Salzburg invites Merkel to take a long-term pew

When, in December, the final curtain came down on Angela Merkel’s 16-year spell as Chancellor of Germany, a welcome retirement present was waiting for her from neighbouring Austria – free tickets for life, for both Merkel and her husband Joachim Sauer, to the Salzburg Festival. The gi was made by the Austrian government, which says that it will ensure that the revered ex-politician will have seats reserved at whatever she chooses to attend. This is no empty gesture, as Merkel, a major classical music enthusiast, has been a regular visitor to the city of Mozart’s birth for many years. Now, with a little more time on her hands, she may make herself very much at home…