Immling 2025 - a balance

The last arias have faded away. The Immling Festival 2025 ended on Sunday, August 10, with the "Finale Grande".

Almost 20,000 visitors came to the green hill in Chiemgau and were enchanted by the picturesque ambiance, captivating performances, and magnificent voices. Once again, the Immling Festival has shown why it is one of the most significant cultural events in the region.

Artistic director Ludwig Baumann is satisfied: "We finally have visitor numbers like before Corona, and we were also able to attract young audiences through our academy, which is a major concern for us. As Elke Heidenreich emphasized in a spontaneous speech, culture is a pillar of a functioning society, and this has become even more important in today's time. Opera, in particular, reflects what has always moved humanity, what touches you deep inside, and I believe we were able to convey this with such diverse productions this year, of which we are very proud."

The program included three major operas: "La forza del destino" by Giuseppe Verdi, "Carmen" by George Bizet, and "Manon Lescaut" by Giacomo Puccini. Three strong women, three destinies. Carmen, in particular, proved to be a favorite among the audience. The title character presented herself in a new light. She is not a victim, but a woman who follows her path and risks everything for it.

With Manon Lescaut, there was a new dream couple on the opera stage. Maria Natale and Vasyl Solodkyy captured the hearts of the audience in no time. It was not uncommon to see tears in their eyes. Ludwig Baumann's production was contemporary and very moving. Tobias Hell from Münchner Merkur praised the performance with the words "It couldn't be better."

The production of "La forza del destino" was visually stunning. Verdi's Spanish tragedy takes place under an Eastern wheel of fate. Stuart Martin from "The Stuart Review" particularly praised Yunuet Laguna as Leonora: "Apart from Anna Netrebko, she is the only singer I have seen live who sang the finale perfectly. Breathtakingly good."

This naturally pleases the festival's musical director Cornelia von Kerssenbrock: "Our artists – from the choir to the orchestra – have all exceeded themselves. There were again some singers heard who are on the verge of breaking into the top of the music scene. "We do not buy the stars – we make them" is our motto, and we are proud that we succeeded in this again this year, especially with very demanding roles."

And also with a demanding symphonic program for the orchestra. With Mahler and Rachmaninoff, the chief conductor ignited a dazzling sound fireworks.

The productions of the Akademie Immling were also very well received. In addition to the "Magic Flute for Children," Count "Dracula" invited to dance. The musical not only gave goosebumps but also gained a fan base.

The reading by Elke Heidenreich was enthusiastically received. She transported the audience to Venice – the city of silence, accompanied by Venetian music.

Next year will be very special in Immling! The festival will celebrate its 30th anniversary. Already firmly planned are: "Tosca" by Giacomo Puccini, "Lucia di Lammermoor" by Gaetano Donizetti, "Un ballo in maschera" by Giuseppe Verdi, and "Die Zauberflöte" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Because it was with exactly this opera that the festival's success story began.