The 2004 Salzburg Summer Festival dedicated an extensive retrospective to composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Festival director Peter Ruzicka placed the composer’s opera Die tote Stadt at the center of attention. The highly successful performance is now documented on this release. The opening concert of the 2004 Salzburg Festival was highly praised. “The Vienna Philharmonic, Schmid and Ozawa opened the festival honoring the rehabilitation of Erich Wolfgang Korngold.“ (Wilhelm Sinkovicz, Die Presse) “The Vienna Philharmonic performed the work on Saturday for the first time, dazzling the audience with all the tricks of their trade. Salzburg violinist Benjamin Schmid gave his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic and succeeded more than brilliantly. No passage is too difficult, no phrase too simple for him to refine with his uncommonly rich and variable tone.” (Karl Harb, Salzburger Nachrichten)