Similar to Verdi with Falstaff, Berlioz chose a light-hearted Shakespeare story as the basis for his last opera. Béatrice et Bénédict is a charmingly tongue-in-cheek work which - especially in the exchange of blows between the two main characters - certainly has bite and dresses its protagonists in wonderful melodies. A late work that is rarely found in German-speaking countries, although it (in the words of the composer) "smiles with its eyes and lips" - an effect that is hard to resist when listening to and watching this opera.
There is joy in Sicilian Messina: the people are celebrating the army's victorious return from battle and an important wedding is about to take place. Héro, the governor's daughter, looks forward to her impending marriage to Claudio, the general's right-hand man, with such anticipation that she sheds tears of happiness. And while her cousin Béatrice and Claudio's friend Bénédict are otherwise united in their deep antipathy and seem to be fully occupied in their biting, mocking verbal battles, they are in complete agreement on one point: if this is to be the happiness in love that everyone else is always raving about, then they'd better stay single. However, the two squabblers have not reckoned with their fellow men, who initiate a well-meaning conspiracy with the aim of bringing the declared refuseniks together happily after all ...
Premiere February 17, 2024
Further performances: February 21, March 1, 8 and 16, April 13, 19 and 21, May 1, 10 and 17, 2024
