2011
A cold and wet summer
Although the summer of 2011 was cold and wet, Bregenz Festival still attracted viewers with an unknown opera on the Seebühne and a compositioned piece at the Festspielhaus - a first in the history of the festival.
Critics were impressed and called the realization of Umberto Giordano's revolutionary opera Andrea Chenier on the Seebühne a "miracle of an opera", a great performance" and even a "Hollywood musical theatre" and praised the "brilliant production". Director Keith Warner and stage designer David Fielding took the inspiration for their production from The Death of Marat, the best known painting by the revolutionary painter Jacques-Louis David. It was the first time that a historic painting served as a model for the stage in Bregenz: The stage depicts the radical revolutionary leader Jean PaulMarat, who was stabbed in his bath tub by a supporter of the opposing party.
"Creation"
Apart from the Opera on the Lake, Bregenz Festival stayed true to the motto "creation" and showcased the work of the British composer Judith Weir. One central element was the premiere of Weir's newest piece Miss Fortune at the Festspielhaus and the opera at the Kornmarkttheater Blonde Eckbert, another one of Weir's creations. Another highlight were the highly acclaimed orchestral concerts. The varied programme drew the attention to the creative minds of Byron and Michelangelo, Shakespeare and Goethe.
Guest performances & Kunst aus der Zeit
The Deutsche Theater Berlin and the Schauspielhaus Wien took part in the theatre series. The Schauspielhaus interpretation of Daniel Kelly's Orphans primarily dealt with the betrayal of our core values. In contrast, the Deutsche Theater Berlin presented Gorky's Children of the Sun and Schimmelpfennig's Peggy Pickit sees the Face of God and challenges topics such as ignorance, powerlessness and responsibility.
With "Nothing is new" Kunst aus der Zeit adds to the festival's programme of 2011. On the playbill: The newest work of the French multimedia specialist François Sarhan, Home Work, Richard Siegal's dance performance AS IF Stranger as well as Black Tie, which was the first guest performance in Bregenz of the theatre group Rimini Protokoll.
Cross Culture
Besides the cross culture night and the Fest des Kindes, the cross culture youth programme also invited interested guests to the cross culture week again. The family concert Der magische Klang und Die Schurken showed how we can overcome our biggest fears with the help of music and gain control of our trembling knees by focusing on rhythm.