Fidelio, Op. 72

Composer: Beethoven, Ludwig van

Librettist/Text Author: Sonnleithner, Joseph

Conductor: Mehta, Zubin

Orchestra: Valencian Community Orchestra

Chorus: Valencia Regional Government Choir

Chorus Master: Perales, Francesc

Don Fernando: Stabell, Carsten

Don Pizarro: Uusitalo, Juha

First prisoner: Agullo, Javier

Florestan: Seiffert, Peter

Jaquino: Trost, Rainer

Leonore: Meier, Waltraud

Marzelline: Raimondi, Ildiko

Rocco: Salminen, Matti

Second prisoner: Pierro, Nahuel di

Set Designer: Pier'Alli, Pierluigi

Costume Designer: Pier'Alli, Pierluigi

Lighting Designer: Levi, Guido

Stage Director: Pier'Alli, Pierluigi

Television Director: Mancini, Tiziano

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Date of Production: 2006

Venue: Palau de les Arts "Reina Sofia", Valencia

Playing Time: 02:27:30

Catalogue Number: A93001722

Libretto

Fidelio, Op. 72 EN

Synopsis

Fidelio, Op. 72

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Thunderous applause and loud cries of "bravo" greeted the premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven's Fidelio at the inaugural performance of the first opera season in Valencia's new Palau de les Arts on 25 October 2006. Attending the stellar performance in architect Santiago Calatrava's breathtaking theater complex was Queen Sofía of Spain, who added to the glamour of the event. With this spectacular production directed by Pierluigi Pier'Alli, Valencia has put itself back on the map of the international opera world.

Calatrava's sweeping structure recalls the organic forms of Catalonia's "Modernisme" style. Hints of Gaudì and traces of Gothic arches and nave-like spaces project a feeling of openness and freedom. Not surprisingly, Fidelio was chosen to inaugurate the theater's main concert hall - an opera about freedom set in Spain, and in which the contrast between the darkness of Florestan's dungeon and the light of justice and love embodied by Leonore is both heard in the music and seen on the stage.

The production by noted Italian director Pierluigi Pier'Alli does full justice to the opera's concept with an imaginative treatment of light, projections and digital wizardry. Pier'Alli himself says that his concept "becomes increasingly symbolic and abstract" as the work progresses. Dominating the activity on stage are two of today's most distinguished German singers, Waltraud Meier (Leonore) and Peter Seiffert (Florestan), who have left their mark above all on the Wagner interpretation of our time. Finnish bass Matti Salminen stamped his forceful character on his role as the jailer Rocco. Under the baton of internationally acclaimed maestro Zubin Mehta, the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana played with fire and precision.