Fidelio – Opera by Ludwig van Beethoven / Musical Arrangement of the Finale by Annette Schlünz / Development of the Production by Theater Bremen / Libretto by Joseph Sonnleithner, Stephan von Breuning and Georg Friedrich Treitschke based on Jean Nicolas B

"There is the pathetic jubilation and its questioning at the same time. It is not Beethoven’s toes that the director and composer step on, but rather our own. What more can an opera achieve?" (concerti magazine)       
                                                                                                                                              
Ludwig van Beethoven’s only opera “Fidelio” was composed as a “rescue opera” in the spirit of the French Revolution and tells the story of a fearless woman overcoming arbitrary and tyrannical despotism: Leonore. Disguised as a man called Fidelio, she manages to free her husband Florestan from the clutches of his adversary Don Pizarro. This character has been immortalized throughout history; since its premiere, the operatic pathos to freedom has been repeatedly appropriated and ideologically absorbed by various political systems. What did freedom mean in the past and what does it mean today? Which are the chains that hinder our freedom today? Paul-Georg Dittrich's production is a journey through time and at the same time a call to use Beethoven's freedom opera to face up to the probing questions of our own social responsibility.