Ex-actress boss

Davydova wants to fight termination legally

Marina Davydova

(Bild: © Neumayr/Christian Leopold)

Fired head of drama Marina Davydova wants to take legal action against the premature termination of her contract: "Of course I did not commit any misconduct." - Lawyers are to "take all necessary legal steps to enforce my rights".

Marina Davydova, the dismissed head of drama at the Salzburg Festival, wants to fight the premature termination of her contract that was recently announced. "I am convinced that my dismissal by the Salzburg Festival is unlawful", Davydova emphasizes to the APA. "Of course I have not committed any misconduct. I have already instructed my Austrian lawyers to take all necessary legal steps to enforce my rights."

It is "easy to guess that I am overwhelmed with emotion after what happened to me in Salzburg", the dramaturge and theater scholar, whose Salzburg contract would have run until 2026, told APA. However, on the advice of her lawyers, Davydova does not want to publish the "very emotional and personal statement" she has already written.

Secondary employment for a Berlin festival
After only one Salzburg Festival season, for which she was jointly responsible, Davydova's work for the "Voices. Performing Arts Festival" in Berlin was Davydova's undoing. The Salzburg Festival regarded this as "neither reported nor authorized activity" and a breach of her contract.

The German music manager and former head of the Wiener Konzerthaus, Karsten Witt, whose platform CLSX.de was used to organize the "Voices" festival, which was held for the first time in 2023, was quoted in the "Kurier" newspaper on Tuesday: "It was obvious to approach Marina Davydova as an expert. She gave us advice and helped us with contacts. That's all it was. She neither performed nor was she paid by us."

"There are contractual obligations and you have to adhere to these contracts. And there are very clear rules for secondary employment," Salzburg Festival Director Markus Hinterhäuser told Ö1, explaining the decision. There were no other reasons, such as artistic differences or atmospheric disturbances in the collaboration. Hinterhäuser wants to decide on the future artistic director himself without a call for tenders.