Salzburg Operas to Move Madrid, Organizers Say

Three operas opening at the Salzburg Easter Festival in the coming years -- Richard Strauss' "Salome", Georges Bizet's "Carmen" and Richard Wagner's "Parsifal" -- will move to Madrid under the direction of Briton Simon Rattle with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

This was announced by the director of the Easter Festival, Peter Alward and the director of Madrid's Teatro Real, the Belgian Gerard Mortier, at a press conference on Sunday.

"Salome" will premier in Salzburg on April 16, "Carmen" next year and "Parsifal" in 2013, before moving to Madrid in 2014, 2015 and 2013 respectively, they said.

"To put up big and costly operas only twice makes no economic sense," Rattle told the press conference.