O-STA

Siemens Festival Nights 2009: Live worldwide webcasts from Bayreuth and Salzburg

The Bayreuth and Salzburg Festivals will begin on July 25. At both festivals, the Siemens Festival Nights will present operas live on large outdoor screens in perfect HD video quality and 3-D sound. At the same time, a worldwide audience will be able to watch Tristan und Isolde (Bayreuth, August 9) and Così fan tutte (Salzburg, July 30) via Web stream at a modest fee and view the operas for a second time, on demand, within the following two weeks.

"The blending of artistic and technical excellence here will have a lasting overall effect," emphasized Stephan Heimbach on behalf of sponsor Siemens. The Siemens Festival Nights also demonstrate that outstanding cultural events can attract great public interest and strong support even in times of a global economic crisis.

On Sunday, August 9, Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde will be relayed live from the world-famous Bayreuth Festspielhaus to the city's open-air Festplatz and also presented online worldwide to broadband users in highest quality and at an affordable price. The opera will subsequently be available for a one-time on-demand viewing in the period from August 10 to August 23. Internet viewers will have the choice of three different image resolutions and also enjoy an exclusive backstage and intermission program. The webcast price of €14.90 includes the subsequent on-demand viewing opportunity. The Web stream will begin at 2:45 p.m. following login at: www.siemens.com/festivalnight. An international help desk and telephone hotline, now available daily at +49 40 646046627 and around the clock between August 8-10, offers quick and uncomplicated technical advice.

As part of its Siemens Festival Nights program this year, Siemens will also offer a Web stream and opera-on-demand at the Salzburg Festival for the first time. The premiere of Mozart's Così fan tutte (production: Claus Guth) will be relayed live on July 30 and available once on-demand within the following seven days.

Additional information:

www.siemens.com/press/festivalnight

Press contacts:

Goldmann Public Relations, Dorothea Volke, Phone +49 (0)89 21116413, E-mail: dvolke@goldmannpr.de

Siemens AG, Karlheinz Groebmair, Phone +49 (0)89 63635381, E-mail:

karlheinz.groebmair@siemens.com