Dates

5-29 Jun 2024

Location

Dutch National Opera & Ballet, Main Stage

Running time

3:00, incl. 1 interval

Tickets

From € 30

Fidelio

Love, revolution and liberty

Liberation opera, revolutionary artwork, an ode to fidelity in love and utopian drama – FidelioBeethoven’s only opera, is all of these things. The numerous characterisations and interpretations add an aura of mystery to the opera but demonstrate above all that it is a unique work of musical theatre that expresses the hope for a humane future with justice and liberty for all.

The stage direction is in the hands of the Ukrainian director Andriy Zholdak. His visual imagery, replete with symbols, is reminiscent of great film directors such as Andrei Tarkovsky and Ingmar Bergman. Using a distinctive style, Zholdak explores the deeper layers of the universal human drama of Fidelio. These layers can sometimes be difficult to follow. To help visitors better interpret what they will see on stage, we recommend reading the information page.

Photo: Marta Syrko

Love, revolution and liberty

Fidelio is Leonore. She plunges into an adventure to free her beloved Florestan from the deepest darkness of Pizzaro's dungeons. His tyrannical violence, abuse of power and barbaric behaviour make him one of the most despicable characters in opera history. Indeed, Fidelio’s struggle is a fight to the death. But love brings hope against this backdrop of a corrupt world.

Inspired by a true story from the time of the French Revolution, Beethoven wrote a masterpiece whose characters rise above the banal. The symphonic, almost religious nature of his music adds depth to a story in which powerful emotions and big ideas meet.

A gripping reading

Led by the renowned Colombian-Austrian conductor Andrés Orozco-Estrada, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra will certainly present a gripping reading of Beethoven’s only opera. The dramatically and vocally versatile role of Leonore is performed by the radiant soprano Jacquelyn Wagner. In the role of her lover, the revolutionary Florestan, we hear the internationally acclaimed heroic tenor Eric Cutler.

Fidelio by Andriy Zholdak

A Fidelio like you’ve never seen before. In Ukrainian stage director Andriy Zholdak’s version, Beethoven’s opera centres on a battle between good and evil forces, depicted through symbols, video projections, and spoken texts.

Performance information

The version chosen for this production of Fidelio is largely based on Gustav Mahler's 1904 version. This means that the Rocco aria is not performed, but the Leonore 3 overture is heard in the finale of the second act. During one of the scene changes, you will also hear a fragment of the Funeral March from Symphony No. 3 (Eroica).

Opera in two acts
Sung in German

Libretto  Joseph Sonnleithner

Musical direction  Andrés Orozco Estrada
Stage direction, set and lighting design  Andriy Zholdak
Costume design  Andriy Zholdak and  Simon Machabeli
Set design  Andriy Zholdak and  Daniel Zholdak
Video design  Etienne Guiol
Associate Video design  Malo Lacroix
Sound design  Juan Verdaguer
Dramaturgy  Luc Joosten 

Don Fernando  Mark Kurmanbayev*
Florestan  Eric Cutler
Rocco  James Creswell
Don Pizarro  Nicholas Brownlee
Leonore  Jacquelyn Wagner
Marzelline  Anna El-Khashem
Jaquino  Linard Vrielink
Erster Gefangener  Stefan Kennedy
Zweiter Gefangener  Peter Arink

*Dutch National Opera Studio
​​​​​​​
Chorus of Dutch National Opera
Chorus master  Edward Ananian-Cooper

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Part of the Holland Festival

Online programme

Along with the printed programme book, we also offer online programme information for this performance. The online programme will take you behind the scenes with in-depth stories, articles, and interviews with the creators and cast.

Watch Fidelio online

Missed Fidelio? Stream Fidelio via this page or OperaVision! This performance is available to stream for free from 6 July 2024 at 19:00 until 6 November 2024 at 12:00.

OperaVision is a freeview opera streaming platform, supported by the European Union’s Creative Europe programme. The place to see opera online, OperaVision is a window on the varied landscape of musical theatre for a connected world.

Stream - Fidelio

Fidelio scènebeeld

5 reasons to look forward to … Fidelio

Ticket prices

Check out the ticket prices per price category via the link below. Youths up to 35 can attend this performance for only € 25,00 (including booking fee), regardless of which price category is ordered.

Ticket prices

We offer discounts for specific groups in order to make our performances accessible to everyone. Check this page to see if you are eligible for a discount.

Price
category

Standard

CJP | City Pass

Youths up to 35

1st

€ 176,00

€ 161,00

€ 23,00

2nd

€ 151,00

€ 133,00

€ 23,00

3rd

€ 120,00

€ 103,00

€ 23,00

4th

€ 95,00

€ 85,00

€ 23,00

5th

€ 64,00

€ 56,00

€ 23,00

6th

€ 30,00

€ 24,00

€ 23,00

Dutch National Opera & Ballet works with a system of dynamic pricing: during the booking period the ticket prices may increase, depending on demand. Prices exclude € 2,00 booking fee per ticket.

Student discount and Student Alert
Students can take advantage of discounted tickets for performances at Dutch National Opera & Ballet. From 13.00 on the day of the performance, if it is not sold out, you can buy a ticket online for only € 19 (including booking fee). Have your valid student ID card or proof of enrolment ready to show at the door.

For some performances, we are already giving students the opportunity to book with student discounts. Want to stay up to date with our student offers? Sign up for the Student Alert and receive the latest news about offers in your mailbox.

Order tickets

loading Loading tickets...

Fragment - Fidelio

lichtgevende ringen met zangers ertussen
Andriy Zholdak

Director Andriy Zholdak talks to dramaturg Luc Joosten

Man before a mirror with a burning bed next to him
Singer with a giant bulb
Man with snake and two dead bodies next to him
man with wolf mask and a vampire like woman behind him
Black angel with a young woman
Two light circles with two female singers
Fidelio
Fidelio
Fidelio
Opera in het park

Opera in the Park - Holland Festival - for free

Each year during the Holland Festival, an opera included in the programme is also shown for free on a large screen outside in the park. This edition of Opera in the Park consists of composer Ludwig van Beethovens opera Fidelio on Sunday 16 June.

Theater Perdu

Opera in analysis

Een verdiepend programma (only in Dutch) op zondag 23 juni om 11.00

Het werk aan Fidelio bezorgde Beethoven hoofdbrekens. Maar wat geeft dit stuk ons te denken? Breukvlakken en De Nationale Opera duiken samen in Fidelio. Welke thema’s snijdt de opera aan en wat gebeurt er als we met een psychoanalytische blik naar het werk kijken?

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is one of the world’s top orchestras. Since it was founded in 1888, it has worked with leading conductors and soloists. Klaus Mäkelä is the orchestra’s artistic partner and will become its chief conductor in 2027. The orchestra plays around eighty concerts a year in the Concertgebouw and forty in other prestigious venues. It also reaches music lovers around the world with its videos, streaming, radio and TV broadcasts, CDs and DVDs.

Photo: Simon van Boxtel

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

The Academy of the Concertgebouw Orchestra trains talented young musicians, while accomplished musicians aged 14 to 17 from all over Europe come together in Concertgebouworkest Young. The orchestra has a long tradition of collaboration with Dutch National Opera and can be heard this season in the new production The Shell Trial and in Fidelio

Podcast

Introduction

An introduction will take place 45 minutes before the start of this performance, during which an expert will give background information and offer interesting perspectives on the performance, allowing you to get even more out of your theatre visit. The introductions are given in Dutch. They can be visited for free and without reservation, by showing your ticket for the performance.

Introduction Fidelio by: Hein van Eekert
Location: Souterrain

Holland Festival Logo

About Holland Festival

Holland Festival is the largest international performing arts festival in the Netherlands and one of the oldest festivals in Europe. The festival was established in 1947 and will celebrate its 77th anniversary in 2024. 

The festival takes place every year, In June, in and around Amsterdam, at various locations, indoors and outdoors, large-scale and intimate, online and offline.

Partners Dutch National Opera Studio