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The Theater an der Wien receives subsidies A Wien Holding Company from the Cultural Department of the City of Vienna OF TRAGEDIES AND COMEDIES

murder mystery, The Name of the Rose, the shrewd monk William of Bas- Whereas the protagonists in a tragedy are portrayed in tragic, insoluble kerville fights to save Aristotle’s book. According to Baskerville, Aristotle conflicts and, at every moment, fear the hopelessness of their actions, sees the willingness to laugh as a power for good that can also have epis- characters in comedies find themselves in a conflict that can be solved, temological value. Using ingenious puzzles and surprising metaphors – although they themselves do not necessarily know it. They have, in fact, mas- lies, as it were – comedy forces us to take a closer look and reaches the truth tery over their fate, even though the conflicts portrayed seem just as hope- through a distorted portrayal of people and the world. less as those in tragedy. But why is comedy comic if it deals with similar conflicts as tragedy does? Paul Hindemith takes the example of the painter Matthias Grünewald to portray the search for truth as a feat of creative energy. His opera Mathis der For a long time, the serious and the comic were strictly separate genres with- Maler is set during the Reformation and the Peasants’ War is a reflection in musical theatre, though they always influenced each other. The sombre on the role of art and has, two years after the National Socialists seized Don Giovanni is described as a “comic opera” whereas Handel’s much more power in 1935, uncomfortable relevance to current events. “A city always light-hearted Serse is assigned to the genre of serious opera. Søren Kier- renowned for freedom of thought is now expected to burn books,” says kegaard realised that truth and reality can only be evoked by two opposite Mathis’s friend, the Mainz citizen Riedinger in indignation over the order poles that nurture each other: “It belongs to the imperfection of everything to destroy all of Luther’s writings. human that man can only attain his desire by passing through its opposite.” In the 12/13 season, the Theater an der Wien for the first time has come- In his grotesque short story Is It A Comedy? Is It A Tragedy? Thomas Bern- dy as a major theme, even though the programme still consists largely of hard examines the boundaries between the light-hearted and the tragic “tragedies”. Which brings us back to the question of truth and reality, or, both in real life and on the stage. No one was more convinced than Bern- as Arthur Schopenhauer rather drastically put it, “Anyone who expects dev- hard that the awfulness of reality could ultimately never be portrayed as ils to walk the world with horns and fools with bells will always be either a tragedy, but only as a comedy. Tragedy became his comedy and he said, their prey or their plaything.” “Everything is absurd when you contemplate death.” I hope you enjoy reading this programme. Remember that you are spoilt Aristotle, the “father of the genre”, saw in tragedy, to which he applied a def- for choice when it comes to choosing your subscription, and please give inition in his Poetics which is still widely debated today, the representation us the pleasure of visiting often. of events that portray the fall into misfortune of a good person through no fault of his or her own. He ascribed a cathartic effect to this theatrical repre- Best wishes, sentation that purified the soul.

The genre of opera emerged from the attempt to combine the theatre of the ancient world with music, and the question of the serious and the comic was a central issue from the very beginning. The first operatic masterpieces were steeped in the tragic before audiences and the ruling classes began Intendant Roland Geyer to expect a happy ending.

Aristotle devoted the second part of his Poetics to comedy and an exami- nation of laughter and its effects. Although the book is lost it nevertheless ignited intense debate in the present day. In Umberto Eco’s monastic All the world’s a Content Opening 12/13 7 stage and every Music theatre C. Monteverdi: Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria 9 G. Puccini: Il Trittico 13 role is sweet. Chr. W. Gluck: Iphigénie en Aulide 19 P. Hindemith: Mathis der Maler 23 G. F. Handel: Radamisto 27 G. Rossini: Le Comte Ory 31 L.v. Beethoven: Fidelio 35 H. Berlioz: Béatrice et Bénédict 39 G. Verdi: AtTila 43 In the “Hölle” 47 T. Schulze: PREMIERE (UA) 49 G. Wacks: STRENG VERTRAULICH 51 concertante Opera 53 Special Projects 71 Demner, Merlicek & Bergmann Demner, Introduction to the Season 78 Guided Tours 79 Jugend an der Wien 81 Theater an der Wien in the Kammeroper 83 Information 84 Prices 88 Seating plan 89 Imprint 92 Booking Form 93

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zu10039_AZ_Kultur_engl_130x205abf.indd 1 23.06.2010 15:33:59 Uhr OPENING 12/13 A MUSICAL READING

James Joyce UlYsses An odyssey through Dublin on 16/6/1904 with texts and compositions in 18 episodes

Special melodramatic version for the Theater an der Wien by Klaus Buhlert and Manfred Hess

Music from Bach to Berio to Bush

Leopold Bloom Karl Markovics Molly Bloom Corinna Harfouch Stephen Dedalus Nicholas ofczareK Percussion DAME Evelyn Glennie et al.

In his epochal Ulysses James Joyce describes one day in the life of Leopold Bloom, drawing parallels to Homer’s Odyssey and presenting a man’s world of thought in striking language. In the process the distance between narrating and reading or listening is removed completely.

The evening is a fascinating literary and musical stroll through our streams of consciousness.

Thursday, 6 September 2012, 7.30 P.M. Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria Claudio Monteverdi 7 -17 September 2012 Il ritorno d’Ulisse Thirty years after creating the first masterpiece in the new genre of opera, L’Orfeo in 1607 which was premiered at the court in Mantua, Monteverdi in patria wrote two more operas for Venice where public opera houses had existed Dramma per musica in a prologue and three acts (1640) since 1637: Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria to a libretto by Giacomo Badoaro after Homer’s Odyssey, first performed in 1639/40, and L’incoronazione di MUSIC BY CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI Poppea, premiered shortly before his death in 1643. LIBRETTO BY GIACOMO BADOARO After books XIII-XXIV In the prologue, Il Tempo (Time), La Fortuna (Fortune) and Amore (Cupid) From Homers Odyssey show l’Umana fragilitá (Human Frailty) that all three of them have every Performed in Italian with German surtitles mortal at their mercy. The story of the return of Ulisse (Ulysses) provides a dras- tic example of this: for ten years he laid siege to Troy, and his return home was Conductor Christophe Rousset prevented for another ten years by the anger of the sea-god Nettuno (Neptune). Director Claus Guth Without the support of the goddess Minerva his wanderings may have gone Set & costume designer Christian Schmidt on forever. With her help he succeeds in passing the final test to which he Light designer Bernd Purkrabek is subjected following his arrival in his homeland of Ithaca: to win back his Video projections Arian Andiel wife Penelope. She has saved herself for him, but since everyone believes Dramatic advisor Konrad Kuhn him to be dead she has been wooed with ever increasing intensity by three suitors. Once Ulisse has eliminated his rivals, Penelope refuses to believe that Ulisse Garry Magee he is her long-lost husband. It is not until the gods intervene once more that Penelope Delphine Galou the couple, so long separated, are finally reunited. Telemaco Pavel Kolgatin Melanto Katija Dragojevic With his unfussy but emotion-laden score, Monteverdi manages to portray Eumete Marcel Beekman the mythical figure of Odysseus as a modern man marked by his trauma- Antinoo Igor Bakan tic experiences of war. The depiction of Penelope is equally fascinating: Iro Jörg Schneider so intensely does she grieve for the husband she believes lost that she Giove Emanuele d’Aguanno refuses to accept it when he stands before her again in flesh and blood. Nettuno / Il Tempo Phillip Ens Claus Guth continues his Monteverdi cycle with Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria. Minerva / Amore Sabina Puértolas As with L’Orfeo his intention is to use the 380-year-old work to trace the Giunone / La Fortuna Cornelia Horak fates of people who could be our contemporaries. L’Umana fragilità / Pisandro Rupert Enticknap Anfinomo Tamás Tarjányi Eurimaco Sebastian Kohlhepp Les Talens Lyriques New production Theater an der Wien Premiere: 7 September 2012 Performances: 9 / 11 / 13 / 15 / 17 September 2012, 7 p.m. Introduction: Sunday, 2 September 2012, 11 a.m. Music Theatre | 11 Il trittico Giacomo Puccini 10 - 23 October 2012 Il trittico Il tabarro Three one-act operas (1918) LIBRETTO BY GIUSEPPE ADAMI After the Play LA HOUPPELANDE by DIDIER GOLD MUSIC BY GIACOMO PUCCINI Michele Roberto Frontali Performed in Italian with German surtitles Giorgetta Patricia Racette Luigi Maxim Aksenov Conductor Kirill Petrenko Frugola Stella Grigorian Director Damiano Michieletto Tinca Jürgen Sacher Set designer Paolo Fantin Il talpa Maurizio Lo Piccolo Costume designer Carla Teti Amante Ekaterina Sadovnikova Light designer Alessandro Carletti Amante / Un venditore ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien di canzonette Paolo Fanale Arnold Schoenberg Chor (Chorus master: Erwin Ortner) Suor Angelica New production Theater an der Wien LIBRETTO BY GIOVACCHINO FORZANO Suor Angelica Patricia Racette La Zia Principessa Marie-Nicole Lemieux La Badessa Stella Grigorian La Suora Zelatrice Ann-Beth Solvang La Maestra delle Novizie Celia Sotomayor La Cercatrice Carola Glaser Gianni Schicchi LIBRETTO BY GIOVACCHINO FORZANO After an episode from the 30th canto of Dante’s INFERNO Gianni Schicchi Roberto Frontali Lauretta Ekaterina Sadovnikova Zita Marie-Nicole Lemieux Rinuccio Paolo Fanale Nella Carola Glaser La Ciesca Stella Grigorian Gherardo Jürgen Sacher Premiere: 10 October 2012 Simone Maurizio Lo Piccolo Gherardino Leonid Sushon Performances: 12 / 15 / 18 / 20 / 23 October 2012, 7 p.m. Introduction: Sunday, 7 October 2012, 11 a.m. 14 | Music Theatre | 15 Il tabarro Following the death of their child the love between Michele, a Parisian barge- Inspired by one-act operas such as Richard Strauss’s Salome and Elek- owner, and his wife Giorgetta, has died. The couple have nothing more to say tra, Giacomo Puccini wanted comparable works as part of a triptych with to each other. Although Michele has not given up trying to re-establish contact which the Italian operatic tradition could be taken further. However, it with his wife, a desperate yearning for a better life drives the young woman into proved difficult to find suitable material. Five years elapsed from his first the arms of another man who shares her dreams. Her husband begins to suspect plans to the premiere of Il trittico in 1918. But with this three-part eve- that something is afoot. He lies in wait for his wife’s lover and kills him. In ning for Italian opera he succeeded in writing a work that has its place in an act of barbaric cruelty he confronts his wife with her lover’s dead body. She the international canon of modern opera. collapses in despair. In Il tabarro Puccini portrays the melancholy, emotionally charged atmosphere on the banks of the sluggishly flowing Seine, Suor Angelica is a Suor Angelica drama centring on female characters full of mystical reverie and Gianni A young noblewoman must atone for her sins in a convent. Her crime was a Schicchi proves to be Puccini’s most sophisticated score: a single, large and secret affair which even brought forth an illegitimate child. Angelica yearns finely spun ensemble scene. He had long wanted to write a comic opera. for this love-child but is told by her cold-hearted aunt that it has died. It was Despite this, the musical comedy is an exception in his œuvre. Only with only the prospect of possibly getting to know the child one day that had kept the one-act opera about the will-forger Gianni Schicchi did he succeed in Angelica alive. Once she has been robbed of this hope she poisons herself. creating an opera full of wit and masterful composing technique of the As she lies dying she is granted a consoling vision: Madonna leads the soul highest order which, like so many great comedies, tells a story which is at of her son to her. heart extremely sad.

The differing styles of the three works are intended to accentuate the af- Gianni Schicchi fect of the individual operas. Social drama, moving mystery play and a sar- The wishes of the protagonists in Gianni Schicchi centre on money. The castic social comedy combine to create a musical and dramatic image of wealthy Buoso has died and bequeathed his entire fortune to a monastery. the world. The eloquence of Puccini’s melodic gestures, his subtle harmo- His family is furious, but can see no solution. They consult Gianni Schicchi, nies and the breadth and diversity of orchestral timbres give Il trittico the who is known throughout the city for his cunning. Though he is not a member status of a major work. The unity of the musical triptych is really found of the family, his daughter Lauretta is in love with Rinuccio, one of the younger in the contrasting themes it covers for which Puccini finds connecting family members. Gianni Schicchi arrives and devises a macabre trick: because musical stylistics. Suor Angelica has a tragic ending but finishes with an no one outside the family knows of Buoso’s death he hides the body, slips uplifting closing scene. Gianni Schicchi, on the other hand, ends on a light- into the role of the dying man and dictates a new will to a notary, leaving gener- hearted and deeply immoral note. ous sums to himself and his daughter – much to the annoyance of the rest of the rabble.

16 | Music Theatre | 17 Iphigénie en Aulide Christoph Willibald Gluck 8 - 22 November 2012 Iphigénie en Aulide Christoph Willibald Gluck was already sixty years old when he followed his pupil Maria Antonia, who by that time had become the Dauphine Ma- Tragédie in three acts (1775) rie Antoinette, to Paris. There he wanted to continue developing his idea MUSIC BY CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK of the international reformed opera with elements of the French and Italian LIBRETTO BY MARIE FRANÇOIS LOIS GAND BAILLI DU ROULLET tradition. In 1762 he had presented his first work of this type, Orfeo ed After the TRAGedy IPHIGÉNIE by JEAN BAPTISTE RACINE Euridice, in Vienna. His aim was an organic blend of words and music and clear beauty that speaks to the heart. Performed in French with German surtitles The Trojan prince Paris has abducted Helen, wife of the Spartan king Mene- Conductor Alessandro De Marchi laus. This humiliation prompts the Greeks to go to war against Troy. King Aga- Director Torsten Fischer memnon of Mycenae gathers the Greek fleet in Aulis. But because he has Set & costume designers Vasilis Triantafillopoulos offended the goddess Diana she causes the wind to drop, becalming the war- Herbert Schäfer ships. The High Priest Calchas announces that the goddess will not send any wind Dramatic advisor Herbert Schäfer unless Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia to her. However, the plan Agamemnon Bo Skovhus was to marry Iphigenia to Achilles. Now, instead of a wedding there will be an Clytemnestre Michelle Breedt execution. But Achilles opposes the plan to sacrifice his bride. King Agamemnon Iphigénie Myrtó Papatanasíu is torn between the interests of a father and those of a warrior. When the war- Achille Paul Groves hungry populace demands the sacrifice ever more loudly, Iphigenia accepts her Calchas Pavel Kudinov fate. In Gluck’s version the goddess Diana is not only appeased by this humility and transports Iphigenia to Tauris in keeping with the mythology, but also Wiener Symphoniker releases her entirely from her service. Iphigenia and Achilles can marry after Arnold Schoenberg Chor (Chorus master: Erwin Ortner) all before the heroes set out to war. New production Theater an der Wien By deliberately breaking with the vocal virtuosity of Italian tradition which had by then become so conventional as to be an end in itself, Gluck achieved a musical interpretation of the characters of an intensity never before known: Agamemnon's agony, his inner conflict between a father’s love and his duty as a general, is vividly portrayed. Although the premiere was rather coolly received, Parisian audiences quickly discovered the work’s merits, and tickets for subsequent performances were soon only available on the black market.

Premiere: 8 November 2012 Performances: 10 / 13 / 16 / 18 / 22 November 2012, 7 p.m. Introduction: Sunday, 28 October 2012, 11 a.m. Music Theatre | 21 Mathis der Maler Paul Hindemith 12 - 28 December 2012 Mathis der Maler Mathis der Maler (Matthias the Painter) was Paul Hindemith’s masterpiece and artistic manifesto. In it he uses episodes from the life of the Opera in seven scenes (1938) painter Matthias Grünewald (c. 1475 – 1530), the creator of the Isenheim MUSIc and LIBRETTO BY PAUL HINDEMITH Altarpiece, to examine the question of the position that artists have in society. Most of these episodes are fictional, thought up by Hindemith Performed in German with German surtitles himself, and reflect his own moral conflict in 1930s’ Germany. The symphony Mathis der Maler was written before the opera and after its pre- Conductor Bertrand de Billy miere in 1934, conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler, the scheduled premiere Director Keith Warner of the opera was allegedly prohibited by Adolf Hitler himself. Hindemith Set designer Johan Engels left Germany in 1938 and went into exile. Mathis der Maler was premiered Costume designer Emma Ryott that same year in Zurich. Light designer Mark Jonathan Albrecht von Brandenburg Kurt Streit During the time of the Peasants’ War, the artistic seclusion of the painter Ma- Mathis Wolfgang Koch this is disrupted: his friends are fighting on the side of the Reformation against Lorenz von Pommersfelden Martin Snell the Catholic rulers. What is he, who works for the Catholic church in the person Wolfgang Capito Charles Reid of the apparently tolerant bishop of Mainz, to do? Continue to paint or join Riedinger Franz Grundheber the rebels? His conscience urges him to fight. Ursula, the daughter of a wealthy Hans Schwalb Raymond Very Protestant citizen of Mainz, is in love with him, but he rejects her advances. Sylvester von Schaumburg Oliver Ringelhahn The outbreaks of violence in the war appal him. He withdraws again and accepts Ursula Heidi Brunner that painting is the life’s work appointed to him by God. He is able to illustrate Regina Katerina Tretyakova his experiences in works of supreme artistic expression. Gräfin Helfenstein Magdalena Anna Hofmann Explaining the source of his inspiration, Hindemith said that “old folk Wiener Symphoniker songs, polemic songs from the time of the Reformation and Gregorian Slowakischer Philharmonischer Chor chants form the fertile ground for the Mathis score”. He wove these and (Chorus master: Blanka Juhanˇáková) other elements of European musical tradition such as the concerto gros- so, the chaconne and hymns delicately into his compositional technique New production Theater an der Wien which was trained in the context of the developments in the 1920s. The structure of the musical setting is always governed by the clarity of the voice-leading and the audibility of the words. Owing to its tremendous topicality and masterly compositional technique, Hindemith’s drama about an artist immediately became firmly established in the operatic repertoire after 1945.

Premiere: 12 December 2012 Performances: 16 / 19 / 23 / 28 December 2012, 7 p.m. Introduction: Sunday, 9 December 2012, 11 a.m. Music Theatre | 25 Radamisto George Frideric Handel 20 - 31 January 2013 Radamisto Radamisto marked the sensational start of George Frideric Handel’s Lon- don opera company, the Royal Academy of Music: King George I and the Opera seria in three acts (1720/28) Prince of Wales were in the audience to witness the spectacular premiere MUSIc BY George Frideric Handel in April 1720. Ladies fought for the best seats and fainted because of the LIBRETTO BY NICOLA FRANCESCO HAYM crowds and the heat: it was an outstanding success. For the second run After DOMENICO LALLI of performances in the autumn of 1720, Handel rewrote large parts of Radamisto because the famous castrato Senesino had arrived in the mean- Performed in Italian with German surtitles time and took over the title role. The part of the sensitive Radamisto was to showcase the full range of the virtuoso’s talents. Conductor René Jacobs Director Vincent Boussard Set designer Vincent Lemaire Desire for the wrong woman leads to war: Tiridate covets the wife of his brother- Costume designer Christian Lacroix in-law Radamisto. In order to win her he goes to battle against his entire family. Light designer Guido Levy But the target he so much desires, Zenobia, does not want the victorious general. Dramatic advisor Barbara Weigel Her love of her husband is unshakeable. Time and time again the lives of Radamisto David Daniels the two lovers are endangered by Tiridate’s frenzied passion. In the end they are Tiridate Florian Boesch separated when Zenobia prefers to throw herself into a river than fall into Polissena Sophie Karthäuser Tiridate’s hands. But his passion also drives the tyrant to torment his people Zenobia Patricia Bardon until they can stand no more. In the end his soldiers revolt against his despo- Tigrane Jeremy Ovenden tism. Tiridate is forced to back down and the story ends with the obligatory “lieto fine”, the happy ending. Radamisto and Zenobia are reunited and Tiridate Freiburger Barockorchester returns with clipped wings to his faithful wife Polissena who tenderly for- gives the philanderer despite his bad behaviour. New production Theater an der Wien Handel’s desire to amaze the Londoners with the virtuosity of Italian opera and the fact that he had an exceptional ensemble at his disposal led to the creation of a richly embellished, opulently orchestrated composition. On the other hand, this drama about a loving married couple who remain faithful to each other contains some of Handel’s most moving slow arias, especially the famous “Ombra cara”, “beloved shadow“. Handel himself regarded this aria as one of the most beautiful he ever wrote. In 1728 he revised the opera again and put it back on the programme.

Premiere: 20 January 2013 Performances: 22 / 24 / 27 / 29 / 31 January 2013, 7.00 p.m. Introduction: Sunday, 13 January 2013, 11 a.m. 28 | Music Theatre | 29 Le Comte Ory Gioachino Rossini 16 - 27 February 2013 Le Comte Ory The lecherous Count Ory is a character from troubadour’s tales. A ballad from Picardy relates how he smuggled himself into a convent with four- Opera in two acts (1828) teen companions dressed as nuns and fathered fourteen new knights with MUSIc By GIOACHINO ROSSINI the real nuns. Rossini’s last comic opera was based on a play by the vet- LIBRETTO By AUGUSTIN EUGÈNE SCRIBE and eran playwright Eugène Scribe about this Count Ory and is an extremely CHARLES-GASPARD DELESTRE-POIRSON racy masterpiece in terms of both music and plot. The libretto is a witty parody of the classical French tragedy. Performed in French with German surtitles Nearly all the men are away at the Crusades. When they left, their wives had Conductor Jean-Christophe Spinosi to swear to remain chaste and are now languishing bored in their castles. The Director Moshe Leiser, Patrice Caurier beautiful young Countess of Formoutiers sinks into deep melancholy. Because Set designer Christian Fenouillat she cannot find any reason for her sadness she consults an apparently pious Costume designer Agostino Cavalca hermit to ask him to help her get to the bottom of her unhappiness. How- Light designer Christophe Forey ever, this hermit is none other than Count Ory, known throughout the land Le Comte Ory Lawrence Brownlee as a notorious womaniser. He intends to make the most of the absence of the La Comtesse Adèle de Formoutiers Cecilia Bartoli other men. He has almost succeeded in persuading the Countess to take him Isolier Mari Eriksmoen with her to her castle as her spiritual counsellor when his cover is blown and Ragonde Liliana Nikiteanu he is chased away. But the lecher does not give up and, disguised as a nun, man- Le Gouverneur Peter Kalman ages to gain admission to the castle after all. Only Isolier the page finds Raimbaud Pietro Spagnoli Ory out and is ultimately able to prevent the Countess, whom he loves tenderly but platonically, from being dishonoured. Ensemble Matheus Arnold Schoenberg Chor (Chorus master: Erwin Ortner) For Le Comte Ory, Rossini used music from his coronation opera Il viaggio a Reims (1825), feeling that that work was difficult to stage but, at the Coproduction with Zurich Opera House same time, being justifiably proud of its music. The vocal trio “À la faveur de cette nuit obscure” in which the nocturnal erotic confusion between the Countess, Ory and Isolier reaches its high point, was praised by Hector Berlioz as a uniquely brilliant idea. Le Comte Ory is Rossini’s last musical comedy. Following Guillaume Tell in 1829 he retired from composing operas once and for all.

Premiere: 16 February 2013 Performances: 18 / 20 / 23 / 25 / 27 February 2013, 7 p.m. Introduction: Sunday, 10 February 2013, 11 a.m. Music Theatre | 33 Fidelio Ludwig van Beethoven 17 - 28 March 2013 Fidelio Beethoven’s only opera belongs to the genre of rescue opera which was popular around the time of the French revolution and campaigned against Opera in two acts (1814) tyranny and in favour of freedom of the individual in accordance with the MUSIc By LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Enlightenment. Despite the topicality of the subject matter, Beethoven did LIBRETTO By JOSEPH SONNLEITHNER AND not initially succeed in winning Viennese audiences’ approval for his work. FRIEDRICH TREITSCHKE After JEAN-NICOLAS BOUILLY Its unconventional music and the mix of dramatic styles seemed too ex- perimental and were not immediately accessible. Fidelio is a hybrid piece, Performed in German with German surtitles beginning very specifically with scenes typical of the “Singspiel” genre and closing in almost concert fashion with a finale of abstract romanticisation. Conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt Director Herbert Föttinger Don Pizarro, governor of a state prison in Spain, behaves like a much-feared Set designer Rolf Langenfass tyrant. He has imprisoned his adversary Florestan and plans to have him secretly Light designer Emmerich Steigberger eliminated. Leonore, Florestan’s wife, has disguised herself as a man and is Dramatic advisor Ulrike Zemme searching for her husband. She has managed to follow clues that led to a particular prison but has not yet been able to discover whether the mysterious Leonore (Fidelio) Juliane Banse prisoner being held there is really Florestan. She has smuggled herself into the Florestan Michael Schade family of the gaoler Rocco under the name of “Fidelio”. She works so hard Don Pizarro Martin Gantner looking after the prisoners that she is making herself indispensable in the Rocco Lars Woldt hope of one day being taken to the unknown prisoner too. In the meantime, Marzelline Anna Prohaska Rocco hopes that the hard-working “Fidelio” will soon ask for the hand of his Jaquino Johannes Chum daughter Marzelline in marriage. Events pick up speed when Pizarro arrives. Concentus Musicus Wien The prisoner is to die at last. Leonore determines to save the unknown pris- Arnold Schoenberg Chor (Chorus master: Erwin Ortner) oner from the tyrant’s despotism whether he is her husband or not. She arms herself and confronts Pizarro. At that moment the minister Don Fernando New production Theater an der Wien appears. He is a friend of Florestan and stops Pizarro. Amid much jubilation the couple is reunited, because the prisoner really is Florestan. Sponsored by Emanuel Schikaneder had long tried to persuade Beethoven to write an opera for his house, the Theater an der Wien, newly opened in 1801. In 1805 Schikaneder’s wish was fulfilled by the premiere of Fidelio, but interest in the work was considerably lessened by the French military occupation of Vienna. The second version of the rescue opera was also staged at the Theater an der Wien, in 1806, with the third version being performed in 1814 at the Kärntnertortheater. The debate over which version is to be preferred continues to this day. For the latest production at the Theater an der Wien Nikolaus Harnoncourt has chosen the final version of Beethoven’s Premiere 17 March 2013 drama about freedom, conjugal love and tyranny. Performances: 19 / 21 / 24 / 26 / 28 March 2013, 7 p.m. Introduction: Sunday, 10 March 2013, 11 a.m. Music Theatre | 37 Béatrice et Bénédict Hector Berlioz 17 - 29 April 2013 Béatrice et Bénédict Hector Berlioz loved Shakespeare’s dramas and always wanted to write an opera to a text by the great English playwright. As early as 1833 he noted Opéra-comique in two acts (1862) that, “By the way, I’m going to write a very funny Italian opera about MUSIc and LIBRETTO By HECTOR BERLIOZ Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.” But it was almost another After the Comedy MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING thirty years before he put this idea into practice. He received a commis- by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE sion to compose a work for the opening of the theatre in Baden-Baden from Édouard Bénazet, manager of the casino. Berlioz saw this as a good Performed in French with German surtitles opportunity to write his Shakespearean opera. He wrote the libretto himself: “It’s quite simply a question of convincing Béatrice and Bénédict that Conductor Leo Hussain they are in love with one another,” he wrote. “It is rich in comedy, as you will Director Kasper Holten see. In addition there are jokes of my own invention and musical carica- Set designer Es Devlin tures.” The overwhelming success of the premiere in 1862 proved him right. Costume designer Moritz Junge Light designer Bruno Poet Béatrice is a sharp-tongued shrew, while Bénédict is no less quick-witted and Béatrice Malena Ernman stubborn as a mule. So the pair of them are made for each other. The only Bénédict Bernard Richter problem is that even though they know this in their heart of hearts and reveal Claudio Nikolay Borchev it to each other every day in all their bickering they would never openly admit Héro Christiane Karg it to each other. Marriage? Dangerous, sentimental nonsense! Héro and Clau- Ursule Ann-Beth Solvang dio, two lovers much more willing to embrace tender emotions, decide to help Béatrice and Bénédict find happiness and devise a cunning plot to make the two ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien squabblers aware of their love of each other. The story ends with a double Arnold Schoenberg Chor (Chorus master: Erwin Ortner) wedding, even though Béatrice and Bénédict are only willing to risk such a venture for a trial period of one day. New production Theater an der Wien Berlioz himself regarded this light-hearted opera about love as one of his “most lively and original.” Broadly sweeping melodies and concise, trans- parent instrumentation create a merrily sparkling atmosphere. In the work Berlioz provides evidence of all his mastery of composition and his wis- dom. Romantic, eternal love is an illusion as beautiful as it is powerful. But how does one recognise an attraction that will endure?

Premiere: 17 April 2013 Performances: 20 / 22 / 24 / 27 / 29 April 2013, 7 p.m. Introduction: Sunday, 7 April 2013, 11 a.m. Music Theatre | 41 ATtila Giuseppe Verdi 7 - 18 July 2013 Attila Ludwig van Beethoven was one composer who had already considered taking Zacharias Werner’s drama Attila, König der Hunnen (1807) as the Dramma lirico in one prologue and three acts (1846) basis for an opera. Modelling his work on the traditions the ancient world, MUSIC By GIUSEPPE VERDI Werner had incorporated choruses into it, so it seemed logical to write LIBRETTO By TEMISTOCLE SOLERA and a score for the successful play. Giuseppe Verdi’s librettist Temistocle So- FRANCESCO MARIA PIAVE lera fashioned it into a patriotic tale for the 1845/46 carnival season in After ATTILA, KÖNIG DER HUNNEN by ZACHARIAS WERNER Venice. The impending revolution of 1848 was already making itself felt: “Take the universe but leave me Italy!” is the compromise suggested by Performed in Italian with German surtitles Attila’s adversary Ezio, the Roman-Italian general, amid scenes of jubilation. The second part of the prologue also makes use of the myth sur- Conductor Riccardo Frizza rounding the foundation of Venice: it is set in the lagoon Rivo Alto, a Director Peter Konwitschny name which is still found today in the name of the Venetian district “Rialto”. Set & costume designer Johannes Leiacker Light designer Manfred Voss Attila the Hun, the “Scourge of God”, is overrunning Italy with his cam- Dramatic advisor Bettina Bartz paigns of conquest. Whatever gets in his way he butchers. He has also ta- Attila Dmitry Belosselsky ken the city of Aquileia and killed its ruler. The latter’s daughter, Odabella, Ezio George Petean decides to take a stand and put a stop to Attila’s trail of destruction. While Odabella Lucrecia Garcia the surviving inhabitants escape to the lagoons, unwittingly founding Venice Foresto Nikolai Schukoff in the process, Odabella sets out to confront Attila at the head of an army of valiant women. He is impressed by her courage and falls in love with her. ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien Odabella pretends to return his feelings. She is determined to free the world Arnold Schoenberg Chor (Chorus master: Erwin Ortner) of this monster. To do so she takes huge risks: the man she really loves, Fore- sto, is initially forced to believe that she is extending the hand of friendship to New production Theater an der Wien the murderer of her father. But shortly before the wedding that Attila so much desires she takes the sword he gave her and has her revenge: the all- powerful king of the Huns falls dead, executed by this woman.

As he had already done for Nabucco (1842), Giuseppe Verdi created rousing and immediately accessible choruses, arias and duets with expansive melodies for the bloodthirsty story of the battle between the heathen invaders and Christian Italy under the leadership of Rome. The work is bursting with energy and belongs unmistakably to Verdi’s first successful period. The individual characters of the protagonists are less well de- fined but full of passion, a circumstance that elicited great enthusiasm when the work was first performed. Premiere: 7 July 2013 Performances: 10 / 13 / 16 / 18 July 2013, 7 p.m. Introduction: Sunday, 30 June 2013, 11 a.m. Music Theatre | 45 In the “Hölle”

T. Schulze: Premiere

G. Wacks: Streng vertraulich Premiere (World premiere)

Chamber opera by Tristan Schulze Libretto by Rainer Vierlinger and Anton Maria Aigner Performed in German Conductor & Violoncello Tristan Schulze Conceived and directed by Rainer Vierlinger Set & Costume Designer Thekla Naser Prima Donna / Culture Buff Ildiko Raimondi The Director Erik Årman The Critic Markus Butter Premiere audience Anna Magdalena Auzinger Ingala Fortagne Alice Rath Wilhelm Spuller Steffen Rössler Accordion Krassimir Sterev Violin Benjamin Marquise Gilmore Contrabass Gustavo D’Ippolito

The foyer of the Theater an der Wien, known as “Hölle” (“hell”). While a premiere is in full swing in the auditorium upstairs, the evening’s real drama unfolds down here where the director of the production sweats it out, anxiously waiting to know if his work is a success. He hopes, he trembles, he suffers: an emotional roller coaster. The chamber opera Pre- miere is an ironic portrayal of the rituals, peculiarities and clichés found in the microcosm of opera. But at the same time it never forgets that all the passions, fears and occasional catastrophes remain vital to the lives of those to whom opera means everything. Director Rainer Vierlinger and dramatic advisor Anton Maria Aigner created the piece especially for the “Hölle”; Tristan Schulze was commissioned to write the music. Pre- miere is a declaration of love for the world of opera and at the same time a humorous self-reflection: you may laugh.

World Premiere: Wednesday, 26 September 2012, 8 P.M. Performances: 29 / 30 September 2012, 8 p.m. 2 / 4 October 2012, 8 p.m.

48 | IN the “Hölle" | 49 Streng Vertraulich

A celebratory revue to mark 107 years of the “Hölle” Performed in German Exactly 107 years ago, in October 1906, the two popular actors and theatre impresarios Sigmund and Leopold Natzler opened the theatre and cabaret known as the “Hölle” (“hell”) in the basement of the Theater an der Wien. The “Hölle” enjoyed legendary status among entertainment establishments in German-speaking countries. It was committed to the spirit of French cabaret and served as a breeding ground for every kind of entertainer. Ralph Benatzky, Fritz Grünbaum, Karl Farkas, Hans Moser, Hugo Wiener, Mela Mars and Stella Kadmon are just some of the stars whose careers began there. The two rooms were places of laughter, song and dance. Franz Lehár, Ed- mund Eysler and the young Robert Stolz wrote one-act variety operettas for the Hölle, Béla Laszky and Ralph Benatzky flippant songs that were performed by the acclaimed diseuses Mela Mars and Josma Selim to wild ovations. Fritz Grünbaum read samples of his own poetry and Grete Wiesenthal presented her stirring dances. For more than twenty years the Hölle was one of the leading cabaret venues in the German-speaking world. Following the revues Tanz der Blinden, Rouge & Noir and Im Opi- umrausch that were consistently sold out, the basement of the Theater an der Wien is now being transformed back into the theatre and cabaret Die Hölle. Georg Wacks is putting together an anniversary revue for the Hölle that – 107 years after the opening – will present little-known highlights with authentic costumes and magnificent sets. Fin-de-siècle flair will be provided by the diseuse Elena Schreiber with her racy chansons, Christoph Wagner-Trenkwitz with his grotesque dances, Martin Thoma with profound observations on local life and Stefan Fleischhacker as the last surviving virtuoso whistler. Fritz Grünbaum guarantees literary qual- ity. In the accompanying exhibition, Marie-Theres Arnbom presents a new set of long-lost artefacts. The in-house catering service will provide an endless stream of champagne. Conception: Georg Wacks | Set & Costume Designer: Stefan Fleischhacker Performers: Elena Schreiber, Stefan Fleischhacker, Martin Thoma, Georg Wacks und Christoph Wagner-Trenkwitz Piano: Christina Renghofer

Ensemble “Albero Verde” Exhibition: Marie-Theres Arnbom

Premiere: Wednesday, 6 March 2013, 8 P.M. Performances: 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 16 March, 8 p.m. Concertante Opera

F. Cavalli: La Calisto 54

A. Vivaldi: Tito Manlio 55

G. F. Handel et al.: Drama Queens 56

L. Vinci: Artaserse 57

G. Pugnani: Werther 58

B. Maderna: Satyricon 59

G. F. Handel: il trionfo del tempo e del Disinganno 60

F. Poulenc: La voix Humaine 61

N. Porpora: Polifemo 62

G. Rossini: Le Nozze di teti, e di peleo 63

G. F. Handel: Arianna in Creta 64

G. F. Handel: Acis and Galatea 65

G. F. Handel: Solomon 67

H. Purcell: Dido and Aeneas 68

G. F. Handel: Amadigi di Gaula 69 La Calisto Tito Manlio Dramma per musica in three acts and a prologue (1651) Dramma per musica in three acts (1719) Music By Francesco Cavalli (1602-1676) Music By Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) Libretto By Giovanni Faustini Libretto By Matteo Noris Concertante performance in Italian Concertante performance in Italian Conductor Christophe Rousset Conductor Ottavio Dantone Giove Giovanni Battista Parodi Tito Sergio Foresti Mercurio Borja Quiza Manlio Maria Hinojosa Montenegro Diana / L’Eternita Marie-Claude Chappuis Servilia Marina de Liso Calisto Christiane Karg Vitellia Delphine Galou Linfea Milena Storti Lucio Roberta Invernizzi Endimione Xavier Sabata Germinio Anicio Zorzi Giustiniani Satirone Sabina Puértolas Decio Milena Storti Giunone / Il Destino Francesca Russo-Ermolli Accademia bizzantina Silvano Ludovic Provost La Natura / Pane / At Christmas in 1718 the imperial governor of Mantua, Philip of Hesse- Coro di menti celesti Cyril Auvity Darmstadt, announced his forthcoming marriage. His maestro di cappella, Les Talens Lyriques Antonio Vivaldi, hastily had to come up with a suitable work to mark the celebrations. Vivaldi is said to have completed his celebratory opera Tito At the premiere of La Calisto at the Teatro San Apollinare in Venice during the Manlio in only five days. Although the wedding never took place, the pre- 1651 season, Cavalli himself played the harpsichord and new stage machin- miere of the opera at the Teatro Arciducale in Mantua was a success for ery was constructed especially. The pressure on this pupil of Monteverdi Vivaldi. was considerable since Cavalli was also an independent impresario: he had The plot is based on a reported incident in the history of Rome from the rented the little theatre in Venice to stage his own works. But La Calisto was third century BC. The consul Titus Manlius had his own son sentenced to a failure and was not performed again for more than 300 years. It was not death and executed for refusing to obey an order during a battle against until 1970 that Raymond Leppard rediscovered the opera at the Glynde- the Latins. bourne Festival. In 2003 it was conducted by René Jacobs during the Wiener In Vivaldi’s opera, Tito Manlio also defends Rome against attacks from the Festwochen at the Theater an der Wien. Now Christophe Rousset takes up surrounding area. Although the Latins are allowed to serve in the Roman the drama about nymphs with his ensemble Les Talens Lyriques. Jupiter, legions they are excluded from any decision-making. However, the lines king of the gods, takes the form of Diana to seduce the nymph Calisto who, that separate the two camps are unclear. Even the consul’s own children as a companion of the goddess of hunting, has vowed to remain a virgin. have romantic liaisons with members of the enemy. His son Manlius is Jupiter’s wife Juno turns the nymph into a bear as an act of revenge. Since betrothed to a Latin woman. In breach of the senate’s orders, Manlius the the story is taken from Ovid’s Metamorphoses Jupiter also promises Calisto Younger kills an enemy commander. The furious consul abides by the letter that he will take her up to heaven: transformed into the constellation Ursa of the law and condemns his son to execution by axe… Major, Calisto can be seen in the night’s sky for all eternity as a symbol of her love for the fickle king of the gods. Wednesday, 17 October 2012, 7 P.M.

Sunday, 16 September 2012, 7 P.M.

54 | concertante Opera | 55 Drama Queens Artaserse “Royal” arias from operas by: Dramma per musica (1730) Christoph Willibald Gluck, Johann Adolph Hasse, George Frideric Handel, MusiC By Leonardo Vinci (1690-1730) Joseph Haydn, Claudio Monteverdi et al. Libretto By Pietro Metastasio Conductor Alan Curtis Concertante performance in Italian Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato Conductor Diego Fasolis Il complesso barocco Artaserse Philippe Jaroussky Mandane Max Emanuel Cenci´cˇ In the 18th century, women in serious opera, the opere serie, were not the Artabano Daniel Behle meek and gentle victims found in the bourgeois era that followed. Beauti- Arbace Franco Fagioli ful, intelligent and capable of wielding power they fight, often successfully, Semira Valer Barna-Sabadus for their thrones and their loves. They display virtues that make them pre- Megabise Yuriy Mynenko destined to be rulers, in many cases more convincingly than their male adversaries. Even when forced to accept defeat they do not lose their com- Concerto Köln posure but contain the emotions that threaten to overwhelm them with dig- nity and equanimity. Joyce DiDonato presents royal arias sung by Armida, Pietro Metastasio was the most famous librettist of his age and is still Berenice, Cleopatra, Semiramide and other influential women. regarded as the most important opera seria author today. His textbook for Artaserse was set more than forty times in the 18th century. Some es- Sunday, 11 November 2012, 7 P.M. timates put the number of settings and adaptations at as many as one hundred. It is probably one of the most successful libretti in the history of opera. Metastasio called it the happiest of all his children. The libretto was first set to music in 1730 by Leonardo Vinci in Rome. Since the murder of his father Serse, the young Artaserse has had to fend for himself. The plots woven by Artabano, once his father’s adviser, plunge the young ruler into agonising moral dilemmas. In spite of his conflicting emotions, goodness helps Artaserse to attain the great virtues of enlightened absolutism, entirely in keeping with the courtly regimes in Europe. Leonardo Vinci worked in Naples and Rome and was Metas- tasio’s most favoured composer, setting at least six of his dramas. The English music historian Charles Burney wrote of Vinci that he was the first composer to “show his reverence to poetry as a friend through his music” by simplifying the melody and removing exaggerated conceits from the vocal part. Artaserse was to remain Vinci’s last opera as he died in the spring of the year the work was premiered.

Tuesday, 20 November 2012, 7 P.M.

56 | concertante Opera | 57 Werther Satyricon Melodrama Opera in one act (1973) Music and Libretto By Gaetano Pugnani (1731-1798) Music and Libretto by Bruno Maderna (1920-1973) After Die Leiden des jungen Werthers After the Cena Trimalchionis from Satyricon by by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Gajus Petronius Arbiter Performed in German Concertante performance in diverse languages Conductor Michael Hofstetter Conductor Emilio Pomárico Recitation Ulrich Reinthaller Trimalchio Christoph Homberger Camerata Salzburg Members of the vocal ensemble NOVA Criside Ursula Langmayr As an old man, Goethe expressed the wish that “Mozart should have com- Quartilla Johanna von der Deken posed Faust”. This wish did not come true, but one of his contemporar- Niceros Colin Mason ies – and the equal of a Gluck, Mozart or Haydn – did compose Werther: Eumolpus Gerd Kenda Gaetano Pugnani. Pugnani was a typical representative of the transition to Viennese Classicism and was especially highly admired by violin virtuosos Klangforum Wien into the 20th century. Of course, Pugnani was only able to transfer about In his novel Satyricon, only parts of which survive, the Roman senator a quarter of Goethe’s epistolary novel to the stage, and he did so in Italian. Titus Petronius denounces the perverse depravity of the nouveau-riche Pugnani wrote his two-part “melologue” at around the time that Goethe upper classes in Rome at the time of Nero. With apparent naivety Petro- was in Italy. The two men never met, however. It also seems that in the nius, who was known as “Arbiter” because he was Nero’s “judge of ele- years that followed Goethe remained unaware of this composition’s exis- gance”, depicts the political and social decadence of a society on the tence. In a dialogue between the music and the performers, as it were, verge of ruination. In 1973, the year of his death, Bruno Maderna set this Pugnani on the one hand skilfully picks up the plot’s growing drama and satirical documentation of a society in a state of collapse to music. The on the other already anticipates Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony. The genre action centres around Trimalchio’s party. The former slave has amassed of melodrama opens up a huge number of possible means of expression enormous wealth which he ostentatiously flaunts at a banquet. Maderna and interpretations. Unfortunately this blend of music and literature that set this part to music, using contemporary means of expression to reveal complement each other so interestingly was forgotten. parallels with the 20th century. The work avoids all moralising comment, Pugnani’s legendary work was lost for a long time. In 1996, nearly 200 instead establishing cross-references to the present day by means of the years after it was performed at Vienna’s Burgtheater, it was rediscovered musical collage technique employed. Maderna claimed self-mockingly that in the musical archives of the Vienna Philharmonic and reconstructed. he himself had not written a single note of it. In a haphazard series of The version now presented at the Theater an der Wien combines Pug- scenes that are only loosely connected but can be expanded by recorded nani’s music with the original German text of Werther. Music and liter- musical inserts he paints a picture of a society that is doomed by its own ature merge to create a marvellous cosmos of sentimentality, love and decadence. In the total isolation that ensues only music has the power to despair. comfort the torn souls. Saturday, 15 December 2012, 7.30 P.M. Wednesday, 23 January 2013, 8 p.M.

58 | concertante Opera | 59 Il trionfo del tempo La Voix Humaine e del disinganno Tragedy in one act (1959) Oratorio in two parts (1707) Music By Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) Libretto by Jean Cocteau Music by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) Libretto by Benedetto Pamphilj Concertante performance in French Concertante performance in Italian Conductor Stefan Vladar Mezzo-soprano Angelika Kirchschlager Conductor René Jacobs Bellezza Sunhae Im Wiener KammerOrchester Piacere Julia Lezhneva Disinganno Christophe Dumaux A woman’s last telephone call with her lover was set to music in 1959 by Tempo Jeremy Ovenden Francis Poulenc in his lyrical tragedy La voix humaine after the play by Jean Cocteau. The woman tries to establish a final contact through the telephone Freiburger Barockorchester to retain a memory of the man she loves. But the conversation remains a monologue and every telephone call has to end sometime. Bellezza, an allegorical personification of beauty, fears change when she The play focuses on the way an individual deals with communication trans- looks at herself in the mirror: “You will always stay as you are. But I, as I mitted through technology. While technology progresses at a frantic pace see myself in you, will not always be so beautiful.” Piacere, pleasure prom- the inability of people to communicate stays the same. ises the beautiful lady that she will never change. But Bellezza is plagued by doubts. Tempo, an allegory for time, and Disinganno, an allegory for dis- Tuesday, 19 February 2013, 7.30 P.M. illusion, make it clear to her that life’s enduring values are not found in ephemeral appearances. Bellezza determines to cease behaving as a vain monster and renounces meaningless desire and faithless wishes. George Frideric Handel spent the years 1707/08 in Rome where performances of operas were prohibited by papal decree. So instead the 22-year- old composed his first oratorio. Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno, to a libretto by Cardinal Benedetto Pamphili, is one of only two Italian-language oratorios in Handel’s œuvre. The other is La Resurrezione. The work accompanied Handel all his life, however. Fifty years after the premiere in the Collegio Clementino in Rome, Handel revised it towards the end of his life for the Covent Garden Theatre in London, where it played under the English title The Triumph of Time and Truth.

Monday, 28 January 2013, 7 p.M.

60 | concertante Opera | 61 Polifemo Le nozze di teti, e di peleo Opera seria in three acts (1735) Azione coro-drammatica (1816) Music by Nicola Porpora (1686-1768) Music by Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) Libretto by Paolo Antonio Rolli Libretto by Angelo Maria Ricci Concertante performance in Italian Concertante performance in Italian Conductor Rubén Dubrovsky Conductor Jean-Christophe Spinosi Aci Franco Fagioli Teti Mari Eriksmoen Ulisse Xavier Sabata Peleo Lawrence Brownlee Polifemo Christian Senn Ensemble Matheus Galathea Laura Aikin Arnold Schoenberg Chor Nerea Netta Or Calipso Hilke Andersen Gioachino Rossini, court composer to Ferdinand IV, King of the Two Sicilies, Bach Consort Wien wrote the one-act cantata Le nozze di Teti, e di Peleo on the occasion of the wedding of Princess Maria Carolina to the Duke of Berry as “a most humble homage to His Majesty”. The story of the wedding of Thetis and Nicola Porpora was the leading Italian teacher of singing in the 18th cen- Peleus to the textbook by Angelo Maria Ricco was first performed on tury and also composed over sixty operas. He trained the two legendary 24 April, 1816, at the Teatro del Fondo in Naples. The Neapolitan poet castrati Carlo Boschi, known as Farinelli, and Gaetano Majorano, known Ricci adapted the ancient legend of Thetis, the sea-nymph, for his opu- as Caffarelli, whose fame has lasted to the present day. In 1733 Porpora lent stage spectacle. Zeus himself wanted to seduce Thetis, most beauti- became artistic director at the Opera of the Nobility in London which made ful of the nymphs. But the warning that Thetis’s son could become even him a direct competitor of George Frideric Handel and his operatic com- greater than his father persuaded even the omnipotent king of the gods pany. In his operas, Porpora gave precedence to the virtuosity of the not to pursue a liaison for once. In the end, the mortal Peleus wins the singers and in his second season he succeeded in bringing his former hand of the nymph in marriage and together they produce Achilles, the pupil, the famous Farinelli, to London. most famous hero in ancient mythology. For this story fit for an imperial In time to mark the beginning of the new year, the pastoral opera Polifemo couple, Rossini composed virtually no new music, instead rearranging and was premiered on 1st January, 1735 at the King’s Theatre with the famous adapting earlier compositions. However, he skilfully wove them together castrati Senesino (Francesco Bernardi) and Farinelli along with the soprano to create what was a new work in its own right. Considering the piece a one- Francesca Cuzzoni. The libretto was by Paolo Antonio. Polifemo combines off for a particular occasion, Rossini subsequently ignored it and the can- the heroic tale of Odysseus with the metamorphosis of Acis and Gala- tata was thought lost. It was not until the 1960s that the autograph was tea found in Ovid. The English royal family attended the premiere and rediscovered in the conservatory in Naples. the London Daily Post reported “the fullest house of the season.” Despite artistic successes the competition between the rival operatic companies Tuesday, 26 February 2013, 7 p.M. and their efforts to engage the best singers drove them both to bankrupt- cy after four seasons. Nicola Porpora left London for Vienna, where he failed to find a position, and returned home to Naples.

Friday, 22 February 2013, 7 P.M.

62 | concertante Opera | 63 Arianna in Creta Acis And Galatea* Dramma per musica in three acts (1734) Serenata in three parts (1732) Music by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) Music by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) Libretto by Pietro Pariati Concertante performance in English Concertante performance in Italian Conductor Paul Goodwin Conductor Alan Curtis Clori / Eurilla Caroline Sampson Arianna Sylvia Schwartz Galatea Nuria Rial Teseo Ann Hallenberg Acis Lawrence Zazzo Alceste Emo˝ke Baráth Filli / Dorinda Hillary Summers Tauride Romina Basso Polifemo Andrew Foster-Williams Carilda Sonia Prina kammerorchesterbasel Minos / Il Sonno Johannes Weisser Il complesso barocco The tragedy surrounding the nymph Galatea and her love for the shepherd Acis originates in ancient Greek mythology and was revised and In his settings of mythological themes, George Frideric Handel also port- expanded by Ovid for the thirteenth book of his collection of poems, rayed the power of the supernatural which had otherwise disappeared from Metamorphoses. opera in his days. In Arianna in Creta, the fight with the Minotaur plays a The nymph Galatea laments her fate. She loves the shepherd Acis, who re- central role. The supposedly Theban royal daughter Arianna lives as a hos- turns her feelings. But the Cyclops Polyphemus is also in love with Galatea. tage at the court of King Minos. Athens must provide the Cretan king with The sight of the two lovers in their happiness sends the giant into a fury. even virgins as food for the creature with the head of a bull and the body He tears off a piece of a mountain and kills the fleeing Acis with the rock. of a man. Teseo, son of the Athenian king, asks Minos for permission to Thanks to the divine help of Galatea the dead Acis is transformed into a fight the Minotaur to release Athens from having to pay this grisly tribute. river that will flow through the valleys for all eternity to the delight of the Arianna, who loves Teseo, is angry, but King Minos agrees to the fight. shepherds and in its gentle babbling murmurs tender words of love. The story of Ariadne had already inspired Claudio Monteverdi to the opera George Frideric Handel spent the years 1717 and 1718 in Middlesex as L’Arianna, of which only the famous lamento survived. In Ariadne auf house composer to James Brydges who maintained a permanent musical Naxos Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal also tell her tale. ensemble led by the “Master of the Musick” Johann Christoph Pepusch. Handel’s Arianna in Creta had to fight off direct competition from the new- Handel planned to rework the theme of his serenata Aci, Galatea e Polifemo. ly founded Opera of the Nobility in 1734 and premiered successfully on The poets John Gay, Alexander Pope and John Hughes wrote a libretto 26 January in the King’s Theatre, Haymarket, London. It was performed that remained faithful to Ovid’s original. In the masque Acis and Galatea sixteen times and revived in November the same year at Covent Garden. Handel displays the full scope of his musical genius, and the work, which captivates from start to finish, became one of the composer’s most performed works. Wednesday, 20 March 2013, 7 P.M. Monday, 25 March 2013, 7 P.M.

* This concert is part of the OsterKlang ’13 (23/3 – 31/3). Information about ticket prices will be given at a press conference in the winter of 2012.

64 | concertante Opera | 65 The Development Department of the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien Solomon * Oratorio in three acts (1749)

Music by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) Concertante performance in English Conductor Martin Haselböck Solomon Robin Blaze Solomon’s wife Kirsten Blaise Queen of Sheba Bernarda Bobro Zadok Daniel Johannsen Wiener Akademie ”There is no doubT ThaT Chorus sine nomine

opera is of absoluTe ly Handel used the summer months of 1748 to write oratorios for the com- ing season and composed the two distinct works Solomon and Susanna. no inTeresT unless iT is It remains unknown who wrote the two libretti. Based on the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles from the Bible, as well as Antiquitates searching To jusTify iTs Judaicae by Flavius Josephus, the libretto presents three extensive scenes from the reign of Solomon. The work has no unified plot; instead, allego- fuTure.“ rical scenes pay homage to a ruler of the ancient world. PIerre AuDI (*1957 BeIruT, LeBAnon) However, Handel’s Solomon was less a celebration of the reigning king than a call to his subjects to take Solomon as an example for a comparison of Since 2006 the Theater an der Wien has consistently proven how contemporary and social ideals and the genuine virtues of a ruler. The music he wrote for forward-looking the opera can be today. it is one of his most mysterious scores, full of musical ambiguities. The Theater an der Wien’s enthusiastic partners, friends and sponsors contribute to their subtle irony of the oratorio, which also hints at the future of the psycho- success with both their financial support and ideas as they explore new avenues together. logically more sophisticated musical theatre, seems to have disturbed the audience of the time. In Handel’s lifetime, Solomon was only performed MAIn SPonSor oPerA GoLDen CIrCLe SILVer CIrCLe four times following the premiere.

Agrana Gewista AkrIS Fernwärme Wien ISPA Werbung Wednesday, 27 March 2013, 7 p.M. oesterreichische nationalbank ottakringer Skoda Walla Druck

SuBSIDISInG orGAnISATIon CooPerATIon PArTnerS

Wien kultur kattus Le Méridien Ludwig reiter Staud’s Weingut Bründlmayer * This concert is part of the OsterKlang ’13 (23/3 – 31/3).

Bild © photocase.com Information about ticket prices will be given at a press conference in the winter of 2012.

If you are interested in sponsoring our concertante Opera | 67 young ensemble, contact our Development Department on 01 588 30-671. vbw.at

DD_130x205_Ins_12english_neu.indd 1 11.05.12 12:40 Dido and Aeneas Amadigi di gaula Opera in three acts (1698) Opera seria in three acts (1715) Music by Henry Purcell (1659-1695) Music by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) Libretto by Nahum Tate Libretto probably by Nicola Francesco Haym or Giacomo Rossi Concertante performance in English Concertante performance in Italian Conductor Robert King Dido Carolyn Sampson Conductor Alan Curtis Aeneas Roderick Williams Amadigi di Gaula Sonia Prina Sorceress Robin Blaze Oriana Roberta Mameli Belinda Rebecca Outram Melissa Emo˝ke Baráth Second Woman / First Witch Julie Cooper Dardano Romina Basso Sailor Charles Daniels Il complesso barocco The King’s Consort Amadigi and his companion Dardano wish to escape from Melissa’s mag- Henry Purcell was revered as “Orpheus britannicus” during his lifetime ic garden but the sorceress wants to win the Gallic knight for herself. and was a sought-after composer of music for the theatre. With Nahum However, Amadigi has fallen in love with another woman. When he shows Tate, who also had a theatrical background, he wrote only one opera, Dido Dardano a portrait of his beloved, the beautiful Princess Oriana, Dardano and Aeneas, but by the end of the 17th century this opus had already is horrified because he loves her too. Melissa is keeping Oriana prisoner become one of the most significant works of the baroque period. The li- in a tower and only the very strongest hero will be able to withstand Me- bretto in three acts is based on one of the most famous love stories in lissa’s trials and free her. literature. Dido, the legendary Queen of Carthage, has fallen in love with The realm of magic, which plays a central role in many of Handel’s works, the hero Aeneas. But the happy union of the two lovers is prevented was really the domain of French opera. The portrayal of the supernatural by the machinations of wicked witches. A fabricated command from the combined mythological themes with literature and had its origin in French gods causes Aeneas to leave Dido: he has supposedly been given the courtly tales or Italian epic poems. Amadigi di Gaula is based on the rare task of founding a new Troy in Italy. But Dido cannot live without Aeneas transformation of a French libretto into an Italian one. Handel’s librettist and when he goes she wants to die. She expresses the pain she feels in took Antoine Houdar de la Motte’s 1699 tragédie lyrique Amadis de Grèce her broken heart in her famous lamento. as his source, which had been set by André Destouches. The epic poem The development and first performances of the opera are surrounded by Amadis de Gaula is based on the legend of King Arthur and the adventures conjecture and legend. The first reliably documented performance was at of the invincible Gaul appeared in numerous sequels and expanded ver- Josias Priest’s school for “gentlewomen” in Chelsea. However, musicolo- sions and ranked among the most popular knight-errantry tales in Europe gists are loath to accept that such an important opera was written for a into Renaissance times. girls’ school and suspect that it was performed earlier at court. So far, though, no definite record of another performance during Purcell’s life- Thursday, 25 April 2013, 7 P.M. time has been found.

Sunday, 21 April 2013, 7 p.M.

68 | concertante Opera | 69 Special Projects

Wiener Philharmoniker 72

Prima le parole 73

Anniversary I: Schikaneder 1812 74

Anniversary II: Arnold Schoenberg Chor 1972 74

Anniversary III: 25th Wien Modern 75

Anniversary IV: Wagner 1863 76

Anniversary V: Verdi 1813 76

TAW-Extra: Goran Bregovi c´ 77 Wiener Philharmoniker PRIMA LE PAROLE

Manfred / L’Ascension Musik der Tiere Conductor Vladimir Jurowski Recitation Birgit Minichmayr Piano Magda Amara, Stefan Vladar Robert Schumann (1810-1856) Wiener Virtuosen Manfred-Ouvertüre op. 115 Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781) Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) Die Geschichte des alten Wolfs L’Ascension Sergej Prokofjew (1891-1953) Peter Iljitsch Tschaikowski (1840-1893) Peter und der Wolf Manfred-Sinfonie op. 58 Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) Wednesday, 12 September 2012, 7.30 p.M. Karneval der Tiere

Tuesday, 18 December 2012, 7.30 p.M.

Beethoven am Uraufführungsort Conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen Violin Julia Fischer

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Leonore Overture Nr. 2 Esa-Pekka Salonen (*1958) Violin concerto Ludwig van Beethoven Violin concerto D-Dur op. 61

Friday, 3 May 2013, 7.30 p.M.

72 | Special Projects | 73 ANNIVERSARIES

I. ich, schikanedeR († 1812) III. OPENING OF WIEN MODERN Spoken monologue with music Olga Neuwirth (*1968) Text by Susanne Wolf Kloing! Nomi Songs Director, Schikaneder Adi Hirschal Soprano Jennifer Davison Conductor Clement Power Baritone KIemens Sander Countertenor Andrew Watts Piano Anton Ziegler Piano Marino Formenti Video Lillevan Friday, 21 September 2012, 8 p.M. Peter Plessas – IEM Graz, Klangregie und Sonifikation (Kloing!) Sound Peter Böhm, Florian Bogner (Nomi Songs) Klangforum Wien WIEN MODERN, the festival of contemporary music, opens its 25th season II. ARNOLD SCHOENBERG CHOR GALA on 22 October at the Theater an der Wien with two works by Olga Neu- Arnold Schoenberg Chor wirth. The composer was born in Graz and has been one of the most influential figures in contemporary music for many years, stubbornly refusing Conductor Erwin Ortner all attempts to win her for a cause and always taking a political stance. Recitation Kammerschauspieler Peter Matic Kloing!, inspired by an onomatopoeic word created by Erika Fuchs, the Moderation Renate Burtscher translator of the Donald Duck comics, is a work for pianist, film and auto- On 27 October, 1972 the Arnold Schoenberg Chor was born. The choir is cele- matically playing piano. The pianist, who plays the automatic piano while brating this anniversary with a four-part spectacular at the Theater an der Wien. it plays itself, enters into an interaction with the instrument, resulting in a confrontation between man and machine. The mechanical keyboard in- Four of the soirée’s highlights can already be revealed: vades the romantic world of the pianist. For the opening, the motet for double choir Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied The songs of Klaus Nomi have accompanied the composer since she was by J.S. Bach, followed by a little Schubert recital. Then, as a contrast, Hugo eleven years old and in 1998 she created her first tribute to the Bavarian- Distler’s Totentanz and to conclude Arnold Schoenberg’s Friede auf Erden born Klaus Sperber’s alter ego who made his mark in the New York under- (Peace on Earth). ground scene of the 1970s with baroque arias, original compositions, pop A unique vocal marathon to mark the choir’s 40th anniversary. standards and Elvis Presley songs sung falsetto. Sunday, 14 October 2012, 6 to 10 p.M. Monday, 22 October 2012, 7.30 P.M.

Coproduction with Wien Modern

74 | Special Projects | 75 ANNIVERSARIES TAW EXTRA

IV. Wagner 1863 Champagne for gypsies Conductor Marc Minkowski Goran Bregovic´ Bass (Wotan, Pogner) Evgeny Nikitin Voice, Guitar Goran Bregovic´ Tenor (Siegmund) Burkhard Fritz Percussion, Voice Alen Aemovic´ Les Musiciens du Louvre Wedding and Funeral Orchestra In November 1862 Richard Wagner came to Vienna to supervise rehearsals for the scheduled premiere of Tristan and Isolde at the Court Opera. But Saturday, 4 May 2013, 7.30 P.M. after seventy-seven rehearsals the opera’s orchestra abandoned the work as unplayable. It now became essential for Wagner to find new compositions with which to present himself. The Theater an der Wien was chosen as the venue of this publicity concert. On three days at the turn of the year 1862/63, Wagner presented excerpts from the Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Die Walküre, Das Rheingold and Siegfried for the first time to an audience that was partly enthusiastic, partly taken aback. 150 years after this event, the Theater an der Wien pays tribute to Richard Wagner on the occasion of his 200th birthday by repeating this concert.

Saturday, 5 January 2013, 7.30 p.M.

V. Verdi – VON ATTILA BIS ZAMORO Georg Titscher Talk with musical excerpts to mark Giuseppe Verdi’s 200th birthday A psychological approach to Verdi’s early operas In cooperation with the Erwin Ringel-Institut

Friday, 19 April 2013, 7.30 P.M.

76 | Special Projects | 77 INTRODUCTION TO THE SEASON GUIDED TOURS FROM ITHACA TO AQUILEIA The Theater an der Wien ranks among the most beautiful theatres in Vi- enna and has one of the richest traditions. Take advantage of the unique At the start of the 2012/13 season, Director Roland Geyer will once again opportunity to sample the theatrical atmosphere in a building that has en- be holding a talk in which he and Georg Wacks, known among other things chanted audiences for over two centuries with its outstanding acoustics from his revues Rouge et Noir and Im Opiumrausch in the “Hölle” at the and authentic, intimate ambience. Theater an der Wien, present the operas for the new season at the Theater an der Wien. This year the cabaret artist, literary specialist, actor and singer Groups taking part in guided tours are limited to thirty people. The meeting Georg Wacks takes you on a journey to the locations of the operas in the point is the main entrance where the group will be picked up in good time; 12/13 season. The tour goes from Greece to Spain, then to France and the visitors then enter the theatre through the foyer. Tours are in German finally to Northern Italy. and last approximately one hour. Georg Wacks’s perspective allows you to see the works in a very different The tour includes the foyer, the auditorium, the stage, the cellar and the light than is possible from the dusty, local opera guide or the innovative dressing-room area. Visitors will be told about the building’s history, its new staging here in our theatre. Amazing answers to unexpected questions programme of performances, the way it is organised and the technology come to light in an amusing, off-the-wall introduction to the new season. used. Admission is free for Theater an der Wien subscription holders, Friends of It is of course also possible to book private tours (in other languages, for ex- the Theater an der Wien and school groups participating in Jugend an der ample, or at other times). If you require such a tour, please be sure to book Wien projects. your appointment in advance, either in writing or by phone. Bookings for the talk, and tickets for it on sale, from 1 August, 2012. Special offer for school groups: during private tours for classes, special Contact: Philipp Wagner, Tel. +43 (0) 1 588 30-664 emphasis can be placed on topics covered in lessons (such as technology, E-Mail: [email protected] fashion, music etc.).

Monday, 10 September 2012, 7.30 P.M. For the dates and times of guided tours, see the website of the Theater an der Wien, the theatre’s magazine and the bimonthly folder. See p. 85 for details of prices.

Contact for all tours of the Theater an der Wien: Philipp Wagner, Tel. +43 (0) 1 588 30-664 E-Mail: [email protected]

78 | | 79 Jugend an der Wien

Jugend an der Wien will be accompanying the 2012/13 programme of the Theater an der Wien and, as part of the Jugend macht Oper (Youth does Opera) project will be staging a performance of its own based on one of the productions in the current season. Over the past three years it has been possible to introduce over 3,000 young people to modern musical theatre. With the Friends of the Theater an der Wien’s youth club Jugend im Club these youngsters now have even more activities to choose from.

The many different projects are aimed at schools in Vienna and Lower Austria as well as at young people whose interest in opera goes beyond the classroom or would like to stage a work of their own.

Jugend an der Wien provides information about many different aspects of culture in many different ways; on the one hand it enables young people to meet prominent artists such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Fabio Luisi, Torsten Fischer, Sian Edwards and Kurt Streit; on the other it promotes their own creativity. Practical experience and face-to-face contact with performers and employees who work in opera help to break down barriers and enable the youngsters to enter a world which is often completely new to them. They learn about all the steps required to stage an opera, and in the Jugend macht Oper project they have the chance to try out all these activities themselves. Visits to rehearsals or performances are backed up by introductory talks and in-depth analyses, while discussions on issues relating to the opera’s content encourage them to think for themselves.

Jugend an der Wien offers young people an experience of opera that stays with them for a long time and is therefore a vital contribution from, and for, tomorrow’s audience. In the youngsters’ own words: “Since this project I have loved opera!”

Weblog: jugendanderwien.wordpress.com Facebook: Jugend Ander Wien

Membership & contact: Mag.a Catherine Leiter, MA [email protected] Tel.: +43 (0) 1 58830-616

| 81 THEATER AN DER WIEN IN THE Kammeroper

The beginning of the new season also marks the start of the Theater an der Wien’s productions at the Wiener Kammeroper on Fleischmarkt. For fifty years, the Wiener Kammeroper has championed a wide-ranging repertoire spanning every century of opera, becoming an institution in the process. Massive cuts in state subsidies last year deprived this institution of the means it needs to survive and a reorganisation of the venue became necessary. To this end, Vienna’s municipal authorities gave the Theater an der Wien the task of developing a concept for the preservation of the Kammeroper.

Whereas opera is the largest and most lavish form of theatre, Kam- meroper concentrates on the subtle gestures within this greater whole, on moments of intimacy. We are completely convinced that the Wiener Kammeroper must remain open as a location for these smaller-scale but no less valuable theatrical productions.

In order to breathe new life into this historic venue, we will be presenting an addition to the Theater an der Wien’s regular “stagione” system in September in the shape of an ensemble made up of highly talented young artists from all over the world. While you will have the chance to experience this new generation of artists during the next two seasons in suitable roles in our “main” operatic productions at the Theater an der Wien, you will also be able to see them taking on leading roles as part of the young ensemble in up to four new productions of their own in the Fleischmarkt location and follow their development as artists in portrait concerts.

We are delighted to be able to preserve a theatrical tradition in this way and to enhance our programme at the Theater an der Wien with these operas and concerts. We cordially invite you to come and see our productions in the Wiener Kammeroper and get to know the Young Ensemble of the Theater an der Wien. We are looking forward to seeing you there.

More information about the members of the ensemble and details about the TAW programme in the Kammeroper will be provided in a separate brochure to be published at the beginning of June, when special subscriptions for Kammeroper performances will 82 | also be offered. Information

Ticket sales Tickets for performances until 28 December, 2012, but not after, go on The Theater an der Wien newsletter can be subscribed to free sale to the general public from 10 a.m. on 15 June, 2012 at booking offices of charge at www.theater-wien.at. (VBW box office, Wien-Ticket pavilion) and by telephone. Tickets for Guided tours (see p. 79 for details) performances after 29 December, 2012 go on sale from 10 a.m. Price ¤ 7, concession* ¤ 5 | Groups of schoolchildren: ¤ 3 on 1 September, 2012. Children under 6: free Box office * Concession applies to school pupils, students up to age 26, Theater an der Wien, Linke Wienzeile 6, 1060 Vienna persons doing military/community service. Opening hours: Mon – Sat, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. Group bookings Closed on Sundays, except for matinee performances For bookings for groups of 11 or more people, please (open from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.) contact the Theater an der Wien sales department. and evening performances (open 2 p.m. until curtain-up). Evening box Tel. +43 (0) 1 588 30-651 or by email: [email protected] office opening hours: from one hour before curtain-up. For your convenience, please buy or pick up all tickets that are not for the next vouchers performance, and complete any subscription inquiries, no later than Vouchers for productions of the Theater an der Wien can one hour before the next performance is due to begin. be ordered by phone on +43 (0) 1 588 85 or purchased at the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien box offices and the Wien -Ticket Wien Ticket Pavillon pavilion. Vouchers are not valid for non -Theater an der Wien Tickets (except subscription tickets) are also avail- events (e.g. Wiener Festwochen). able from the Wien -Ticket pavilion on Herbert von Karajan-Platz by the State Opera from 15 June and Wheelchair spaces/special needs 1 September, 2012 respectively. Open daily from Persons with reduced mobility 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wheelchair spaces can be reserved (also for an accompanying Booking by phone person if desired) up to a week before the performance on Tickets (except subscription tickets and other concessions) can also +43 (0) 1 588 85 or at our box offices. Price: ¤ 10 (wheelchair be ordered daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. from Wien-Ticket by phone. space) with a 50% concession for the accompanying person. Shipping charge*: within Austria: ¤ 5.90; abroad: ¤ 9.90. Arranging Patrons with a disabled person ID can obtain a reduction of for advance tickets to be kept for collection at the evening box office 25% up to one week before the performance. Tickets are avail- of the Theater an der Wien is free of charge.evening box office of the able only at the theatre box offices on presentation of a disabled Theater an der Wien is free of charge. person ID (limited ticket availability). Please note that there are no elevators in the Theater an der Wien. Internet www.theater-wien.at Tickets can be purchased online by credit card from 16 June Standing room and 2 September, 2012 respectively. Tickets for patrons wishing to stand are available at the box Shipping charge*: within Austria ¤ 4.50; abroad ¤ 6.50. office at the theatre’s discretion and no earlier than one hour Arranging for advance tickets to be kept for collection at the before curtain-up. evening box office of the Theater an der Wien is free of charge. Price: ¤ 7

*subject to change 84 | Information | 85 Tickets for students and schoolchildren Tickets for schoolchildren and students up to age 26 are available, at the theatre’s discretion and no earlier than 15 minutes before curtain-up, at the box office on presentation of appropriate ID. Opera: ¤ 15 / Price concert: ¤ 10 Junior-Ticket Up to four children or adolescents (under 16) who attend a Theater an der Wien production accompanied by at least one adult with a full-price ticket are granted a 35% reduction on ticket prices in the categories A – E. Available at all VBW ticket offices, the Theater an der Wien online shop and by phone from Wien-Ticket. Save on parking when you visit the Theater an der Wien Patrons of the Theater an der Wien can park in the Technical University’s WiPark garages for only ¤ 6.90 for the first five hours (normal price: ¤ 16.50). Valid Mon-Sat, 5 p.m. – 8 a.m., Sundays and holidays. Pre-paid parking cards are available at the box office. Addresses: Garage Technische Universität | Operngasse 13 | 1040 Vienna Garage Lehárgasse | Lehárgasse 4 | 1060 Vienna Ö1 Club Ö1 Club members receive a reduction of 10% on a maximum of two tickets per performance. This reduction applies to all Theater an der Wien productions. No concessions are available on subscription tickets, tickets for standing and events of the Wiener Festwochen. To obtain the Ö1 Club concession, please show your membership card or state your membership number. Wiener Festwochen Tickets for Wiener Festwochen events in May/June 2013 at the Theater an der Wien are available from the Wiener Festwochen only: www.festwochen.at, Festwochen service telephone (+43/1) 589 22 22.

Information | 87 Prices LINKS BÜHNE RECHTS Seating plan 3. RANG 2. RANG 1. RANG PARTERRE PARTERRE 1. RANG 2. RANG 3. RANG Theater an der Wien 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 2 2 BELEUCHTERSTAND STEHPLÄTZE 2 2 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 3 1 1 2 2 3 3 Music theatre Prices in ¤ 3 GANZ SEITE 3 1 1 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 4 3 4 4 4 1 4 5 5 5 Le Comte Ory | Fidelio 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 CERCLE 4 5 3 5 5 4 5 1 1 1 1 2 3 3 2 1 SEITE GANZ 4 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 1 5

a 160 b 140 c 120 d 90 e 75 f 45 g 25 2 2 5 2 6 2 2 2 STEHPLÄTZE 2 2 6 1 1 2 3 1 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 3 1 6 3 1 7 6 7

1 1 2 3 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ORC H. 1

Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria | Il trittico | Iphigénie en Aulide 1 8 1 1 3 8 2 1 BELEUCHTERSTAND 3 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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Mathis der Maler | Radamisto | Béatrice et Bénédict | Attila 2 3 9 2 3 9 SEITE LINKS 1

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7 2 1 1 SEITE LINKS 11 12.9.12 Manfred / L’Ascension | 31. 12. 12 New Year’s Eve programme* 15 3 2 1 3 1 3 5 3 12 2 15 * 3 2 5 3 2 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

to be announced 2 1

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6 2 2 1 2 4 6 15 2 4.5.13 Champagne for Gypsies 8 2

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2 17 2 0 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 5 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 3 1 18 3 1 1 2 1 3 1 3 5 2 1 18 6.9.12 Opening 12/13 | 16.9.12 La Calisto | 17.10.12 Tito Manlio 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 PARTERRE 1 4 1 1 5 2 1 1 1 4 2 2 2 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 11.11.12 Drama Queens | 20.11.12 Artaserse | 15.12.12 Werther | 5.1.13 Wagner 1863 2 7 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 4 3 2 2 2 3 3 1 2 3 4 5 8 5 4 3 2 1 4 28.1.13 Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno | 19.2.13 La voix humaine | 22.2.13 Polifemo 1 2 4 3 3 3 3 3 4 3 1 1 3 2 5 4 3 2 3 2 4 1 1 5 4 5 2 26.2.13 Le nozze di Teti, e di Peleo | 20.3.13 Arianna in Creta | 21.4.13 Dido and Aeneas 2 4 5 4 1 3 1 4 5 4 6 5 5 4 1 2 2 5 25.4.13 Amadigi di Gaula 1 5 2 2 6 5 5 1 6 5 1 3 6 6 9 6 6 3 9 1 1 1 a 70 b 58 c 45 d 35 e 26 f 18 g 11 2 7 1 7 6 2 4 1 2 1 7 4 2 8 2 2 3 2 6 2 7 1 0 6 8 0 4 5 7 4 3 8 3 7 2 3 6 8 9 9 8 6 3 8 5 2 6 7 10 10 3 14.10.12 Arnold Schoenberg Chor Gala | 22.10.12 Opening WIEN MODERN 2 2 4 7 6 2 8 8 2 1 5 9 4 5 1 1 10 11 10 9 7 7 2 1 2 4 7 5 9 8 9 8 5 4 18.12.12 Musik der Tiere | 23.1.13 Satyricon 2 10 10 11 10 9 7 3 2 1 2 6 6 1 9 6 9 1 1 3 2 12 10 9 6 2 2 2 8 10 13 13 12 11 2 5 2 2 10 8 7 1 7 5 a 55 b 48 c 40 d 32 e 24 f 17 g 11 3 1 2 2 4 2 9 3 3 3 2 9 3 4 M 8 8 3 2 1 6 2 S I 4 T T 7 1 4 6 1 2 T 0 2 0 H 5 4 9 9 C 4 E 2 1 4 7 4 5 21.9.12 Ich, Schikaneder E 2 L 5 1 R 2 7 I 1 3 LICHT- UND TONREGIE 1 5 N 0 0 1 E 7 2 K 3 T 2 6 1 3 T 6 5 S 2 1 I 5 1 31 2 6 2 6 a / b 30 c / d / e 20 f / g 15 1 1 M 3 8 1 7 3 3 3 2 2 1 7 2 8 7 6 6 3 8 1 1 8 2 7 4 9 3 2 4 9 4 8 7 1 2 32 2 2 4 7 8 3 3 1 2 8 1 3 34 4 33 8 Miniature operas & cabaret 5 0 2 2 3 35 3 3 0 8 14 14 2 8 1 5 9 15 15 2 1 4 16 17 17 16 9 1 9 9 4 1 26. / 29. / 30. 9.12 & 2. / 4. 10.12 Premiere 6 2 10 0 9 1 1 9 11 11 1 2 6 0 1 12 13 12 0 1 2 1 2 1 6. / 8. / 9. / 10. / 11. / 12. / 13. / 14. / 16.3.13 Streng vertraulich 20 2 30 3 3 2 0 1 7 1 1 4 5 5 4 3 7 1 1 2 2 1 1 3 3 3 13 1 8 1 4 3 2 1 12 1 2 1 1 2 8 2 MITTELLOGE 1 2 1 Lecture 10.9.12 Introduction to the Season From Ithaka to Aquileia 7 2 9 9 2 3 31 31 3 19.4.13 Von Attila bis Zamoro 4 32 32 14 33 3 4 4 13 34 4 3 1 3 5 15 35 36 36 35 3 15 1 14 16 4 5 9 1 16 1 9 15 7 18 18 17 15 5 10 1 19 19 0 Introductions 6 1 16 1 11 7 18 19 19 18 17 11 1 12 2 1 13 3 1 No tickets are on sale for the boxes in 2 14 15 15 14 1 2 3 3 5 / 3 4 4 Jugend an der Wien-Performances 5 6 6 5 the second balcony at any concerts or concert performances of operas. Seating plan Photographic material Cover image © beyond / michael huber . thomas riegler (art direction: thomas riegler) Inside cover image © Jakob Winkler | p. 3 Intendant Roland Geyer © Priska Ketterer beyond were commissioned to create all illustrations (S. 6-43, 48, 52, 70, 80) for this booklet by Theater an der Wien from Thomas Riegler (graphic) and Michael Huber (text) using photographic material by corbis images. p. 82 Kammeroper, interior 2011 © Armin Bardel p. 86 Theater an der Wien, auditorium 2009 © Peter Mayr

Theater an der Wien Intendant Roland Geyer Assistant to Intendant Sylvia Hödl Artistic Planning Sebastian F. Schwarz, Axel E. Schneider, Claudia Stobrawa, Ugo Varela Production Management Petra Haidvogel, Anja Meyer, Axel E. Schneider Dramaturgy Karin Bohnert, Petra Aichinger Artistic Administration Renate Futterknecht | Assistant to Artistic Administration Edith Gutmaier Ticketing & Subscriptions Markus Schemmel, Philipp Wagner Public Relations Sabine Seisenbacher, Andrea Brandner, Gabriela Pfeisinger Marketing Tina Osterauer Youth Projects Catherine Leiter Graphic Design Martina Heyduk, Nadine Dellitsch Technical Director Christoph Bauch Head of Costume Department Doris Maria Aigner Technical Production Gerald Stotz Technical Office Slav Gospodinov, Ulrike Müller, Ulrike Ranft Lighting Ralf Sternberg Sound Robert Macalik Makeup Gabriele Kammerer Dresser Hannelore Habel Facility Management Erich Skrobanek

Publishing details Theater an der Wien – Intendant DI Roland Geyer Publisher & Proprietor: Vereinigte Bühnen Wien Ges.m.b.H. – Managing Director Thomas Drozda Theater an der Wien, Linke Wienzeile 6, 1060 Vienna, Austria Tel. (+43/1) 588 30-660 | [email protected] | www.theater-wien.at Responsible for content: Intendant Roland Geyer Editorial office: Petra Aichinger, Karin Bohnert, Andrea Brandner, Nadine Dellitsch, Renate Futterknecht, Martina Heyduk, Sylvia Hödl, Catherine Leiter, Tina Osterauer, Markus Schemmel, Axel E. Schneider, Sebastian F. Schwarz, Sabine Seisenbacher, Claudia Stobrawa, Philipp Wagner Graphic Design: Nadine Dellitsch, Martina Heyduk Printing: Walla Druck Subject to change | May 2012 | DVR 0 187 1

Vereinigte Bühnen Wien Ges.m.b.H. A Wien Holding Company

Partners Jugend an der Wien:

MEDIa PARTNERs 12/13 Stadtschulrat für Wien KulturKontakt Austria Landsmann & Landsmann Jugendinfo