

 

8 p.m., at the Grosses Festspielhaus:

CIAO, BELLA CIAO

Yvan Cassar Conductor
Davide Livermore

 

Director

 

Cecilia Bartoli

 

Mezzo-soprano

 

The culmination of the festival, Ciao, bella ciao unfolds as a musical self-portrait. Cecilia Bartoli retraces the milestones of her artistic journey, not as a fixed retrospective but as a living path shaped by encounters, rediscovered repertoires and enduring loyalties. Conceived as a fully staged spectacle, the gala weaves music, narration and imagery into a sensitive meditation on a life devoted to art. Each aria becomes a stopover, a memory, a promise fulfilled. Offered in the Grosses Festspielhaus, this intimate voyage closes the 2026 Whitsun Festival like a treasured travel journal, leaving the impression of having crossed worlds and returned transformed.
Your choice of accommodation
GOLDENER HIRSCH *****

Located directly opposite the Festival Halls, the Goldener Hirsch, long cherished by music lovers, stands just steps from Mozart’s birthplace. Warm, refined and steeped in history, it embodies the very essence of Salzburg hospitality.

SACHER *****

Set along the banks of the Salzach River, facing the sweeping panorama of the Old Town, the Fortress and the Alps, the Sacher represents Salzburg’s grand hotel tradition, distinguished by impeccable service and timeless elegance.

Price per person
Deluxe double room package at the Goldener Hirsch

€3,915 per person

 

This price includes: accommodation in a double room with breakfast for 3 nights • city tax • category I tickets for the scheduled performances • repatriation assistance.

This price does not include: personal expenses • transportation • airport transfers.

 

Individual stay.

Transportation and airport transfers available upon request.

Deluxe double room single use package at the Goldener Hirsch

€5,745 per person

 

This price includes: accommodation in a double room with breakfast for 3 nights • city tax • category I tickets for the scheduled performances • repatriation assistance.

This price does not include: personal expenses • transportation • airport transfers.

 

Individual stay.

Transportation and airport transfers available upon request.

Deluxe double room river view package at the Sacher

€4,050 per person

 

This price includes: accommodation in a double room with breakfast for 3 nights • city tax • category I tickets for the scheduled performances • repatriation assistance.

This price does not include: personal expenses • transportation • airport transfers.

 

Individual stay.

Transportation and airport transfers available upon request.

Deluxe double room river view single use package at the Sacher

€6,125 per person

 

This price includes: accommodation in a double room with breakfast for 3 nights • city tax • category I tickets for the scheduled performances • repatriation assistance.

This price does not include: personal expenses • transportation • airport transfers.

 

Individual stay.

Transportation and airport transfers available upon request.

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