In the summer of 2022, the Salzburg State Theater will receive the most extensive renovation in its almost 130-year history: The balcony structure, the seating and the stage technology, among other things, will be brought up to date for 12.3 to a maximum of 13.6 million euros. The house will not be able to be used from May to October next year, and the Salzburg Festival will have to do without the popular theater this summer.
Image: APA / Salzburg State Theater
“It's not just a face-lift, the theater is being put through its paces,” outlined the State Cultural Officer LHStv on Thursday. Heinrich Schellhorn presenting the project. The renovation would improve the comfort for visitors and the working conditions for artists and employees, added his colleague in the city of Salzburg, Vbgm. Bernhard Auinger.
What is happening in detail? The balcony podium is to be renewed, and the rows of seats will also be realigned, which should enable a better view of the stage, said the commercial director Bernhard Utz. The seating will be renewed in the entire hall, whereby the number of seats will not change. The ventilation will also be brought up to current standards. Wall coverings, stucco work and ceiling frescoes are repaired, the suspension of the large chandelier in the hall is renewed and new lighting is installed in the auditorium. Zopf expects a “brighter overall impression and better seating comfort”.
The upper stage machinery in the stage tower will be replaced: The 30 “manual counter-hoists” will be replaced by 33 electric hoists and the audio and video technology will be modernized. “A lot has happened here,” said Artistic Director Carl Philip von Maldeghem. The stage lighting will also be brought up to date, the halogen technology will be replaced by LED technology.
The work is carried out in coordination with the monument protection, the historical inventory should be with the innovations to a harmonious overall concept with a radiant room, outlined the project manager architect Michael Zopf. His architecture workshop had already been commissioned to build the state theater rehearsal house in the Aigen district. “At that time the budget could be kept, so we have the confidence that it will be the same now,” said Schellhorn.
For the construction period, the theater will move to a replacement venue in May and June 2022, probably in a tent, announced the director. After that there will be the usual summer break, and in September and October there will be more than one production in the festival district. The idea of not starting work until after the summer festival was ultimately rejected because it would then be deep into winter. The festival has already been informed that they will have to look for another venue in the summer of 2022, according to Maldeghem.
