Organization

Singer

Soprano

Waltraud Meier

Leonore

Tenor

Peter Seiffert

Florestan

Bass

Matti Salminen

Rocco

Baritone

Juha Uusitalo

Don Pizzaro

Ildikó Raimondi

Marzelline

Rainer Trost

Jaquino

Conductor

Zubin Mehta

Stage director

Pier Luigi Pier'Alli

Chorus master

Francisco Perales

Javier Agulló

First prisoner

Nahuel Di Pierro

Second prisoner

Carsten Stabell

Don Fernando

Set designer

Costume designer

Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia

Others

Cor de la Generalitat Valenciana

Orchestra

Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana

Fidelio

Valencia

Spain

Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía

Auditori

On October 28, 2006 in Valencia the new opera house was inaugurated with this performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Fidelio".

A state prison near Seville, 18th century. Florestan, a Spanish nobleman, has been unjustly held captive for years by Pizarro, the corrupt governor of the fortress. Florestan's faithful wife Leonore has been hired as an assistant by the jailer Rocco under the name Fidelio in men's clothing in order to free Florestan. Pizarro learns that the minister, Don Fernando, will inspect the prison and decides to kill Florestan first. Fidelio has persuaded Rocco to let the prisoners out in the sun for a bit. However, Florestan is not among them; for he is chained in a secret dungeon. There, Rocco is to dig a grave for the unwelcome prisoner on Pizarro's orders. Leonore descends with Rocco to the prisoner and recognizes her husband. When Pizarro wants to kill Florestan, she throws herself in between, threatens the villain with a pistol and reveals herself. Fanfare sounds announce the arrival of the minister, who frees the prisoners and brings Pizarro to justice.

Beethoven's opera "Fidelio" is a hymn to freedom. The contrast between the gloomy imprisonment as a result of political despotism and the light of justice and freedom is not only visible on stage, but also impressively heard in the music. The strength of this ethical and moral idea combined with the musical power and beauty of Beethoven's score make "Fidelio" so unique among the great works of operatic literature.
In 1804 Beethoven was commissioned by the Theater an der Wien to write an opera. The libretto was an adaptation of Pierre Gaveaux's opera "Léonore ou L'amour conjugal", which premiered in 1798. Beethoven was fascinated by the idealistic idea of ​​the plot and began composing his opera "Leonore". The premiere in 1805 was unsuccessful - mainly French officers who were occupying Vienna at the time were sitting in the theatre; probably they couldn't do much with a German opera with spoken dialogue.
Beethoven subjected his composition to a laborious revision, which was performed nine years later under the title "Fidelio" and has become the definitive version. Beethoven composed the well-known "Fidelio" overture in E major for this version. The tradition of playing the original "Leonore" overture in Act II goes back to Gustav Mahler, who wished to preserve this magnificent composition as a concert piece in the opera.

Fidelio Beethoven

Public

Approved

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