In the Holy Week Salzburg is transformed into the classical music meeting place for music lovers. The Salzburg Easter Festival, one of the most attractive and best classical music festivals in the world, takesplace from 27. March to 6. April 2026. Here you will find all details about the Easter Festival.
Here you will find all details on the current programme of the Easter Festival:
Richard Wagner: Der Rind der Nibelungen – Das Rheingold
The 2026 Salzburg Easter Festival will be defined by the return of the Berliner Philharmoniker as its founding orchestra and by a programme that seamlessly blends tradition with contemporary vision. The festival opens with Richard Wagner’s Das Rheingold, the first part of a new Ring of the Nibelungen cycle, conducted by Kirill Petrenko and staged by Kirill Serebrennikov. Baritone Christian Gerhaher makes his role debut as Wotan, joined by an internationally cast ensemble of singers. Monumental highlights include Joseph Haydn’s The Creation under Daniel Harding and Gustav Mahler’s Eighth Symphony, conducted by Petrenko for the first time with three choirs. Orchestral and chamber music concerts — including Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, Brahms’ Double Concerto, Bruch’s Violin Concerto with Janine Jansen, and chamber music with members of the Berliner Philharmoniker — complete the programme. The festival also invites amateur musicians from around the world to participate through the Be Phil Orchestra. Dance projects, electronic music, and late-night performances further expand the classical repertoire, making the 2026 Salzburg Easter Festival a dynamic celebration that bridges timeless tradition and bold new artistic impulses.
Orchestral concert: Brahms-Bruch/Berlioz
Conductor Tugan Sokhiev leads the Berlin Philharmonic in two extraordinary concerts. Noah Bendix-Balgley (violin) and Bruno Delepelaire (cello) perform Johannes Brahms’ Double Concerto, while Janine Jansen (violin) takes the stage with Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto. The centerpiece of both evenings is Hector Berlioz’s dramatic Symphonie fantastique. Sokhiev, who has collaborated regularly with the Berlin Philharmonic since 2010, brings his dynamic artistic vision to these performances. Janine Jansen, renowned for her nuanced interpretations and recipient of the Herbert von Karajan Award at the Salzburg Easter Festival, delivers a particularly striking performance of Bruch.
Choral concert I: Haydn
Conductor Daniel Harding leads the Bavarian Radio Chorus and the Berlin Philharmonic, with soloists soprano Hanna-Elisabeth Müller, tenor Andrew Staples, and bass Konstantin Krimmel. The programme features Joseph Haydn’s oratorio The Creation, a monumental work depicting the creation of the world out of chaos. Daniel Harding, Chief Conductor of the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, has maintained an artistic relationship with the Berlin Philharmonic spanning nearly 30 years, beginning with his debut at the age of 21.
Choral concert II: Mahler
In the second choral concert, Kirill Petrenko conducts Gustav Mahler’s monumental Eighth Symphony, also known as the “Symphony of a Thousand,” for the first time with the Berlin Philharmonic. Eight outstanding soloists, three choirs, and a massively expanded orchestra give the work its extraordinary richness of sound and overwhelming impact. With its combination of orchestral power, choral density, and soloistic precision, Mahler’s symphony surpasses anything previously attempted, pushing both musicians and singers to the very limits of their abilities.
Be Phil Sonderkonzert DVOŘÁK/ MOZART
Under the motto “Be yourself – Be music – Be Phil,” the Berlin Philharmonic invites amateur musicians from Austria and neighboring countries to join the Be Phil Orchestra at the 2026 Salzburg Easter Festival and to collaborate in preparing and performing a concert programme together.
Chamber Concerts
A long-standing musical tradition returns to the Easter Festival: a varied chamber music programme featuring members of the Berlin Philharmonic. At its core are musical contrasts and creative debates. The concerts reveal how composers from different eras responded to one another—whether in the tense interplay between Mozart and Salieri, Brahms and Bruckner, or Shostakovich and Schoenberg. Performances take place in both the Great Hall and the Solitär of the Mozarteum, offering an immersive and intimate chamber music experience.
Late night concerts
Another cherished musical tradition returns to the Easter Festival: a diverse chamber music programme featuring members of the Berlin Philharmonic, focused on intriguing contrasts and musical debates. In addition to the regular chamber concerts, the ensembles also present two late-night performances at Szene Salzburg.
Special concert Berliner Philharmoniker
Conductor Tugan Sokhiev and members of the Berlin Philharmonic invite amateur musicians from Austria and neighboring countries to join a unique educational project: the Be Phil Orchestra Salzburg Easter Festival 2026. Under the motto “Be yourself – Be music – Be Phil”, around 100 amateur musicians from Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Germany, Switzerland, and Slovakia will take part. Rehearsals begin in Salzburg on 29 March under Sokhiev’s direction, with the final concert held on 2 April 2026 in the Großes Festspielhaus. The program features Antonín Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for four wind instruments and orchestra, with Berlin Philharmonic members performing the solo parts. The Easter Festival intended continuing the newly founded dance and electro programme in 2025, and was inviting internationally known artists to engage with the topic Wounds and Wonders.
Dance: Plantet [Wanderer] – Austrian premiere
Internationally acclaimed choreographer Damien Jalet brings one of his works to Salzburg for the first time, in collaboration with Japanese visual artist Kohei Nawa. Planet [wanderer] explores the fragile relationship between humans and the Earth, creating a monumental installation of bodies. Inspired by the Greek etymology of planet (planaomai, “to wander”), the work forms a universe where imagination has no limits, blurring the boundaries between dance and visual art to create moving sculptures or sculptural dance. Jalet, the German-Belgian choreographer and dancer, is renowned for monumental works such as Chiroptera (2023), performed on the façade of Paris’ Opéra Garnier with 153 dancers. He has also choreographed for Madonna (tours Madame X and Celebration) and films including Suspiria (Luca Guadagnino), Anima (Paul Thomas Anderson), and Emilia Pérez (Jacques Audiard).
Herbert von Karajan – Salzburg’s great conductor
The Salzburg Easter Festival was above all the product of a single Salzburger: Herbert von Karajan. After studying at the Mozarteum and in Vienna, he conducted the Mozarteum Orchestra for the first time at the age of 20. From this first appearance, it was clear that his path would lead to the very top. From 1960 onwards, Karajan was an integral part of the Salzburg Festival. When, seven years later, with the founding of the Easter Festival, whose leading thereof took over his life, he created a monument not only to himself but also to the music scene in Salzburg.
Electronic – Heartbroken
In 2026, we continue our newly established electronic music series, inviting internationally acclaimed artists to engage creatively with our programme. This year, Anja Schneider presents an electronic interpretation of Wagner’s Ring from a Berlin perspective.
Exceptional quality
Karajan’s explicit wish and expectations was to only have the best on stage. It had been a conscious decision to keep the Easter festival smaller than the Salzburg Festival as this was the only way they could guarantee unique performances from world-class musicians. Karajan was renowned and respected for his perfectionism. He took the opportunity to use “his” Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and his many contacts around the world to get only the best musicians and singers.
Here you will find all details on the current programme of the Easter Festival: www.osterfestspiele-salzburg.at
The artistic directors of the Easter Festival – Austrian premier
The high quality of the Easter Festival continued even after Karajan was no longer there. One of the main reasons were the chief conductors of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, who were also automatically responsible for the artistic direction:
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- Herbert von Karajan: 1967 (founding) until 1989 (Karajan’s death)
- Sir Georg Solti: Solti assumed the artistic direction in 1989 after Karajan died, shortly before the festival, and then worked at the Salzburg Festival. In 1992/93 he took over the artistic direction of the Easter Festival.
- Claudio Abbado: Abbado became the artistic director in 1994 and expanded his first Festival with the series “counterpoints” (“Kontrapunkte”): chamber orchestras with members of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra collaborating with first-class soloists.
- Sir Simon Rattle: The curly-haired Brit took over in 2003. After ten seasons, his time and the time of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra came to an end.
- Christian Thielmann: The Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden came to Salzburg after the change.
- Nikolaus Bachler: Since 2022, he has served as Artistic Director of the Salzburg Easter Festival, overseeing the festival’s artistic direction.
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