Van der Bellen Opens 80th Bregenz Festival with Appeal for Liberal Democracy

Van der Bellen compared the functioning of Austria to a performance on an opera stage and emphasized that democracy gives people the „Freiheit, unser Leben selbst zu gestalten“. The most important message of the day was: „Wir müssen nicht alle gleich sein, um zusammenzugehören.“

The Federal President also pointed to Austria's history since 1946: „Ein Land, das gelernt hat – manchmal schmerzhaft, manchmal auch zu spät – dass Freiheit, Frieden und Wohlstand nicht von alleine kommen.“ Liberal democracy has made Austria the home „die wir so lieben“.

Van der Bellen: Democracy as a Daily Task

Culture Minister Andreas Babler (SPÖ) linked the 80th anniversary to the current crises of the present. He recalled the difficult circumstances of the first festival in 1946 and offered this lesson: „Aus zwei Kieskähnen kann die größte Seebühne der Welt werden. Aus Trümmern kann Zukunft entstehen. Dafür brauchen wir Träume und Gestaltungswillen.“ Democracy must be taken seriously as „der radikale Gedanke, dass wir gemeinsam über die Verhältnisse bestimmen können, in denen wir leben“.

From this year's lake stage production of Verdi's „La traviata“, Babler drew the conclusion „wie groß der Schaden ist, wenn gesellschaftliche Regeln stärker werden als Mitgefühl“. From Janáček's opera „Die Ausflüge des Herrn Brouček“ he derived the question: „Warum laufen wir weg, lenken uns ab, anstatt die Dinge einfach zu ändern?“ It takes self-confidence „die Dinge wieder in die Hand zu nehmen“.

Babler Draws a Line from 1946 to the Present

Festival President Hans-Peter Metzler traced the development of the Bregenz Festival in his remarks, characterizing the 80 years as „80 Jahre Mut, künstlerische Neugier, Leidenschaft, Beharrlichkeit und Erinnerungskraft“. He also criticized the fact that the festival's baseline funding has not been adjusted for 15 years and is now, in real terms, lower than ever before. „Wer in Kultur investiert, investiert [...] in die Zukunft des Landes“, said Metzler.

The artistic opening was provided on Wednesday evening by the premiere of Giuseppe Verdi's „La traviata“ on the lake stage. For the 28 performances of the production, 188,000 tickets are on sale and already sold out. In total, 228,000 tickets have been issued for the festival season.

Metzler Calls for Higher Cultural Funding

The opening ceremony was hosted by Lilli Paasikivi, who, as in the previous year, guided the evening as artistic director. In recorded interviews, former intendants Alfred Wopmann, David Pountney, and Elisabeth Sobotka appeared. The ceremony ended with the European Anthem, followed by a traditional reception on the forecourt of the Festspielhaus.

The program includes three premieres: the music theater works „YUM！“ (Wen Liu, Sarah Théry) and „Passion of the Common Man“ (Daniel Bjarnason, Royce Vavrek), the latter a Bregenz Festival commission, as well as the play „under the influence“ (Natalie Baudy). Leoš Janáček's „Die Ausflüge des Herrn Brouček“ is the house opera at the Festspielhaus from Thursday onward.

Program, Premieres, and Upcoming Dates

A „Singalong“ is planned for August 1, at which hobby choirs, ensembles, and festival artists will sing titles from past decades from the audience grandstand of the lake stage. The festival runs until August 23 with around 80 events on and around Lake Constance.

The opening was broadcast live on television. Van der Bellen has used the Bregenz Festival for years as a stage for fundamental speeches on the state of Austria, Europe, and the world; in earlier opening addresses he had, among other things, criticized exclusionary language and called for a „Mindset, das in die Zukunft führt“.

The character of this year's address was described as „stets ein wenig launig, betont gelassen, aber auch vorsichtig optimistisch und mit einem Schuss Humor“.