It's going to be magical! Mozart Week 2026 with The Magic Flute
Anniversary year 2026: The Mozarteum Foundation celebrates the 270th birthday of Wolfgang Amadé Mozart and 70 years of Mozart Week with a new production of the most popular opera of all time
2026 is a Mozart year with two major anniversaries: Wolfgang Amadé Mozart's 270th birthday and the world's most important Mozart festival, the Salzburg Mozart Week, celebrates its 70th anniversary. The International Mozarteum Foundation is celebrating these special occasions with a new production of Mozart's opera The Magic Flute. Artistic Director Rolando Villazón directs, Roberto González-Monjas conducts the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg. Following the great success of this year's production of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, the Mozarteum Foundation is now offering visitors to the Mozart Week a new staged production for the second year in a row.
The three divisions of the Mozarteum Foundation, the artistic division, the museums and the scientific division, are jointly responsible for this large-scale project: the scientific director of the Mozarteum Foundation Ulrich Leisinger is in charge of the dramaturgy of the new production, the director of the Mozart Museums Linus Klumpner is advising the production and developing various special exhibitions in the two museums for the anniversary year. The Mozarteum Foundation's unparalleled expertise is thus particularly present and accessible to the public in the anniversary year as never before. "Nobody is as close to the genius of Wolfgang Amadé Mozart today as the Mozarteum Foundation. Our three pillars and our joint commitment to Mozart are a unique strength, our 'superpower'. We want to celebrate these two wonderful anniversaries together at Mozart Week 26, and what could be better suited for this than The Magic Flute! We will be staging Mozart's most popular opera as a tribute to our beloved Wolfgang Amadé," announces Rolando Villazón, Artistic Director of Mozart Week. "Only the Mozarteum Foundation here in Salzburg can offer such a holistic, well-founded approach to Mozart's great masterpiece today."
Ulrich Leisinger adds: "For us in the academic field, the active dramaturgical involvement in this new production of The Magic Flute is a wonderful new challenge. Rolando Villazón and I are in close contact about the historically documented sources on which the directorial concept is based. The concept of this production is full of magic and yet historically informed in the best sense of the word."
Linus Klumpner is preparing a variety of special exhibitions in the two Mozart museums: "The stage design and costumes for this new production are set in the incomparable world of colors of Mark Rothko, a great admirer of Mozart and his Magic Flute. It goes without saying that we in the museum sector are particularly motivated to advise the production team and offer our audience unique moments in the museums throughout the anniversary year 2026."
Roberto González-Monjas, Chief Conductor of the Mozarteum Orchestra, leads a dynamic ensemble of singers with some of the leading interpreters of their roles of our time: Kathryn Lewek is a globally acclaimed Queen of the Night, Franz-Josef Selig a legendary Sarastro. The young soprano Emily Pogorelc has already thrilled audiences as Pamina at the Metropolitan Opera New York and the Bavarian State Opera, among others, while the young tenor Magnus Dietrich also sings Tamino at the Berlin State Opera and the Semperoper Dresden. The director of this year's opera production, the multi-talented Nikolaus Habjan, takes on the role of Mozart, the protagonist of the side stage in the new production.
"It is an incredible pleasure for me to be able to conduct my first staged production of The Magic Flute in precisely this constellation," says Roberto González-Monjas, adding: "The wonderful Mozarteum Orchestra, a strong, select ensemble, in combination with Rolando Villazón's fantastic vision, supported by the in-depth knowledge of the Mozarteum Foundation, create incredible conditions for an exciting production. Rolando
and I look forward with great anticipation and enthusiasm to rediscovering this timeless masterpiece together."
"Our anniversary year 2026 offers the perfect opportunity to interpret Mozart's Magic Flute in a new and contemporary way here in Salzburg. Admittedly, a challenge that the Mozarteum Foundation is delighted to take on: staged and inspired by Mozart's best friend, Rolando Villazón, with the wonderful Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg under its charismatic conductor, Roberto González-Monjas, with all the great international artists, a true celebration for us all," adds Johannes Honsig-Erlenburg, President of the Mozarteum Foundation."
First performed on September 30, 1791, The Magic Flute 2026 looks back on an incredible 235-year success story; since 1791, there has not been a year in which The Magic Flute has not been performed. The popular singspiel is one of the most performed operas in the world every year.