This production from the Festspielhaus at Bregenz Festival centers on the Biblical Exodus. The universal story, with ist themes of migration and inability to deal with power, has lost none of ist urgency and topicality. By choosing an Old Testament subject, Rossini was able to get round the ban on staging operas during Lent. None the less, Mosè in Egitto contains all the ingredients of grand opera, mainly thanks to the concealed love story of the heir to the Egyptian throne. Today the moving prayer-aria of the Israelites in captivity remains the best known piece from the opera. For the staging of this rarely performed work by Rossini, Dutch director Lotte de Beer, one of the most sought-after stage directors of her generation (International Opera Newcomer Award 2015) teams up with the Dutch theatre collective Hotel Modern. While the soloists and choir relate the tale of the pharaoh and the conflicts in his family, Hotel Modern conjure up ist own reality by using live animations to portray the mass scenes and the parallel narrative of the people and the slaves. Miniature cameras, thousands of puppets, models of villages and cities and a spectacular aquarium installation present the biblical tale of plagues and the parting of the Red Sea on the Bregenz stage.
Bregenz Festival 2016: Amleto (Hamlet)
It’s an impetuous, impassioned Hamlet that treads the boards in composer Franco Faccio and librettist Arrigo Boito’s opera Hamlet (Amleto), which was first staged in 1865 in Genua. Faccio and Boito skilfully and effectively challenge the conventions of Italian opera, which they wanted to revitalise by infusing it with the spirit of Shakespeare’s drama. Amleto was performed again at La Scala in 1871, after that the opera was not staged again – until 2014 when it was revived in the USA. The Bregenz Festival is now bringing Faccio’s Hamlet back to Europe. This production “offers all an Italian-opera-lover could possibly desire” (FAZ); “a triumphal rebirth” (Deutschlandradio Kultur)
A Johann Strauss Celebration – The Wiener Symphoniker in Trieste
For decades, the Wiener Symphoniker has welcomed spring with a bouquet of lively melodies. This edition goes international as the orchestra and chief conductor Petr Popelka ring in the season in Trieste with works by Johann Strauss, the composer of the year, but also pieces by Franz Lehár, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Erich Korngold.
Hollywood in Vienna – A Celebration of Disney Classics featuring Alan Menken
Alan Menken, is one of Hollywood’s most successful film composers and a true Disney legend. Alan Menken wrote melodies that are known around the globe and are beloved by generations. Stars from Broadway and West End pay tribute to 8-time Academy Award winner Alan Menken with a spectacular gala concert. Menken’s longtime music director, Michael Kosarin, conducts the ORF Radio-Symphony Orchestra Vienna. The program for the gala includes highlights of Alan Menken’s career including, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Tangled, Hercules, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Pocahontas.
I am from Austria
The Vereinigte Bühnen Wien (VBW) hit-musical I AM FROM AUSTRIA has evolved to a brilliant public success – over 20 hits by Rainhard Fendrich such as “Macho Macho”, “Es lebe der Sport”, “Strada del Sole” and of course the title song “I Am From Austria” have been spun together by an original plot telling the story of an internationally successful Austrian film star, who returns to Vienna to attend the famous annual Opera Ball. A magnificent set, thrilling choreographies and dazzling costumes take you behind the scenes of a Viennese luxury hotel – chaos, kisses and catastrophes included. Let yourself be inspired by the turbulent story of love, friendship and family and look forward to a spectacular musical evening full of romance, surprises and hilarious comedy of the situation.