A spooky snowy landscape in the middle of summer and the Wolf's Gorge as a musical horror trip: this summer, star director Philipp Stölzl transforms the Bregenzer Festspiele lake stage into a romantic world of the soul for Carl Maria von Weber's opera Der Freischütz. As orchestra in residence, the Wiener Symphoniker will provide the music at the festival in Vorarlberg for the 78th time.

Debut of Petr Popelka

The designated chief conductor of the Wiener Symphoniker, Petr Popelka, makes his Bregenz debut in the last season of outgoing artistic director Elisabeth Sobotka. In addition to works by Robert Schumann and Carl Maria von Weber, he will also perform the Austrian premiere of a composition by Thomas Larcher. In their other symphonic concerts in Bregenz, the Wiener Symphoniker will be conducted by Giedrė Šlekytė (she will be joined by cellist Kian Soltani) and Enrique Mazzola (he will play with clarinettist Sabine Meyer).

The Festspielhaus is once again a place of musical discovery this year: Jan Philipp Gloger, the designated artistic director of the Vienna Volkstheater, will narrate Gioachino Rossini's opera Trancredi here - conducted by Yi-Chen Lin.

Convivial and "very personal"

Bregenz has long since become a second home for the Wiener Symphoniker. The musicians traditionally show how much they feel at home in Vorarlberg on "Wiener Symphoniker's Day", the musical prelude to the festival. Ensembles from the orchestra will perform in many places in the city and celebrate together with the people. The Wiener Symphoniker's chamber concerts in the Seestudio have also become a tradition and will once again be held under the motto "Very personal".