Arnold Schoenberg Chor - Handel: Theodora - BLU-RAY

Initially a failure when first performed in London in 1750, 'Theodora' has proved to be one of Handel's most enduring and compassionate masterpieces - a work of introspective depth about the redemptive power of tolerance. Theodora's determination to die in defence of her religious freedom offers her the promise of eternal salvation. In this acclaimed Viennese production, award-winning stage director Stefan Herheim contrasts Theodora's self-sacrifice with the lack of spiritual direction of our own times. La Folia Barockorchester and the Arnold Schoenberg Chor are conducted by the acclaimed countertenor and Handel specialist Bejun Mehta.

He was out to create something 'unheard-of', observed conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt beforehand. And true to form What the conductor had to offer as he commenced his Mozart/Da Ponte cycle in the Theater an der Wien was something we Inchhad never before heard like thisInch (Kurier). Nikolaus Harnoncourt, InchmasterInch of period performance practice, realized a project that had long been one of his dearest wishes for the first time, he and his Inchoriginal-sound orchestraInch Concentus Musicus and his personal choice of singers were presenting the complete Mozart/Da Ponte cycle and harvesting the fruits of his Mozart research - an Inchenthusiastically acclaimed cycle!Inch (news. At). During an intensive phase of rehearsal and preparation, he was in search of a Mozart hermeneutic resting on historical sources and yet anchored in our own time, in order to stage the whole Da Ponte InchtrilogyInch - Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte - in a matter of a mere six weeks. InchThe culmination of Harnoncourt's involvement with [Mozart's Da Ponte operas] - A Mozart drawn from historical sources and yet anchored in our own time. Inch (Die Presse)

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. And he was this in two respects here he lived for two years in an apartment in the wing of the building. And it was here that he premiered many of his most famous orchestral works, symphonies and his only opera Fidelio. 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 Inchvocally oustandingInch (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 it's 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 Inchconvincing productionInch (Die Zeit) of Beethoven's flaming musical plea for freedom and humanity could be preserved for posterity. InchAn ingenious, enigmatic directionInch (Münchner Merkur)