Fidelio is the only opera that Beethoven ever wrote. Originally entitled Leonore, oder Der Triumph der ehelichen Liebe, with the libretto prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, it premiered at the Theater an der Wien on 20 November 1805. The following year Beethoven’s friend Stephan von Breuning rewrote the libretto to create a second version that shortened the opera from three acts to two. In 1814 Beethoven revised his opera yet again,...

We were expecting an extraordinary show. First, there was the symbolic choice of 3 October, the day of Germany’s reunification. Then the reuniting of two giants of Berlin’s musical scene, Harry Kupfer as stage director and Daniel Barenboim as musical director. And then there is the opera itself, Fidelio, an apologia for freedom and faithfulness, perfect for evoking the isolation of the former Eastern Bloc. The promise of a great opera moment is realised in the first bars of...

Lot of open questions, the audience remains clueless, some show their disappointment and incomprehension after a new interpretation of Ludwig van Beethoven's only and beloved opera Fidelio. It is this year's main new opera production of the acclaimed Salzburg Festival. This piece is for most music lovers the incarnation of a freedom drama and the triumph of love. The German director Claus Guth has put his hands on this drama of his compatriote to convert it to a revolutionary new...

The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino belongs to the most prestigious music Festivals in Italy with a broad variety of spectacles consisting of opera, concerts, recitals, films and accompanying venues. The international reputable maestro Zubin Metha is the musical director and a strong supporter of the troublesome Italian culture scene as well as in Valencia in Spain, where this year production of Ludwig Van Beethoven's Fidelio comes from. Florentine director Pier'Alli has created his...