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Salzburg-100: Fidelio
Зальцбург-100: Фиделио
The Salzburg Festival presents Ludwig van Beethoven’s one and only opera, his masterpiece: Fidelio, in a new production staged by Claus Guth, conducted by Franz Welser-Möst and starring Jonas Kaufmann as Florestan. The casting is remarkable in this beautiful new production by the Salzburg Festival. Adrianne Pieczonka embodies the faithful Leonore and Jonas Kaufmann, more tragic than ever, lends his voice to Florestan. The Wiener Philharmoniker and the Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor conducted by Franz Welser-Möst join them in this remarkable performance.
Actors
Florestan
Leonore
Rocco
Don Pizarro
Don Fernando
Marzelline
Jaquino
Crew
Conductor
Franz Welser-Möst
Set and costume designer
Christian Schmidt
Lighting Designer
Olaf Freese
However, this plea for humanity and justice dressed up in the guise of a ‘liberation and rescue opera’ was not a success, and it was not until 1814, after ten years of intensive work, that the version was premiered which has become famous as the very epitome of the ‘rescue opera’: Fidelio. As well as concentrating three acts into two, Beethoven also broke down the barriers between the original version’s three distinct spheres: in Fidelio, the desire for happiness may be motivated by egoism but it knows no differences of social standing. The singspiel-like opening of Act One combines with the contemplative quartet ‘Mir ist so wunderbar’ and the famous Prisoners’ Chorus ‘O welche Lust’ to strike a chord that evokes a true utopia, which Beethoven realizes in a blissful but all too brief moment. In the music to which Leonore takes off Florestan’s chains, utopia and reality are made one to the words ‘O Gott, welch ein Augenblick’ (‘O God, what a moment’) before they are swept away in a final breakneck frenzy of joy and celebration. The philosopher Ernst Bloch put it as follows: ‘Nowhere else is music such a bright dawn as here, militantly religious and heralding a day that is already audible as more than just a hope. This is music with the glow of the truly human, unlike anything that Beethoven’s whole cultural world […] had ever brought forth before.’