Premiere DALIBOR Opera in three acts by Bedřich Smetana Libretto by Josef Wenzig Translated into German by Kurt Honolka Sung in German with German and English surtitles Conductor: Stefan Soltesz Director: Florentine Klepper Set Designer: Boris Kudlička Costume Designer: Adriane Westerbarkey Video: Anna Henckel-Donnersmarck Lighting Designer: Jan Hartmann Chorus Master: Tilman Michael Dramaturge: Norbert Abels Vladislav: Gordon Bintner Dalibor: Aleš Briscein Budivoj: Simon Bailey Beneš: Thomas Faulkner Vítek: Theo Lebow Milada: Izabela Matuła Jitka: Angela Vallone Oper Frankfurt's Chorus and Extras; Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester With generous support from the Frankfurt Patronatsverein (patrons) – Sektion Oper The first performance of Dalibor, the third opera by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884), took place on May 16th 1868 in the Neustädter Theatre in Prague, where the second edition of this grand three act, envisioned as national opera, was also performed for the first time in 1870. The 1865 libretto was written by Josef Wenzig, based on the story about the late Middle Ages Czech Knight Dalibor von Kozojedy. A few years later Smetana took up the theme of fatherland again with his cycle of symphonic poems, which includes Die Moldau (Vltava), probably his best known work. The story: The knight Dalibor is sentenced to life in prison for murdering the Burggraf of Ploschkowitz and verbally threatening King Vladislav. Milada, the dead Burggraf's sister, falls in love with Dalibor and plans to set him free. She manages to trick the prison governor Beneš and find her beloved. The Commandant of the Royal castle guards gets wind of plans to spring him and persuades the King to have the supposedly treacherous prison governor executed and announce Dalibor's death sentence. When the prearranged signal is not heard, Dalibor's allies realise they have been betrayed and their leader's escape thwarted. Milada joins in the battle and is fatally wounded. Dalibor dies alongside her. The music side of things is led Stefan Soltesz, a regular guest in Frankfurt; most recently for Verdi's Les Vêpres siciliennes in 2017. This Austrian conductor, with Hungarian roots, was General Music Director of the Essen Philharmonic and Intendant of the Aalto Theater from 1997 to 2013. The director Florentine Klepper first worked for Oper Frankfurt in 2012, on Arnulf Herrmann's Wasser in the Frankfurt LAB, returning in 2015 for Martinů's Julietta in the Opera House. She recently directed Strauss' Elektra at Oper Graz and plans include Bizet's Carmen at Operá de Dijon in the spring of 2019. Future plans for the Czech tenor Aleš Briscein (Dalibor) include Prokofiev's L’amour des trois oranges at the National Theatre in Prague. Bass- baritone Simon Bailey (Budivoj), a Member of the Ensemble at Oper Frankfurt from 2002 to 2015, recently sang here again the father in Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel. The Polish soprano Izabela Matuła is making her debut in Frankfurt, singing the role of Milada. A Member of the Ensemble in the Krefeld and Mönchengladbach Theatre, she can be heard soon singing Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni at Oper Bonn. The other roles are being performed by Members of Oper Frankfurt's Ensemble, led by Gordon Bintner (Vladislav). The production is being recorded by the Hessische Rundfunk in collaboration with Deutschlandfunk Kultur. The Hessische Rundfunk broadcast is on hr2-kultur on Saturday March 9th 2019, at 20.04hrs and Deutschlandfunk Kultur follows on Saturday April 27th 2019, at 19.05hrs. Premiere: Sunday February 24th 2019, at 18.00hrs in the Opera House Further performances: March 2nd, 8th, 16th, 22nd, 24th (15.30hrs; with free child minding for those aged between 3 and 9), 30th 2019 Unless otherwise stated, all performances begin at 19.30hrs Tickets cost: € 15 to € 165 (with a 12.5% pre-booking fee when not purchased direct from the theatre) Tickets can be obtained from the usual outlets, by telephone +49 (0)69 – 212 49 49 4 or online www.oper-frankfurt.de. I do hope you might be able to publish this event. For further information, ordering photographs and reserving press tickets please contact Holger Engelhardt (Leitung Pressereferat) on +49 (0)69 – 212 46 727. His fax number is +49 (0)69 – 212 37 164 or you can email him on [email protected] .