Admin

Organization

Singer

Tenor

Eric Cutler

Florestan

Soprano

Nicole Chevalier

Leonore

Baritone

Gábor Bretz

Don Pizzaro

Bass

Christof Fischesser

Rocco

Károly Szemerédy

Don Fernando

Benjamin Hulett

Jaquino

Mélissa Petit

Marzelline

Johannes Bamberger

First prisoner

Dumitru Madarašan

Second prisoner

Conductor

Manfred Honeck

Stage director

Christoph Waltz

Set designer

Barkow Leibinger

Costume designer

Judith Holste

Lighting designer

Henry Braham

Chorus master

Erwin Ortner

MusikTheater an der Wien

Others

Arnold Schoenberg Chor

Orchestra

Vienna Symphony Orchestra

German

Fidelio

Vienna

Austria

Theater an der Wien

Grosser Pausenraum

2020 marks 250 years since the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven, and we're kicking off our Beethoven year in style with this extraordinary event: the great one's only opera, Fidelio—returning home to the historical Theater an der Wien, site of its very first staging in 1805—in a stunning new production by two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz!

The brilliant Waltz is not only a celebrated character actor—he is also a lifelong opera fanatic and an experienced director in his own right, joined by an all-star cast: Grammy-winning Maestro Manfred Honeck, beloved music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, conducts the first-rate Wiener Symphoniker while acclaimed soprano Nicole Chevalier, fresh off her Salzburg Festival debut last summer, shines as Leonore opposite talented tenor Eric Cutler as Florestan.

Leonore will stop at nothing to free her husband Florestan, unjustly imprisoned by despotic governor Don Pizarro—even if it means disguising herself as a man, Fidelio, to gain access to his cell. Will petty vengeance and political corruption reign, or will they collapse in the face of Leonore’s quest to restore justice and save her beloved?

Opera in two acts (1806)

Florestan has been missing for two years. His wife Leonore suspects that he is imprisoned in a secret prison because he was an opponent of the governor Don Pizarro, who established a system of corruption and arbitrary violence to keep him in power. She believes that Florestan is in the same state prison as other political prisoners. Disguised as a man and using the alias "Fidelio", she has been employed as an assistant by the local jailer Rocco. Through this position, she hopes to find out if her husband is really in this prison. Rocco appreciates Fidelio's enthusiasm and business acumen. His daughter Marzelline even fell in love with the young man and turned away from her fiancé Jaquino. Although Leonore is uncomfortable with the girl's deception, her suspicion that it could be Florestan, a mysterious prisoner that Rocco has to look after alone, is becoming more and more substantiated. As Fidelio, she agrees to an early connection with Marzelline in order to gain Rocco's trust. Now she can ask her future father-in-law to accompany him to the secret dungeon. Time is running out when Pizarro unexpectedly arrives and learns that the prisons will be inspected. He now urgently wants to get rid of the secret prisoner. Since Rocco refuses to do so, he decides to commit the act himself. With Fidelio's help, Rocco just digs a grave in the underground prison. It turns out that this starving prisoner actually Florestan is. When Pizarro storms into the dungeon to kill his opponent, Leonore intervenes with a pistol and reveals her true identity. The shocking moment of delay is enough to give the inspecting minister and his people time to intervene. The minister is a friend of Florestan, who now recognizes and punishes Pizarro's machinations. With Florestan, all other victims of Pizarro's arbitrariness are also released. Leonore's love has triumphed. who now recognizes and punishes Pizarro's machinations. With Florestan, all other victims of Pizarro's arbitrariness are also released. Leonore's love has triumphed. who now recognizes and punishes Pizarro's machinations. With Florestan, all other victims of Pizarro's arbitrariness are also released. Leonore's love has triumphed.

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