Over the past five years, Austria's Bregenzer Festspiele has given some 22 world premieres, including five major new operas at the Festspielhaus. It is an impressive record for a festival that has had its government subsidy frozen since 1997, and that relies for 80 per cent of its funding on box office receipts and private investment. Hence, the theme chosen by David Pountney for his eleventh and final year as Intendant, ‘Bittersweet Vienna’, felt tinged with added irony.