Il Festival di Pasqua di Salisburgo celebra il suo primo mezzo secolo con l’opera che lo inaugurò ai tempi di Karajan. Affidata alla Nemirova la ricreazione del vecchio allestimento, Thielemann e la Staatskapelle di Dresda danno luogo al capolavoro di esegesi musicale, grazie anche alla speciale intesa con Harteros e Kowaljow.

Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball) is an 1859 opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The text, by Antonio Somma, was based on Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel Auber's 1833 five act opera, Gustave III, ou Le bal masqué. The plot concerns the assassination in 1792 of King Gustav III of Sweden who was shot, as the result of a political conspiracy, while attending a masked ball, dying of his wounds thirteen days later.

At Salzburg Festival, Cecilia Bartoli shines as Ariodante with her dazzling coloratura in a highly acclaimed new production by the German director Christoph Loy, who is known for his clever psychological stagings. Loy turns Handel's splendid baroque opera into an exciting and differentiated reflection on gender roles.