Bregenz Festival presents Weber’s “Freischütz”
Published: Saturday, Jul 13th 2024, 05:10
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Bel canto means beautiful singing and is primarily associated with Italian operas. This year, the Bregenz Festival will be showing what beautiful opera singing sounds like in German: "Der Freischütz" by Carl Maria von Weber is set to attract audiences to the famous lake stage on Lake Constance from next week. According to the organizers, the play will be performed for the first time at the four-week festival in Bregenz.
The staging
The stage design is also impressive in this production. A village half submerged in water has been created on Lake Constance - with snow-covered huts, bare trees and a huge moon. The play on the lake changes every two years. She is almost euphoric, said artistic director Elisabeth Sobotka with a view to the first performance.
Philipp Stölzl, who is known as a theater director and filmmaker ("Nordwand") and has already successfully staged Giuseppe Verdi's "Rigoletto" (2019/21) on the lake stage, is responsible for the production. "I wanted to do this opera here when I first came to Bregenz," he said with regard to the new production. A magical, poetic world has been created for a romantic tale of horror.
The story
As is usual with operas, Weber's "Der Freischütz" (1821) is also centered around a love story. The play is set in Bohemia, shortly after the end of the Thirty Years' War. The main character, Max, longs to marry Agatha, the daughter of a hereditary forester. In order to get her hand, the inexperienced marksman has to complete a test shot. In return, he makes a pact with the devil. Will the couple survive this deal?
"In this opera, which is actually half spoken theater, a lot of things will permeate and condense," says Stölzl. The plays often have a tragic ending. In "Der Freischütz" there are both versions. However, the director did not want to reveal whether a happy ending awaits the couple in the Lake Constance version.
Bel canto for advanced students
The musical director is Barcelona-born conductor Enrique Mazzola. He is considered an expert in bel canto operas. "Der Freischütz" has many bel canto moments, explained Mazzola. It was not just a stylistic device for Italian operas, as Weber had shown. The challenge in German opera is to translate the rather harsher language into a beautiful long melody.
See-Show not sold out
From this Wednesday, audiences will be able to hear and see whether this has been successful. The festival kicks off on July 17. The organizers are expecting more than 200,000 visitors during the five festival weeks until 18 August.
The performances are not yet sold out. "85 percent of tickets are currently booked, especially for the performances of "Der Freischütz" in August," explained Commercial Director Michael Diem.
Opera thriller "Tancredi" at the Festspielhaus
In addition to "Der Freischütz", "Tancredi" by Gioachino Rossini will also be performed this year - the premiere is on July 18 at the Festspielhaus Bregenz. There will be more than 80 events in total, including plays and orchestral concerts.
The Bregenz Festival primarily attracts German guests, accounting for around 63 percent of visitors. The other visitors come from Austria (23 percent), Switzerland and Liechtenstein (11 percent) and the rest of the world (3 percent).
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