Fidelio

Only her love can set him free.

Florestan suffers in a secret underground cell, unjustly incarcerated for his political beliefs. But a light in the darkness is breaking: Leonore, Florestan’s wife, has disguised herself as the male guard Fidelio to free her beloved. By infiltrating the system that oppresses her husband, can she be the voice that overthrows it—and free her country from a brutal regime?

We launch our new season with Beethoven’s only opera, last staged by WNO in the Opera House more than 30 years ago. This new production marks the first WNO collaboration between Artistic Director Francesca Zambello and Music Director Designate Robert Spano, a four-time Grammy Award®–winning conductor.

Beethoven premiered his story of resistance, freedom, and dissent during a time of complete European upheaval. If his “Ode to Joy” declares the universal triumph of peace over war, then his Fidelio is an inspiring ode to love’s transcendent power over tyranny.

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Music by Ludwig van Beethoven / Libretto by Joseph von Sonnleithner

In German with Projected English Titles
Composed 1805–1814