Salzburg gala raises 300,000 euros for Pakistan

Salzburg's exclusive summer music festival raised 300,000 euros in aid for Pakistan's flood victims at a star-studded benefit gala, organisers said today.

Salzburg's exclusive summer music festival raised 300,000 euros in aid for Pakistan's flood victims at a star-studded benefit gala, organisers said today.

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The Russian superstar soprano, Anna Netrebko, headlined the special fundraiser held Thursday night in the Austrian city's Haus fuer Mozart theatre. Some 1,560 punters paid between 40 and 280 euros (USD 51-356) each for a seat in the audience, raising a total of 300,000 euros (USD 380,000).

All the artists and the orchestra performed for free in an evening of arias and readings, capped by a tango danced by Netrebko's Uruguayan partner, the baritone Erwin Schrott. The Salzburg funds come on top of the Austrian government's official contribution of close to seven million euros towards disaster relief in flood-stricken Pakistan.

The worst in the country's history, the deadly floods have affected 20 million people and an area the size of England.