August 2010: DW's culture calendar
July 22, 2010Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival is once again ready to welcome music and drama fans from around the world. The international festival has existed since 1920 and owes part of its fame to conductor Herbert von Karajan, who was with the festival for nearly 30 years. For this year's 90th anniversary, festival director Juergen Flimm is bringing in two major stars: Russian opera diva Anna Netrebko will appear in a restaging of "Romeo and Juliet" and Austrian actress and singer Birgit Minichmayr will appear in Hugo von Hofmannsthal's "Everyman." Hofmannsthal's tragic rendering of a rich man's death traditionally opens the festival each year. Around 180 different performances are scheduled from July 25 - August 31.
Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival
Another major music event celebrates a milestone this year: Schleswig-Holstein's classical music festival marks its 25th anniversary. Throughout August, the festival will be occupying mansions, barns and churches and even factories and airports. August 15 will feature a special treat when festival founder Justus Frantz and his former piano duo partner Christoph Eschenbach perform Mozart piano works for four hands. The festival highlights a different country each year, and this year Poland - where Chopin was born 200 years ago - takes the spotlight. Guests will have the chance to hear the Polish national opera "Halka," composed by Stanislaw Moniuszko in the 19th century, as well as various top-class Polish chamber orchestras and jazz pianists who will appear for the first time on a German stage. The festival began on July 10 and runs through August 29.
Film Festival Locarno
The Film Festival Locarno on Lake Maggiore in Switzerland is a multilingual event, drawing Italian, German and French-speaking film enthusiasts. The festival isn't so much about glamour as about highlighting the milestones of film. German-American actor and director Ernst Lubitsch will be the focus of this year's program. In the 1920s, he moved to Hollywood and later created films like "To Be or Not to Be" (1942) and the musical "The Merry Widow" (1934). From August 4 - 14, Festival goers can even enjoy the location by taking a swim during the day and taking in some films with a cool head in the evening.
Weimar Arts Festival
On August 20, the Weimar Arts Festival will take up the creative spirit - not only in terms of its programming but also in the festival's planning. Richard Wagner's great-granddaughter Nike Wagner founded the event and consciously selected a host city beyond the major arts centers. Since its first year in 2004, the festival has developed into a highlight within the busy summer festival scene. Music dominates Weimar's three weeks of programming, but the festival also sets itself apart by blurring the lines between various artistic genres. This year's motto "Irrlichter" ("Will-o'-the-wisps") stems from a piano piece by Liszt, one of the festival's heroes. Film and literature are also on the program, as is the presentation of the Goethe Medallions on August 28. The award goes to those who have made special contributions to the German language and international cultural exchange. This year, Hungarian philosopher Agnes Heller, translator Fuad Rifka and American exile researcher John M. Spalek will each be honored with medallions.
Architecture Biennale Venice
Once again, the world's star architects and city planners will appear at the Architecture Biennale in Venice from August 29 to November 21. A Munich-based architecture firm designed the German Pavilion for this year's 12th edition of the Biennale. Cordula Rau, Ole W. Fischer and Eberhard Troeger of the firm walVERWANDSCHAFTEN used the concept of "desire" to highlight the "emotional, intimate and sensual" aspects of architecture. In case just being in Venice doesn't awake enough desire among the attendees, they can stop in to the German pavilion to see the exhibition featuring a three-dimensional portrait of contemporary German architecture.
Author: Sabine Oelze (gsw)
Editor: Kate Bowen