78° Festival MMF
Opera
Fidelio
By Ludwig van Beethoven
Fidelio, oder die eheliche Liebe
(Leonore, or The Triumph of Married Love)
Singspiel in two acts
Musica by Ludwig van Beethoven
Libretto by Joseph Sonnleithner, Stephan von Breuning and Georg Friedrich Treitschke
From Léonore ou l'amour conjugal by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly (1798)
staging by Palau de les Arts of Valencia
Sung in German. Surtitles in English and Italian.
Those who chose not to participate to April 27 premiere because of the strike will be able to request a refund or a ticket exchange from Wednesday, April 29 to Thursday, May 7, 2015 by presenting their intact ticket to the ticket office of the Opera di Firenze (open Tuesday -Saturday, 10-18 ) or by sending an email to biglietteria@maggiofiorentino.com.
Artists
Conductor
Zubin Mehta
Direction, scenes, costumes, lights
Pier’Alli
Costumes cooperation
Elena Puliti
Orchestra and Choir of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Maggio Danza
Zubin Mehta
Direction, scenes, costumes, lights
Pier’Alli
Costumes cooperation
Elena Puliti
Orchestra and Choir of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Maggio Danza
Don Fernando
Eike Wilm Schulte
Don Pizarro
Evgeny Nikitin
Florestan
Burkhard Fritz
Leonore
Ausrine Stundyte
Rocco
Manfred Hemm
Marzelline
Anna Virovlansky
Jaquino
Karl Michael Ebner
First prisoner
Pietro Picone
Second prisoner
Italo Proferisce
Eike Wilm Schulte
Don Pizarro
Evgeny Nikitin
Florestan
Burkhard Fritz
Leonore
Ausrine Stundyte
Rocco
Manfred Hemm
Marzelline
Anna Virovlansky
Jaquino
Karl Michael Ebner
First prisoner
Pietro Picone
Second prisoner
Italo Proferisce
ACT I
In the yard of a state prison near Seville, the guard Jaquino is asking Marzelline, daughter of the chief jailer Rocco, to marry him. The girl stalls, she is in love with a mysterious man named Fidelio. This is none other than Leonore, trying to gain Rocco's trust of to find out if her husband Florestan, who mysteriously disappeared over two years ago, is imprisoned here. Meanwhile Pizarro, Governor of the prison, receives a letter informing him of an impending inspection by the Minister Don Fernando, eager to shed light on some suspected abuse of power. Pizarro, who in fact has imprisoned Florestan for pure revenge, decides to kill him before the arrival of the official and orders Rocco to dig a pit in which to hide the body. Subsequently Rocco, at the insistence of Leonore, grants the prisoners the opportunity to go into the garden; Pizarro, furious, orders Rocco to go down to the basement to do his terrible duty.
ACT II
Florestan lies chained inside a dark dungeon. Leonore, who descended with Rocco, recognizes the voice and comforts him with a little bread. Pizarro also arrives and, armed with a dagger, pounces on the prisoner; Fidelio stands between them and reveals his true identity to everyone's amazement. A trumpet announces the arrival of Don Fernando: the Governor goes to welcome him and the couple can finally embrace. Outside the castle, Don Fernando commands, by order of the king, to release all prisoners and, while Pizarro is arrested, enjoins Leonore to free her husband from the chains.
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Born in Bonn December 16, 1770 to a family with a long musical tradition, but his first important teacher was Christian Gottlob Neefe. It is in 1787 in Vienna where he has a fleeting encounter with Mozart and where he returned five years later to study with Haydn. On April 2, 1800 are executed with great success his Primo Concerto per pianoforte e orchestra and Prima Sinfonia. In 1802 commencing work on Terza Sinfonia, Eroica the style of Beethoven acquires grandeur. The first version of Fidelio, his only opera, was staged in 1805 but was a failure. Becoming virtually deaf however he continued to compose, creating the outstanding masterpieces Missa Solemnis (1819-1823) and the Ninth Symphony (1822-1824). He died in Vienna March 26, 1827 and at least twenty thousand people attended his funeral.
PIERLUIGI PIER’ALLI
Pierluigi Pier’Alli was born in 1948 in Florence, where he studied architecture. Founder and director of the Ouroboros Theater Company, in 1982 he began his work in opera and at the Teatro alla Scala di Milano staged Erwartung, Die glückliche Hand e Pierrot Lunaire by Arnold Schönberg. His productions include Der Ring des Nibelungen and Aida for the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Simon Boccanegra coproduced with Teatro La Fenice di Venezia and Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova, Lucia di Lammermoor, Beatrice di Tenda and Der Freischütz for the Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Pellèas et Mélisande for the Opéra de Lille and La Metamorfosi for the 75° Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. In 2006 he staged Fidelio for the inauguration of the first lyric season at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía of Valencia.