Not all great works are completed: in 1781, the year of the premiere of his Idomeneo , WA Mozart broke off work on his “serious German Singspiel” Zaide , the first attempt at an exoticizing “Turkish opera”, which was followed by the “ light-hearted” Abduction from the Seraglio . But what exactly does “the Turkish” want in it and where does it come from? (Certainly not from Turkey!) Director Jessica Glause uses the surviving Zaide material in Ludwigsburg's Schlosstheater to ask who actually formulates an “us and the others” against the backdrop of which tradition. The history of European musical theater is closely interwoven with the justifying legends of colonialism and racism, ie the arbitrary division of humanity into superior and inferior. Cultures represented as “foreign” through the supposedly neutral standard of the Central European lens have thus been projected into weak, sexualized female figures or despotic ragers again and again over four centuries.

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Zaide

Ludwigsburg Palace

Whether loud or quiet, political or private: we have a voice with which we can make a difference and contribute, with which we can stand up for others and ourselves. "We know we all can stand together with the power to be powerful. Believing we can make it better." John Farnham chooses these uplifting words in his song "You're the Voice," and in doing so, simultaneously offers the motto for this year's edition, "Generation Zukunftsmusik." Choral and instrumental ensembles from the four partner schools will use their voices musically and symbolically in a variety of configurations. The concert will be framed by a group of young people who have developed presentations and ideas for "Generation Zukunftsmusik" in previous workshops. Together, all participants will create a community-building musical event that is intended to encourage you too: Your voice is important, use it!

Generation Future Music

Karlskaserne Art Centre

For five years now, Ludwigsburg's market square has been an integral part of the festival summer, making it not only the heart of the city but also a meeting place for the Palace Festival and its audience. This tradition continues in 2025, with a stage between the fountain and the city church offering a mix of pop, folk, and indie bands, a jazz combo, and the communal circle dance "Dabke" – as usual, free of charge and under the open sky. But that's not all. This year's season sees the festival opening up several new venues in the city and looking forward to new encounters: Against the backdrop of Favorite Palace, classical chamber music ensembles invite you to princely, yet free, open-air concerts in the palace gardens. The park music rounds out the intimate concerts in the Favorite Palace's interior, which are also a novelty and highlight of the new festival season.

Music Outdoors

Ludwigsburg Market Square

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When Rakhi Singh performs, one would think she is more than just a soloist; thanks to electronic technology, she allows the violin to expand beyond its sound palettes and worlds, becoming like an entire ensemble. The musician experiments passionately with her instrument and devotes herself to the unconventional use of the violin. Her goal: to breathe new life into music in a joyful way. Over the past ten years, Rakhi Singh has established herself as one of the leading figures in the classical-contemporary instrumental scene in Great Britain, not least because of her extensive repertoire and progressive stylistic mixes, which also draw on her Anglo-Indian roots and other cultural influences. In the old porcelain factory of the Residenzschloss, Singh adds a sensory component to Vera Mercer's photographs, which can sometimes trigger hypnotic-meditative states.

Rakhi Singh

Ludwigsburg Residential Palace

A magnificent mosaic of magnificent compositions and exceptional musicians: a concert evening with the LGT Young Soloists promises nothing less. The highly talented young members hail from over 20 nations, all performing as soloists and accompanying musicians. Since its founding in 2013, the ensemble has enjoyed success with this concept; two years ago, it made its US debut and toured internationally through Australia, Asia, and North America. Under the direction of their founder, Alexander Gilman, the LGT Young Soloists will present serene string divertimenti, romantic and wistful works by Max Bruch, baroque lightness from Schnittke's new music, Paganini virtuosity on the double bass, and, last but not least, the passionate tango counterpart to Vivaldi's classic "The Seasons."

Lgt Young Soloists

For cellist Antoine Lederlin, a string quartet is, above all, a human idea and imagination, before any musical idea. In the case of the Belcea Quartet, all three aspects have undoubtedly been successfully consolidated, having now spanned over 30 years together. In the Ordenssaal, the chamber music heart and home of the Ludwigsburg Palace Festival, the musicians present three complex masterpieces of quartet literature from Viennese Classical and Modern periods, a program that invites both concentrated listening and relaxed contemplation. Furthermore, Mozart's string quartet, known as the "Hoffmeister Quartet," as well as the late works of Benjamin Britten and Ludwig van Beethoven, evoke a wide range of emotions: Mozart's work from his Viennese years—like his "Figaro"—can instantly provoke laughter and tears at the same time. In his last completed instrumental work, Benjamin Britten dramatically and fatefully explores the dark sides of humanity, while Beethoven wrapped the suffering of his everyday life in C-sharp minor, sonorous but with noble restraint.

Belcea Quartet

"Once upon a time there was a rascal": Richard Strauss used these fairytale-like words to title the prologue to his program music "Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks," introducing the mischievous protagonist on the one hand and establishing the orchestra as narrator on the other. The colorful tone poem "Don Juan" and the symphonic interludes of Strauss's biographically inspired opera "Intermezzo" also thrive on an expressive ensemble. This was just the thing for the 90-member German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra: It is entirely dedicated to the late Romantic composer Richard Strauss and presents his symphonic masterpieces and soulful orchestral songs with former Schlossfestspiel chief conductor Pietari Inkinen at the helm. Strauss's premiere audience was thrilled by Eulenspiegel's "witty and crudely humorous" musical jokes, which "barely allowed the listener to regain their composure." In 2025, the premiere of this impressive orchestral work will be 130 years old and has lost none of its entertaining effect.

Richard Strauss Festival

Forum at the Castle Park

"Let us sing, let us laugh, there is no other way. The world and hardship are the same, no one is free from torment," says Mozart's unfinished work, a tragic love story named after the slave Zaide and set in Turkey. In Mozart's great operatic oeuvre, "Turkishness," and thus the confrontation between Orient and Occident, occupies a considerable space. Alongside elements in "Così fan tutte" and "The Magic Flute," exoticisms are particularly prominent in Mozart's first German Singspiels, "The Abduction from the Seraglio" and the preceding "Zaide." But "Turkishness" in his Singspiel certainly does not come from Turkey. Director Jessica Glause, together with a select ensemble of young Mozart voices from the Stuttgart State Opera, explores the extent to which foreignness and inclusion can be influenced by music.

ZAIDE

Did you know that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart called his contemporary and colleague Joseph Haydn "Papa"? Undoubtedly, the two were immensely fond of each other. Haydn recognized Mozart's musical genius and championed him wherever he could. Mozart, 24 years his junior, appreciated this and viewed him as a great master and mentor: "No one can do everything—to tease and shock, to provoke laughter and deep emotion—and everything as well as Haydn!"

Alexandra Dovgan

Like no other genre, the classical solo concerto represents the relationship between competition and cooperation, as well as the negotiation process of different leadership styles. The innovative Stegreif Orchestra addresses this fascinating field of tension in its program "freesolo," telling its own unique story of the development from autocracy through competition and anarchy to collaboration. Using various improvisational techniques in solo and group improvisations, as well as through recompositions of classical solo concertos by Dvořák, Bach, Mozart, and Bartók, it illuminates the topic from a musical perspective. As we have already seen from its previous Castle Festival performances, we can look forward to refreshing, unusual perspectives and listening styles from the "improvising symphony orchestra," as it calls itself.

Impromptu Orchestra

Ludwigsburg Music Hall

Some contemporaries never meet, others remain connected for life: For example, George Frideric Handel and George Philipp Telemann first met in Halle at the beginning of the 18th century and deepened their friendship through years of correspondence. Telemann was not only a passionate letter writer, but also learned to love gardening in his adopted home of Hamburg. From London, Handel supplied the amateur gardener with rare flower bulbs. In general, the friendship blossomed magnificently: there are 117 musical ideas that Handel adopted or parodied from Telemann. The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra devotes itself to some examples of these, supplementing it with the third great composer of the time, Johann Sebastian Bach. Although Bach and Telemann did not exchange botanical gifts, they were just as close on a familial and musical level.

Events in Ludwigsburg

Zaide

Staatsoper Stuttgart

Generation Future Music

Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele

Music Outdoors

Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele

Music Outdoors

Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele

The Artelize Podcast and ...

Artelize

The Artelize Podcast - A ...

Artelize

The Artelize Podcast: A l...

Artelize

The Artelize Podcast and ...

Artelize

Rakhi Singh

Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele

Lgt Young Soloists

Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele

Belcea Quartet

Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele

Richard Strauss Festival

Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele

ZAIDE

Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele

Alexandra Dovgan

Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele

Impromptu Orchestra

Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele

Freiburg Baroque Orchestr...

Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele