Vienna State Opera's former director Ioan Holender: 'The Viennese are a deeply unsympathetic people'

Ioan Holender, who arrived in Vienna as a 24-year-old Romanian engineering student in 1959, has become one of Austria's most significant cultural figures. His journey from political exile to a celebrated singer, agent, and the longest-serving director of the Vienna State Opera is a testament to a life shaped by circumstance and ambition.

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I came to Vienna reluctantly and with the feeling that I had a failed life.

Despite his deep involvement in Austrian cultural life for decades, Holender admits to having "no relationship with Vienna." His critique extends to the Viennese people themselves, whom he describes with harsh terms: "They are a deeply unsympathetic people, these Viennese. Without any artistic curiosity, stingy, uninterested, malicious, and deeply antisemitic." He justifies his bluntness by stating he has "nothing more to lose."

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I never became what I wanted.

Holender's outspokenness is not new. He recalls publicly addressing the Nazi past of former opera directors, even when met with shouts to "Stop, stop" from the audience. His mother, he remembers, worried about his career choices, fearing he was making too many enemies. This willingness to confront uncomfortable truths, even within the arts establishment, has defined his career.

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They are a deeply unsympathetic people, these Viennese. Without any artistic curiosity, stingy, uninterested, malicious, and deeply antisemitic.