Fidelio is on the program for the 2025/2026 season as a concert performance. Under the musical direction of principal conductor Marcus Merkel, Beethoven's musical mastery will be an especially intense experience.
Pizarro, the governor of a state prison, arbitrarily imprisons political opponents. Among them is his personal adversary and fierce critic Florestan. Florestan's wife Leonore has disguised herself as a man and, under the alias "Fidelio," joined the jailer Rocco in order to search for Florestan. When the governor learns that the state minister is about to inspect the prison, he decides to have the illegal prisoners eliminated. He orders Rocco to dig a grave for Florestan. Leonore helps him. At the last second, she manages to save her husband from being murdered.
In order to explore his personal ideas of freedom, love, and humanity, Ludwig van Beethoven drew on a literary work by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, which in turn was based on a historical event from the time of the French Revolution. Beethoven worked on his only opera for over ten years: three versions and four overtures bear witness to his constant struggle to find the right form.
Premiere June 19,
Further performances: June 21, 23, 25, 27, and 28, 2026
