According to the Spanish tenor, who was not signed by Mortier for any production in Salzburg, the Festival director made a mistake with his generalised dismissal of stars like Pavarotti and Jessye Norman. He didn't realise that, had he offered me some production in Salzburg, I would have come to rehearse very gladly. He remembers that his few concert performances of 'Die Walk re' and 'Parsifal' were very successful. The public had been missing me, and showed it in the performances. The theater was full, but for some reason, Mortier did not ask for me, and only offered me an 'Oedipus Rex' he knew I would not accept since this tenor part is not interesting for me.
Audiences always tend to prefer the traditional to the adventurous.
The tone is very different when he speaks about the man who will probably be the next director of the Salzburg Festival, the composer and conductor Ruzicka, whose election has to be approved on Thursday next. Domingo is hoping that under Ruzicka's direction, the Salzburg audience will enjoy a combination of conventional and avant-garde works, and that new works will be commissioned. It is the line I have followed in Los Angeles.