The Salzburg Festival was first held in 1920, amid the aftermath of World War I. This year marks the festival's 100th anniversary, a special edition which opened on Saturday amid coronavirus measures. The Salzburg Festival will be one of classical music's few offerings in the summer of the coronavirus pandemic, staging a reduced 100th anniversary celebration with capacities limited to about 50 percent. 

Venues were cut from 16 to seven and intermissions eliminated to reduce audience interaction. The only operas were Mozart's "Cosi fan Tutte" in the Grosses Festspielhaus, limited to about 1,000 of its 2,300 seats, and Richard Strauss' "Elektra" in the Felsenreitschule, which held roughly 700.

The festival had sold 180,000 of 230,000 tickets to people in 80 nations but now is limiting seats to about 70,000. Only those who already bought tickets can still attend and there will be a limit of two per person. Names of purchasers will be printed on tickets and records kept to enable contact tracing. People in the audience must wear masks when entering, but will be allowed to remove them during the performance.

There will be 14 performances of Hugo von Hofmannsthal's "Jedermann (Everyman)" on the Domplatz in front of the cathedral, including one on August 22 to mark the 100th anniversary of the day that play inaugurated the festival.  

(With input from AP)