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Artistic direction

Hans Landesmann

Hans Landemann was born in Vienna in 1932 but for the period 1938-45 he lived in Budapest. He completed degrees in piano in both cities before continuing his studies at the Sorbonne in Paris and studying chemistry in New York. In 1957 he entered the family business.
He was already a member of the Konzerthausdirektoriums (Board of Concert Halls) when he became the secretary general of the Wiener Konzerthaus in 1977, where he played a definitive role in the establishment of Viennese concert productions of 20th century music.
Among other achievements, he founded the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra with Claudio Abbado, organised two Webern festivals, and led his audiences step-by-step towards more contemporary programs, with patience and a fine sense for the programmatic. He was repeatedly called upon to advise international cultural politicians and program-makers. He was an integral part of the founding of the festival Wien Modern. In 1989 he changed roles and became the commercial and concert director of the Salzburg Festival where he initiated the structural reforms after Karajan and made the Mortier era possible.
With concert projects centered around Pierre Boulez, Maurizio Pollini, György Ligeti and György Kurtág, he emphasised contemporary music and facilitated the Zeitfluss festival directed by Markus Hinterhäuser and Thomas Zierhofer-Kin.
He left the Salzburg Festival with Mortier in 2001 and became the music director of the Wiener Festwochen. Here too he supported contemporary music. Hans Landesmann has been the artistic director of the Salzburg Biennale since 2007.