Tune in on Saturday, June 13 at 12 p.m. to hear the Vienna State Opera’s production of Beethoven’s one and only opera, Fidelio. Originally aired in 1805, Beethoven revised Fidelio multiple times before its finalization in 1814. WRTI will carry this broadcast as a part of the weekly WFMT Opera Series.
Fidelio follows the story of Leonore, whose husband, Florestan, has been imprisoned for exposing crimes committed by the powerful Don Pizarro. She disguises herself as a security guard, named Fidelio, in order to free her husband from bondage. Fidelio is renowned for its abstraction, political commentary, and, as Martha C. Nussbaum, writing for the Lyric Opera of Chicago, points out, its discontinuity: “Fidelio is all about discontinuity — how mundane life can offer moments of breakthrough, in which ordinary people ascend to the sublime.” Director Nikolaus Habjan takes this a step further, suggesting a discontinuity between interior and exterior lives by doubling both Leonore and Florestan with life-size puppets.
This production will feature soprano Malin Byström as Leonore (and Fidelio), tenor David Butt Philip as her husband, Florestan, and baritone Christopher Maltman as the imprisoner, Don Pizarro. Also featured is bass Tareq Nazmi as the prison warden, Rocco, and soprano Kathrin Zukowski as Marzelline, the warden’s daughter. Franz Welser-Möst will be conducting the Vienna State Opera Orchestra & Chorus.
Cast:
Malin Byström as Leonore
David Butt Philip as Florestan
Christopher Maltman as Don Pizarro
Tareqq Nazmi as Rocco
Kathrin Zukowski as Marzelline
Conducted by Franz Welser-Möst