Arrangement from Thursday 13 to Sunday 16 March 2025,
3 nights
The Cunning Little Vixen - L. Janaček, the 14
Lothar Koenigs - Barrie Kosky
Angela Brower, Claire Barnett-Jones, Martin Snell, Wolfgang Koch
Staatsoper
Carmen is undoubtedly one of the most popular and most performed operas in the world. Its premiere in 1875 at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, however, was only a moderate success: The outrageous new realism, the brutality and vehemence in the actors’ actions, and not least the shady milieu, overwhelmed the conventional Parisian audience, which was stuck in old patterns of thought. The opera is set around 1820 in Seville, Andalusia, and is based on the novella of the same name by Prosper Merimée. The libretto was co-produced by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy (nephew of composer Jacques Fromental Halévy and also cousin of Georges Bizet’s wife). Shortly after its premiere, Carmen began its triumphal march across the world via Vienna and the rest of Europe, a triumph that continues to this day. The theme and plot of this opera inspired numerous artists to create independent works, and various (opera and dance) films as well as ballets were made. Georges Bizet (1838-1875), however, unfortunately did not live to see the triumph of his sensual and passionate masterpiece. Exactly three months to the day after the first performance, he succumbed to a fatal heart attack at the age of only 36.
Carmen♪ - G. Bizet, the 15, 18h
Alexandre Bloch - Lina Wertmüller
Clémentine Margaine,
Rosa Feola
The Italian Rosa Feola (*1986) belongs to the select circle of singers whose soprano voice shines in the heights without losing its soft suppleness. Feola first achieved great international attention in 2010 when she won the Second Prize, the Audience Prize and the Zarzuela Prize at Plácido Domingo’s Operalia Competition. Much acclaimed debuts and engagements followed at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala and Teatro La Fenice Venice, the Metropolitan Opera New York, the Vienna State Opera, the Zurich Opera House, the Bavarian State Opera Munich and the festival stages in Salzburg, Ravenna and Glyndebourne, to name but a few stages. The soprano’s repertoire includes the roles of Gilda (‘Rigoletto’), Susanna (‘Le Nozze di Figaro’), Musetta (‘La bohème’), Violetta (‘La traviata’), Corinna (‘Il viaggio à Reims’), Lauretta (‘Gianni Schicci’) or the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor. In addition to the great operatic works, Feola also performs in recitals, from contemplative recitals with piano to Rossini’s Stabat Mater.
Rosa Feola♪,
Piotr Beczala
Born in 1966 in Czechowice-Dziedzice, Poland, tenor Piotr Beczała’s elegant, yet powerful vocal delivery has thrilled audiences on opera and concert stages around the world. His engagements have taken the opera singer to all the major houses, including Berlin, Munich, Milan, New York, Salzburg, Vienna and Zurich. In the summer of 2018, after only a few weeks of rehearsals, Beczała made his acclaimed debut on the Green Hill at the Bayreuth Festival, where he took over at short notice for Roberto Alagna in the role of Lohengrin. Beczała’s extensive repertoire continues to include the title roles in the operas Werther, Roméo et Juliette, Faust and Les Contes d’Hoffmanns, as well as the roles of Il Duca di Mantova (Rigoletto), Rodolfo (La bohème), Sir Edgardo di Ravenswood (Lucia di Lammermoor), Lenski (Eugene Onegin), Tamino (The Magic Flute), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) and Alfredo (La traviata). Beczała is one of the leading tenors of our time, performing alongside renowned top orchestras, conductors and notable stage partners, including Placido Domingo, Sir Elliott Gardiner, Fabio Luisi, Riccardo Muti, Christian Thielemann, Diana Damrau as well as Anna Netrebko.
Piotr Beczala♪, Jérôme Boutillier
Staatsoper
