Fidelio

What begins as a domestic drama turns into a bold exploration of freedom, gender and the power of love. Tobias Kratzer’s production combines revolutionary flair with a sharp, contemporary edge, asking the question: when does political inaction turn into complicity? Former Jette Parker Young Artist Jennifer Davis stars as the bold and independent Leonore (‘Fidelio’). Davis is joined by Eric Cutler as Florestan and Dmitry Belosselskiy as Rocco, both making their debuts with The Royal Opera this Season, and Christina Gansch as Marzelline. Alexander Soddy returns to conduct. 

A revolutionary tale

When Fidelio had its premiere at the Theater an der Wien in 1805, Napoleon’s army was occupying the city. The aftershocks of the French Revolution were felt across Europe long after the 18th century, and questions of personal freedom, social justice and the rights of the individual continued to resonate.

Kaleidoscopic musical forms

In Beethoven’s only opera, we witness the composer at his dramatic finest. 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. The opening duet between Jaquino the jailor and his daughter Marzelline is sung in the style of Singspiel (song interspersed with spoken dialogue), while the hymn-like Prisoners’ Chorus at the finale of Act II recalls Beethoven's most transformative Oratorio (sacred) work. It took Beethoven 12 years to complete the score, and the result is a powerful drama which ambitiously challenges formal musical structure and grows in scope as the story progresses.

The Prisoners' Chorus

At the end of Act I, the prisoners are released from the darkness of their cells. Under the penetrating rays of the sun, prisoners and audience alike are reminded of the transformative effect of freedom on the human spirit. ‘O welche Lust,’ the men cry out: ‘Oh what joy, to be in the open air, to breathe freely once more. Up here is life, down below in the dungeon is death.’ It is these steps into the light that imbue, if briefly, the imprisoned with hope, indeed joy – before they must soon return to the cold and fearful depths of their cells, and of the human mind.

Based on a true story...

In 1803, just two years before the premiere of Fidelio, Beethoven composed his Eroica symphony, dedicating it to Napoleon Bonaparte. When in 1804 Napoleon declared himself Emperor, Beethoven withdrew the dedication in disgust. It should come as no surprise, then, that the theme of freedom is so important to Fidelio, whose plot follows a young, independent woman as she attempts to free her husband who has been wrongly imprisoned. Beethoven based his opera on a true story from the French Revolution, and a real-life rescue that took place in the city of Tours.