Kleines Festspielhaus


The House for Mozart is a theatre in Austria. It is one of the venues of the Salzburg Festival in the city of Salzburg. Since 1925, it was the first venue for the festival and carries the name House for Mozart since 2006. Mainly, operas and concerts are staged there.

History

By transforming the former stables to a stage for mystery plays, the first venue of the Salzburg Festival was created and in 1925 it was inaugurated with Hugo von Hofmannsthal's play Das Salzburger große Welttheater directed by Max Reinhardt. After the first season it was rebuilt under the direction of Clemens Holzmeister. After the German annexation of Austria, it was rebuilt again by Benno von Arent and after the Second World War a further reconstruction by the Salzburg architects Hans Hofmann and Erich Engels followed.
For the Mozart year 2006, local politicians led by Landeshauptmann Franz Schausberger reached a financial agreement with the Republic of Austria to build the House for Mozart. The architect Wilhelm Holzbauer, a scholar of Clemens Holzmeister, and the Luxembourger François Valentiny reconstructed the Kleines Festspielhaus and created the new House for Mozart. The three entrances were designed by the artist Josef Zenzmaier, the Golden Wall in the foyer was created by the German artist Michael Hammers. At the inauguration, Le nozze di Figaro directed by Nikolaus Harnoncourt was staged.
Today the House for Mozart can host 1,580 people. There are 1,495 seats and 85 stances.

Trivia

The front was used as the luxury hotel Nouveau Rothschild in the action movie Knight and Day with Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise.