1997/98

Bregenz Festival headed for new shores. This was visible not only in the giant highway jutting out of Lake Constance, making the scenery for George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess; it was mainly the Werkstattbühne and the entirely new perspectives it opened up that signalled reorientation and departure. With the Werkstattbühne, which also functioned as rehearsal stage, added to the already existing venues Seebühne and Festspielhaus; the total capacity of seats increased to 12,000 in 1998. 1998 saw the world premiere of Georg Friedrich Haas's opera Nacht ("Night") on the Werkstattbühne. With its new youth programme, "cross culture", Bregenz Festival sought to address a young audience and in the following years managed to attract up to 10,000 young visitors annually. In 1998, cross culture received the Austrian State Price for Public Relations.