Georg Baselitz for Igor Stravinsky's 'L’Histoire du Soldat' Sketches and original working models on view in the foyer of the Festspielhaus

With puppets and scenery designed by Georg Baselitz and in collaboration with the Salzburg Marionette Theatre, one of the seminal works of musical modernism – Igor Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du soldat – will take centre stage during the 2025 Salzburg Festival. To mark the occasion, the Salzburg Festival – together with Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac – will exhibit Baselitz’s original puppets created for the production, along with his design sketches and the sculpture Pace Piece (2004), in the foyer of the Festspielhaus.

With its lean septet of instruments, expressive intensity, and archetypal characters, Stravinsky’s ‘fairytale scenes’ feel almost destined for the marionette theatre – and for the creative vision of Georg Baselitz, one of the most eminent artists of our time. Known since the 1980s for his evocative, rough-hewn wood sculptures and boldly painted heads, Baselitz shapes the world of L’Histoire du soldat above all through his strong use of colour. ‘The colours alone define the characters’, he explains. Red, brown, blue, and gold represent the Devil, the Soldier, the Princess, the King… ‘It occurred to me that marionette theatre is always very beautiful – visually beautiful. And the puppets are the most beautiful part. So naturally, my first instinct was to attack that beauty – to go after those beautiful puppets…’

Stravinsky’s theatrical fairytale L’Histoire du soldat, designed by Georg Baselitz and directed by Matthias Bundschuh, will be performed at the Salzburg Marionette Theatre from 29 July to 3 August 2025. Dominique Horwitz (narrator), Isabelle Faust (violin), Pascal Moraguès (clarinet), Giorgio Mandolesi (bassoon), Reinhold Friedrich (cornet), Ian Bousfield (trombone), Burak Marlali (double bass), and Raymond Curfs (percussion) join forces with the ensemble of the Salzburg Marionette Theatre to bring Stravinsky’s dark parable to life.