Program

Ludwig van Beethoven, Fidelio, Op. 72

Overture

I: "O wär ich schon mit dir vereint"

I: "Jetzt, Schätzchen, jetzt sind wir allein"

I: "Mir ist so wunderbar"

I: "Hat man nicht auch Gold beineben"

I: "Gut Söhnchen, gut"

I: Marsch

I: "Ha! Welch ein Augenblick!"

I: "Jetzt, Alter, jetzt hat es Eile!"

II : "Gott! Welch Dunkel hier! - In des Lebens Frühlingstagen"

II: "Wie kalt ist es in diesem unterirdischen Gewölbe" - "Nur hurtig fort, nur frisch gegraben"

II: "Euch werde Lohn in bessern Welten"

II: "Er sterbe! Doch er soll erst wissen» - «Vater Rocco! Der Herr Minister ist angekommen" - "Es schlägt der Rache Stunde"

II: "O namenlose Freude"

II: Wer ein holdes Weib errungen

Beethoven's Fidelio

Christoph Waltz (stage director), Manfred Honeck (conductor) — With Eric Cutler (Florestan), Nicole Chevalier (Leonore)...

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Cast

Christoph Waltz — Stage director

Barkow Leibinger — Set designer

Judith Holste — Costume designer

Henry Braham — Lighting designer

Eric Cutler — Florestan

Nicole Chevalier — Leonore

Gábor Bretz — Don Pizarro

Christof Fischesser — Rocco

Program notes

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?

A closer look: featured composers

Ludwig van Beethoven

Further listening: featured works

Fidelio, Op. 72

Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer)