Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Die Soldaten

Bernd Alois Zimmermann s opera Die Soldaten (The Soldiers) was praised as the highlight of the Salzburg Festival 2012. In Salzburg s Felsenreitschule, the Wiener Philharmoniker performed the opera under Ingo Metzmacher together with a topflight cast of singers. A massive ensemble of 170 musicians and 50 soloists on stage contribute to make this highly complex composition a direct and physically palpable experience for the audience. The sheer force of the music and its performance are reflected in the Latvianborn director Alvis Hermanis s staging: setting the scene on a 40metrewide stage and taking advantage of the room s full height, he portrays the individual episodes and stages of the plot in the simultaneity required by Zimmermann and condenses it into an exciting drama. Recorded at Salzburg Festival August 2012