Bregenz Festival 2025: Paasikivi brings Scandinavian art into the spotlight!

Bregenz Festival 2025: Paasikivi brings Scandinavian art into the spotlight!

The Bregenz Festival, under the direction of Finland’s Johanna Paasikivi, are preparing for an exciting season. Paasikivi, a passionate supporter of the Eurovision Song Contest, particularly appreciates the Austrian contribution and is now continuing her artistic engagement in the Vorarlberg. By 2023 she had headed the Finische Nationaloper and will further promote the cultural diversity of the region through top -class productions. Paasikivi emphasizes the relaxed mentality of the people in Vorarlberg and emphasizes the importance of quality in their work.

As part of her first season, Paasikivi will present a lot of Finnish art, including well-known artists such as the choreographer Tero Saarinen as well as the conductors Hannu Lintu and Jukka-Pekka Sarast. The opera "Oedipe" has its premiere on July 16, with Lintu taking over the musical management and Andreas Kriegenburg is responsible for the staging. Paasikivi describes "Oedipe" as one of her favorite works that offers interesting figures and expressive music. The rehearsals begin on June 9th, recognizing the challenges in planning.

focus on vocal art

The Bregenz Festival will be understood as a “Festival of Vocal Art” in the coming years, which underlines the focus on various forms of vowel music. From 2026 Verdi's "La Traviata" will be played on the lake stage, which is well suited for the beautiful backdrop there. In order to offer the young talents a platform, Paasikivi plans the continuation of the opera studio for young singers and new chamber operators for the workshop stage, with some premieres commissioned.

In a broader cultural context, the Eurovision Song Contest, which takes place in Basel, Switzerland, will take place in May 2025. The competition now has almost 70 years of history and is considered Europe's largest cultural event. This year 26 countries will compete in the final, including the Austrian countertenor JJ with his title "Wasted Love". Of the 37 countries that participate in 20 different languages this year and the contributions are written, 11 were eliminated in the semi -finals, while the host country and the "Big Five" are automatically qualified for the final.

cultural diversity and social dimensions

The Eurovision Song Contest not only offers a platform for musical talents, but also reflects socio -political developments in Europe. Political content in the songs is expressly prohibited in the regulations, since 2022 the political dimensions of the competition, especially in connection with the Ukraine conflict, have been clearly recognizable. This year there are controversy in Basel about the participation of Israel, which led to increased security precautions.

The event promotes values such as cultural diversity, openness and integration, and attracts both enthusiastic fans and critics. During the final, the winners are determined by a combination of telephone and online voting as well as rankings from music juries. The great media presence of the competition, which achieved a new record high with 162 million viewers in 2023, shows the enormous interest in this multicultural event.

Overall, both the Bregenz Festival under Paasikivi and the Eurovision Song Contest give insights into the cultural diversity and the most important social issues in Europe, whereby the exchange of ideas and artistic forms of expression is promoted.