Zurich Opera House tickets 4 October 2024 - Simon Boccanegra | GoComGo.com

Simon Boccanegra

Zurich Opera House, Zurich, Switzerland
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Important Info
Type: Opera
City: Zurich, Switzerland
Starts at: 19:00
Acts: 3
Intervals: 1
Duration: 2h 50min
Sung in: Italian
Titles in: German,English
Cast
Performers
Baritone: Christian Gerhaher (Simon Boccanegra)
Bass: Christof Fischesser (Jacopo Fiesco)
Soprano: Jennifer Rowley (Amelia)
Conductor: Paolo Arrivabeni
Orchestra: Philharmonia Zürich
Choir: Zürich Opera Chorus
Creators
Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Director: Andreas Homoki
Librettist: Francesco Maria Piave
Overview

Andreas Homoki’s production is like a chamber play, all of which takes place on Christian Schmidt’s labyrinthine stage set. Homoki created nuanced characters moving through a clear and suspenseful narrative arc. However, his production also creates imaginary spaces of memory that correspond to the different temporal planes within the plot.

Christian Gerhaher’s role debut as Simon Boccanegra at the Opernhaus Zürich was the subject of great public attention: "One can sense at every moment how deeply he has grappled with the figure", a critic for the Bayerische Rundfunk commented in 2020. Now the celebrated baritone is back at the center of Verdi’s score, which is characterized through and through by dark moods and conflicts between low male voices, once again.

This opera from Verdi’s middle period was inspired by historical events surrounding the figure of Simon Boccanegra, an outsider who was elected to be the first Doge of the city of Genoa in the 14th century. His rival is the bass Jacopo Fiesco, who represents the power of the nobility. But even more than the political conflict between two social classes, Verdi is interested in Boccanegra’s fractured family structure: Boccanegra learns of his lover’s death, and also finds his lost daughter. The third deep voice in this emotionally laden drama is bass-baritone Paolo Albiani, Boccanegra’s one-time friend who transforms into his enemy and ushers in the tragic end to the opera.

History
Premiere of this production: 12 March 1857, La Fenice, Venice

Simon Boccanegra is an opera with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play Simón Bocanegra (1843) by Antonio García Gutiérrez, whose play El trovador had been the basis for Verdi's 1853 opera, Il trovatore.

Venue Info

Zurich Opera House - Zurich
Location   Sechseläutenplatz 1

Zürich Opera House is a main opera house in Zürich and Switzerland. Located at the Sechseläutenplatz, it has been the home of the Zürich Opera since 1891, and also houses the Bernhard-Theater Zürich. It is also home to the Zürich Ballet. The Opera House also holds concerts by its Philharmonia orchestra, matinees, Lieder evenings and events for children. The Zürich Opera Ball is organised every year in March, and is usually attended by prominent names.

The first permanent theatre, the Aktientheater, was built in 1834 and it became the focus of Richard Wagner’s activities during his period of exile from Germany.

The Aktientheater burnt down in 1890. The new Stadttheater Zürich (municipal theatre) was built by the Viennese architects Fellner & Helmer, who changed their previous design for the theatre in Wiesbaden only slightly. It was opened in 1891. It was the city's main performance space for drama, opera, and musical events until 1925, when it was renamed Opernhaus Zürich and a separate theatre for plays was built: The Bernhard Theater opened in 1941, in May 1981 the Esplanada building was demolished, and the present adjoint building opened on 27/28 December 1984 after three years of transition in the Kaufhaus building nearby Schanzengraben.

By the 1970s, the opera house was badly in need of major renovations; when some considered it not worth restoring, a new theatre was proposed for the site. However, between 1982 and 1984, rebuilding took place but not without huge local opposition which was expressed in street riots. The rebuilt theatre was inaugurated with Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and the world première of Rudolf Kelterborn’s Chekhov opera Der Kirschgarten.

As restored, the theatre is an ornate building with a neo-classical façade of white and grey stone adorned with busts of Weber, Wagner, and Mozart. Additionally, busts of Schiller, Shakespeare, and Goethe are to be found. The auditorium is built in the neo-rococo style and seats approximately 1200 people. During the refurbishment, the issue of sightlines was not adequately addressed. As a result, the theatre has a high number of seats with a limited view, or no view, of the stage. This is unusual in international comparison, where sightlines in historic opera houses have been typically enhanced over time.

Corporate archives and historical library collections are held at the music department of the Predigerkirche Zürich.

The Zürich Opera House is also home of the International Opera Studio (in German: Internationales Opernstudio IOS) which is a educational program for young singers and pianists. The studio was created in 1961 and has renowned artists currently teaching such as Brigitte Fassbaender, Hedwig Fassbender, Andreas Homocki, Rosemary Joshua, Adrian Kelly, Fabio Luisi, Jetske Mijnssen, Ann Murray, Eytan Pessen or Edith Wiens.

Important Info
Type: Opera
City: Zurich, Switzerland
Starts at: 19:00
Acts: 3
Intervals: 1
Duration: 2h 50min
Sung in: Italian
Titles in: German,English
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