"Krone" commentary

Triumph of the small-minded

Strange times these are. After days of drumbeat from the ORF, the wagon castle financed by high taxes, the almost unbelievable confession that he had also made mistakes has now been publicly wrested from Salzburg Festival director Markus Hinterhäuser. And Festival President Kristina Hammer was tempted to make the almost intimate confession in the "Salzburger Nachrichten" that she is neither an educator nor a governess.

What a triumph of small minds! Could be from Thomas Bernhard. Most people won't care about the intrigues and malice behind the scenes of the Salzburg Festival. Rumors and tales from the Hofstallgasse have always been around. The silent post often weaves legends from a kernel of truth. A hitherto harmless pastime for cowardly bores and bored important people in the coffee house: the would-be directors and almost-presidents, failed directors, offended composers, offended conductors and misunderstood dramaturges, uncommitted singers and dismissed actors.

The list of people with unfinished business at the Salzburg vanity fair could go on and on.

However, the fact that the ORF, of all people, has taken the opportunity of the departure of the moderately successful head of drama to damage the festival in a tabloid-like manner raises completely different questions.