The Russian Friends of the Festival has started to plan its summer program, which will take place from 16 to 21 August this year. Within one week, Russian friends will have a fantastic opportunity to see all the opera premieres of the season, visit a number of the brightest concerts, as well as meet the main characters of Salzburg — artists, musicians, creative forces of the world's main music festival.

• The program will open on August 16 with the main concert of the Salzburg musical summer: the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra led by maestro Riccardo Muti and an almost entirely native cast of soloists (Ildar Abdrazakov, Dmitry Korchak, Alisa Kolosova and Rosa Feola) will perform Missa Solemnis by Ludwig van Beethoven. The 81-year-old maestro has been celebrating the festival "equator" with grandiose concert programs for more than 40 years; 2021 will be no exception.

• The opera part will begin on August 17, when the peerless Cecilia Bartoli will appear on the stage of the House of Mozart in a new production of The Triumph of Time and Disbelief. It will be directed by Robert Carsen, whose previous work with the Italian prima donna (Semele in Zurich) instantly became the benchmark of contemporary baroque directing.

• "Elektra" directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski will continue the festival on August 18. The leading parts will be performed by Lithuanian superstars Ausrine Stundite and Asmik Grigoryan. The “visually daring, psychologically challenging production”, as described in The New York Times, will return to the Rocky Manege stage from last season — then the screenings were a huge success, which is why the festival resumes it with the original line-up.

• Another big hit last summer was Cosi fan tutte, directed by Christophe Loy. The Russian friends will see it on August 19. Like Electra, the immortal Mozart's masterpiece will return in a completely original line-up: Elsa Dreisig, Marianne Crebassa, Lea Desandre and Bogdan Volkov. The conductor is Joana Mallwitz, a music superstar following her debut in Salzburg last year.

• And towards the end of the program, two real "heavies" are waiting for the audience. First, on August 20, the friends of the festival will see the long-awaited Don Giovanni by Romeo Castellucci and Theodore Currentzis in the company of musicAeterna and the Permian diva Nadezhda Pavlova. According to rumors, Don Giovanni will be the last major opera production by the cult Italian director, so the attention of the whole world to this premiere is ensured.

• And on the very next day, August 21, the main blockbuster of the season — Tosca with Anna Netrebko will complete the Russian program in Salzburg. The excitement around this premiere is so great that the festival is forced to announce a waiting list even among its own patrons. For the Russian society, of course, there is a special ticket quota.

The full schedule of "musical holidays" in Salzburg — gala dinners and informal meetings with artists, visits to museums and art galleries of the city, tours behind the scenes of festival theaters and much more — will be published closer to the beginning of the festival. In the meantime, subscribe to our newsletter and we look forward to your applications for participation in the program!