Christmas Concert from Vienna’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral

Experience a musical highlight of the pre-christmas season in the heart of Vienna: the advent concert of the Wiener Symphoniker with chief conductor Petr Popelka in the beautiful St. Stephen’s Cathedral. In 2025, the focus will be on a “Bohemian Christmas” – with touching works by Antonín Dvorák, Bedrich Smetana, Josef Suk and others. You can look forward to special moments such as the enchanting “lullaby” from the opera Hubicka (“the kiss”), masterfully interpreted by Katerina Knežíková. Other top-class soloists of the evening: Stepánka Pucálková, Pavel Cernoch and Adam Plachetka. The crowning finale: the joint “O du fröhliche” – the unforgettable end to an evening full of magic and anticipation of christmas.

Fidelio

None other than Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz has been engaged for the stage direction of the new production of Fidelio from the Theater an der Wien. There, at one of the oldest opera houses in Vienna, L.v. Beethoven was what one would call today a composer-in-residence. In his third opera production Waltz brilliantly stages the second version of the opera in the breathtaking set designed by the German-American architectural practice Barkow Leibinger. The abstract staircase landscape in the form of a double helix, symbolizing prison, extends space into the back theatre and is infinitely changeable in the cinematic lighting concept of Hollywood regular Henry Braham. Manfred Honeck at the rostrum of the dynamic Wiener Symphoniker leads a superb and versatile cast of “vocally oustanding“ (Der Standard) singers: Nicole Chevalier bewitches vocally and dramatically on her stage debut as Leonore, Eric Cutler gives Florestan a powerful voice. Christof Fischesser, Gábor Bretz, Mélissa Petit complete the strong ensemble. But the production, which was sold out months before, never saw its stage premiere, as the Theater an der Wien sadly had to shut down due to the Covid 19 pandemic a few days before. Thanks to an incredible effort by all participants, the opera house was converted into a film studio at short notice so that Christoph Waltz’s “convincing production” (Die Zeit) of Beethoven‘s flaming musical plea for freedom and humanity could be preserved for posterity. “An ingenious, enigmatic direction” (Münchner Merkur)

Norma

In this intimate staging of Bellini’s masterpiece opera, Asmik Grigorian’s highly anticipated debut as Norma is “one of the best things to happen to Vienna’s opera stages in a long time” (FAZ). Set in a dictatorship of the 20th century, Grigorian’s Norma is the forewoman of a clay foundry. Vasily Barkhatov’s “convincingly concentrated, intimate staging” (Kronenzeitung) underscores the drama of the love triangle between the three central characters. Grigorian masters the notoriously difficult role with bravura: “Grigorian is a true Callas successor because every gesture and facial expression merges with her musical expression” (Kleine Zeitung). In Aigul Akhmetshina as Adalgisa, “she found a counterpart who has one of the richest mezzo voices of our time” (Die Presse). Freddie De Tommaso as Pollione completes the three-way conflict with his “clean and beautifully sounding” tenor (Oper News). Rounding out the evening musically are the “magnificent in every respect” Arnold Schoenberg Chor (Salzburger Nachrichten). “All in all, a breathtakingly thrilling evening with a perfect interlocking of stage and pit” (Van Magazin).

The Cunning Little Vixen

“How the Lithuanian conductor Giedre Šlekyte conjures up beautiful timbres, what she gets out of the orchestra, is remarkable. This is a conductor one wants to hear more often.” (Kurier) The Cunning Little Vixen, first performed in 1924 and based on a novella by Rudolf Tešnohlídek, is an unconventional portrayal of humans and animals in which the composer Leoš Janácek breaks new ground. His music, as playful as it is melancholic, celebrates the circle of life. For Stefan Herheim, this is a good reason to use Janácek’s opera to celebrate the transformational power of musical theatre when he makes his entrance bow at the Musiktheater an der Wien as the new hands-on artistic director.

La Wally

Catalani’s masterpiece, first performed in 1892 at La Scala in Milan, is best known for its aria “Ebben? Ne andrò lontana”. With nuanced harmonies and colourful instrumentation, he pays great attention to the orchestra sound. He chose highly unusual material for his opera: the successful novel Die Geier-Wally by Wilhelmine von Hillern tells the story of a young woman who does not fit any of the gender clichés of the time. Unlike many earlier operatic heroines commanded to marry against their will, Wally does not look for a solution in society, but instead runs away to the mountains. Her husband must be her equal, someone unafraid to face both a bear and her father. “Izabela Matula – A Wagnerian hell of a woman with a great soprano.” (Kronenzeitung) / “Catalani’s highly dramatic music finds an intense advocate in Andrés Orozco-Estrada on the podium of the excellently disposed Wiener Symphoniker.” (Wiener Zeitung)