Fidelio
Suspecting her missing husband is being held as a political prisoner, a noblewoman disguises herself as a male prison guard. She discovers him weakened in the darkest dungeon, but will she be able to rescue him before it is too late?
The themes of oppression and isolation, but also of hope and the power of love, make Fidelio the perfect opera for our times and all times. In the new production from Vienna State Opera, director Nikolaus Habjan has staged Beethoven's only opera as a timeless piece standing above a specific era. In this production, Leonore and Florestan are each doubled by a puppet, split, as it were, into an inner life, an expression of the soul and an outer figure. Leonore's agonizing state of tension between intense emotionality and the pressure to conceal her true identity is thus made clear. ‘If you think about what Beethoven wanted with his works’, says Habjan ‘you always come across a great idealisation. And such an idealisation stands above a specific epoch. That's why I want to create something that is ultimately independent of time. The less I try to set the plot in a narrow, temporally or politically precise situation, the more timeless the work becomes. It's about the big themes that Beethoven deals with, and you can understand them quite clearly without using a historical frame of reference.’
Cast
|
Leonore
|
Malin Byström
|
|---|---|
|
Florestan
|
David Butt Philip
|
|
Don Fernando
|
Simonas Strazdas
|
|
Don Pizarro
|
Christopher Maltman
|
|
Rocco
|
Tareq Nazmi
|
|
Marzelline
|
Kathrin Zukowski
|
|
Jacquino
|
Daniel Jenz
|
|
First prisoner
|
Daniel Lökös
|
|
Second prisoner
|
Panajotis Pratsos
|
|
Puppeteers
|
Manuela Linshalm
Max Konrad
Angelo Konzett
Alexandra Pecher
|
|
Orchestra
|
Vienna State Opera Orchestra
|
|
Chorus
|
Vienna State Opera Chorus
|
| ... | |
|
Music
|
Ludwig van Beethoven
|
|---|---|
|
Text
|
Joseph Sonnleithner
Paulus Hochgatterer
|
|
Director
|
Nikolaus Habjan
|
|
Conductor
|
Franz Welser-Möst
|
|
Sets
|
Julius Theodor Semmelmann
|
|
Costume designer
|
Denise Heschl
|
|
Lights
|
Franz Tscheck
|
|
Video
|
Judith Selenko
|
|
Puppet Design
|
Bruno Belil Espinos
|
|
Chorus master
|
Thomas Lang
|
| ... | |
Video
Story
The governor of a Spanish state prison, Don Pizarro, runs a reign of terror in his institution. Innocent people become political victims of his brutal grasp. Don Florestan from Seville wants to clear up these arbitrary acts, but ends up in the hands of the violent man himself. He has been languishing in inhumane solitary confinement for over two years.
His friends believe him to be dead, but his wife Leonore has not yet given up on the missing man. As she believes Florestan to be a prisoner, she hires herself out to the jailer Rocco as a closer. Dressed in men's clothes and under the name Fidelio, she performs hard labor, earns the trust of her superior and even wins the love of his daughter Marzelline.
Act I
Jaquino tries in vain to win Marzelline's affections. Since Fidelio has been in the house, she has not listened to his wooing. Fidelio returns from his errands in Seville. Rocco is again impressed by his new assistant's skill and sense of duty: Fidelio and Marzelline are soon to become a couple. Marzelline and Rocco dream of a comfortable future, Jaquino sees his prospects dwindling and Fidelio dreads the uncertainty. Then Don Pizarro appears. He learns from a confidential letter that the minister is on the trail of his abuse of office: a surprise visit is to convict him once and for all. Pizarro reacts promptly: a guard watches the main street, a trumpet signal is to announce the visit. Florestan, the most prominent victim, must be disposed of as quickly as possible.
As Rocco refuses to commit murder, the governor will carry out the deed himself. The only thing the jailer has to do first is dig him a grave in the dungeon. Marzelline and Fidelio ask Rocco to allow the lighter prisoners out for a short time. Full of joy, the prisoners enjoy the warm spring sunshine. Fidelio is dismayed to learn of Rocco's new assignment and wants to share his hard labor in the dungeon: Will she help prepare her husband's grave? Outraged, Pizarro has noticed the prisoners' walk and will accept no justification. Only the urgent plan to murder Florestan prevents dire sanctions.
Act II
In the dungeon, the exhausted Florestan ponders his fate. His situation seems hopeless to him; only the awareness of fulfilled duty comforts him. In an ecstatic vision, he feels transported to heavenly freedom by an angel with the features of Leonore. Rocco and Fidelio laboriously uncover a cistern. Florestan finally finds out who is in charge of this prison and wants to inform his wife in Seville. Fidelio now knows for certain who she is dealing with. A little refreshment of bread and wine seems to be Florestan's last joy, for Pizarro is already approaching. But as he prepares to strike a fatal blow, Fidelio stands in front of the prisoner: "Kill his wife first!" She holds a pistol in front of the pursuing man, and the trumpet sounds.
The arrival of the minister promises a turnaround: liberation for the oppressed, punishment for the oppressor. Pizarro hurries out of the dungeon, Rocco breaks away from his old master, Leonore and Florestan sink happily into each other's arms. - The people and the prisoners eagerly greet the minister, Don Fernando. On behalf of the king, he announces a general amnesty and the end of political despotism. In Florestan, he recognizes his friend who had been declared dead. Leonore is allowed to loosen the chains of the long humiliated man, Pizarro is arrested.
Gallery
