Fidelio

Music Ludwig van Beethoven
Libretto Joseph Sonnleithner,
Stephan von Breuning and
George Friedrich Treitschke
Conductor Antonio Pappano
Director Tobias Kratzer
Set and costume designer
Rainer Sellmaier
Lighting designer Michael Bauer
Video designer Manuel Braun
Leonore (Fidelio) Lise Davidsen
Florestan Jonas Kaufmann
Rocco Georg Zeppenfeld
Don Pizarro Simon Neal
Marzelline Amanda Forsythe

Dramaturg Bettina Bartz

Royal Opera Chorus
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Beethoven’s only opera is a masterpiece, an uplifting story of risk and triumph. In this new production, conducted by Antonio Pappano, Jonas Kaufmann plays the political prisoner Florestan, and Lise Davidsen his wife Leonore (disguised as ‘Fidelio’) who daringly sets out to rescue him. Set in strong counterpoint are the ingredients of domestic intrigue, determined love and the cruelty of an oppressive regime. The music is transcendent throughout and includes the famous Act I Quartet, the Prisoners’ Chorus and Florestan’s impassioned Act II cry in the darkness and vision of hope. Tobias Kratzer’s new staging brings together the dark reality of the French Revolutionary ‘Terror’ and our own time to illuminate Fidelio’s inspiring message of shared humanity.