Drama in Sölden

Rettenbachferner is the stage for Hannibal’s battle

(Bild: Ernst Lorenzi)

At the glacier spectacle in Sölden, the general from Carthage once again brings out the heavy artillery. 500 dancers, actors and athletes perform on the largest natural stage in the world.

Rome and Carthage, it has to be said, did not get off to a particularly good start. And so the story of Hannibal and his campaign across the Alps begins at the glacier spectacle in Sölden many hundreds of years before the birth of the general. With Dido and Aeneas. After the lost battle of Troy, Aeneas is given a clear mission by the goddess Venus. He is to build a new super city: "I think," says Venus to him, "I think I'll call it Rome." On his journey into the unknown, Aeneas lands in magnificent Carthage and meets Queen Dido. A love story begins, at the end of which Aeneas leaves Dido at night. The queen then burns down her palace and commits suicide. As I said, not a particularly good start...

A gigantic snow elephant creates unique scenes on the open-air stage.(Bild: Ernst Lorenzi)

A worldwide unique cultural event
The Hannibal glacier spectacle, which is taking place in Sölden again this year, starts with this prologue from mythology. Only then does Hannibal come into play - the Carthaginian general who crossed the Alps in 218 BC with 60,000 men and 37 elephants and took the Romans by surprise. At the Rettenbachferner at 2670 meters above sea level, this material is turned into a spectacular theatrical show.

Paragliders, skidoos, planes and helicopters are also involved.(Bild: Ernst Lorenzi)

The scenery alone is breathtaking: at dusk, the horizon draws silhouettes of the 3,000-metre-high mountain peaks. It is the largest show stage in the world shaped by nature, a 180-degree panorama in which something is always happening in several places. As intense as a movie, but live. Sometimes it is performed in the immediate vicinity of the audience, other times miles away. On a huge video wall, next to a pyramid of steps the height of a house, viewers see distant scenes in close-up.

Fakten

The "Krone" is giving away 50 tickets to the glacier show, including shuttle service, drinks and snacks. Send an email with the password "Hannibal" to [e-mail] by March 28, 2024.

Win 100 tickets for Hannibal with the "Krone"
Sölden and Red Bull are staging Hannibal's crossing of the Alps together with the artist network Lawine Torrèn, directed by Hubert Lepka. Actors, dancers, but also the Flying Bulls with historic airplanes, paragliders, 150 ski instructors as Hannibal's ground troops and: 37 Pistenbullys as elephants. Harald Krassnitzer narrates the story. In this interplay of acting, dramaturgy, music, lighting and scenic pyrotechnics, the glacier spectacle becomes as intense as a movie, only everything happens live. The immediacy created on the huge natural stage easily puts Cinemascope and IMAX formats in the shade.