“Temptations should not be resisted… who knows when they will come again”.

This is the motto of the Immling Festival for the upcoming 2019 season and the program was presented to the public on November 7 at the Munich Press Club. The “temptations” are then also diverse: no less than three new musical theater productions, new editions of the popular choir and orchestra galas, a musical night, song recitals in the romantic flower garden of Gut Immling and an extensive offer for children and young people – Immling 2019 presents itself also in the 23rd year as a festival for music lovers of all ages.

With the production of the opera classic “Turandot” by Giacomo Puccini, artistic director Ludwig Baumann fulfills a long-standing wish. He calls the opulent work with a large choir and elaborate instrumentation a great challenge. “Anyone who would like to see this must actually not resist the temptation to visit us in 2019. The piece will certainly not come back as soon as”. After the great success of the “La Bohème” production, Baumann also enlists Ekaterina Zacharova for the stage design of “Turandot”. Director Verena von Kerssenbrock is looking forward to her new production of “Don Giovanni” – one of the most popular operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. “Especially when a work is seemingly well-known, it becomes a special challenge for the director.”

And another special feature: after a long time, the Immling Festival program once again includes an operetta, “Die Fledermaus” by Johann Strauss – also a bestseller in musical theater literature. Those who know Immling may be particularly excited here. Intendant Baumann’s claim to make productions for today without losing the classical audience is especially challenged in this work. “I don’t want to cater to the public,” Baumann emphasized during the press briefing, “but just a nice evening with a nice glass of wine and waltzy music would be too little for me – even in our paradisiacal setting and with the wonderful music of a Johann Strauss.”

Another focus of the Immling Festival has been children’s and youth work for years. Like no other festival, Immling has for many years been concerned about young talent – recently even supported by its own festival theater pedagogue. “If we don’t take care of the cultural education of our children, we won’t have an opera audience in a few years.” Ludwig Baumann has taken this credo to heart and is presenting an unprecedented youth festival program for the coming year as well. “Shrek – The Musical” is the new project of the Immling Academy, whose young amateur actors spend many weekends and vacations rehearsing every year under the direction of Verena von Kerssenbrock with almost professional standards. “Mozart’s Magic Manege” is the name of the new children’s opera for the youngest, while in the popular Children’s Culture Week, as always at the end of the two-month festival period, up to 100 six- to twelve-year-olds get a taste of theater and work on a play “like the big boys.”

Between the opera performances, there are also numerous concert evenings this year, such as the “Great Night of the Musical” or a “Gala of the Opera Choirs”. But softer sounds also have their place in the festival program, including two “Romantic Song Recitals in the Flower Garden,” an audiovisual presentation of avant-garde and contemporary works, and a studio concert with star pianist Kit Armstrong. “In addition to economic support, it is always a matter of passing on enthusiasm for a cause,” emphasized Michael Schneider, Chairman of the Immling Sponsoring Club, in an almost flaming plea to the question of how such a diverse program can be sustained at all. To each “his” temptation – true to the motto of the year. For the 2019 program, this has been carefully considered in Immling. “Do muas ma hi” was then also the summary of an audience member at the press conference when asked about the general popularity of culture in rural areas. Well then: Here’s to a new one!