At the end of the festival season, the water was let out of the artificial lagoon that holds almost 500,000 liters. Until early spring of next year, passers-by can now look at the machinery and the components that are otherwise hidden underwater. Loudspeakers, lighting elements, props, sensitive electronic equipment, hydraulic motors and other installations that are sensitive to cold were removed and put into storage at the end of August. Everything else stays outside: Over the winter months, the village and the hills can take on a little bit of real patina in addition to the artificial patina that the set painters added to the stage at the beginning of this year.

With this Freischütz the Bregenzer Festspiele surely hit the mark. One does not often experience such a refreshing approach to opera.

ORF, Vienna

Der Freischütz attracted almost 200,000 people to Lake Constance in Bregenz this summer. All of the 28 performances of the Opera on the Lake were completely sold out and the audience loved Philipp Stölzl’s interpretation of the opera. The German director and stage designer built the hauntingly poetic world for Carl Maria von Weber’s romantic horror tale about the love story between the head forester’s daughter Agathe and the young scrivener Max very close to the auditorium. Max fights amidst a bleak winter landscape, surrounded by crooked, partly submerged houses, dead trees and a horse skeleton, all under the watchful eyes of the wary villagers as he seeks the hand of his beloved. Because an archaic tradition stands in the way of their marriage: If Max wants to marry Agathe and take over the forestry, he must first be successful in a shooting trial. The problem: Max’s shooting skills are terrible. The solution: a deal with Samiel, the devil.

This production shows a surprisingly different Freischütz; the fiendish and eerie atmosphere is translated into a modern opera show embellished with every technically possible effect.

Aargauer Zeitung, Switzerland

“I had already wanted to do this opera here when I came to Bregenz the first time,” tells us the renowned film director in early 2024. He already staged Verdi’s Rigoletto in Bregenz in 2019/21. Stölzl’s approach to Der Freischütz was based on a very deliberate decision: “We wanted to fully embrace the romantic horror tale, which is an intrinsic part of this opera, here in Bregenz.” And it so happens that the devil Samiel ascends on a fire-spitting snake, ghostly, sinister creatures writhe in the black water of the lagoon, a grotesquely pale Agathe dances on her bed.

In his production, Stölzl devoted a lot of attention to the spoken dialogues, because: “After all, almost half of the opera is a play.” Together with author Jan Dvořák he created a new and extended version of the spoken dialogues. Stölzl elevated the role of Samiel, the devil, to that of a narrator, a host and a puppet master. With the constant change from Carl Maria von Weber’s catchy melodies and arias to the numerous dialogues – and the devil’s sharp comments – the Bregenz version of Der Freischütz captivates the audience.

The Bregenz version of Der Freischütz is decidedly not a simple opera event – and thereby builds bridges. […] A successful experiment that, moreover, has a broad appeal –the perfect start for opera beginners.

Orpheus Opernmagazin

Samiel, the devil, played by the two actors Moritz von Treuenfels and Niklas Wetzel, is omnipresent in Der Freischütz. He climbs on top of trees, rides the skeleton horse and appears on the church steeple all while pushing the story forward. He orchestrates the figures, dictates their actions and constantly mocks them. Samiel puts up Kaspar, a war veteran, to convince the young scrivener Max to go to Wolf’s Glen, a terribly scary place, and forge magic bullets at night. This is how Max will save the wedding with his beloved Agathe – and the devil gets his soul.

The scene at Wolf’s Glen is the visual and dramatical highlight of the Bregenz version of Der Freischütz: Weber’s somber music and the haunting orchestration paired with impressive lighting effects, thick layers of mist, howling wolfs and crashing thunder make the stage a surreal, nightmarish place. When Kaspar forges magic bullets in the middle of a sea of flames, the whole auditorium shivers.

Extremely witty and bitterly ironic, a mystery play with fights in and underwater: That is how Philipp Stölzl’s new interpretation of Carl Maria von Weber’s opera classic ends on the Seebühne in Bregenz. Spectacular and unusual.

Westdeutsche Zeitung

The conditions on the stage were a huge challenge for the singers of Der Freischütz in Bregenz: The Seebühne is gigantic, and you need to be in good shape to be able to act and sing on it. Philipp Stölzl’s Freischütz, however, demands even more of the cast: All of the actors and actresses wade through the knee-deep water of the dark lagoon throughout the performance. The actors and actresses wear custom-built shoes and wetsuits underneath the costumes to keep them warm and protect them from slipping in the basin. And there is more: Ännchen sings her aria while balancing on a small platform surrounded by stunt women performing a water ballet. Kaspar is completely submerged underwater where a stunt diver provides him with oxygen. A once in a lifetime experience? Far from it: Most of the singers will also be seen in Der Freischütz 2025 – because a summer at Lake Constance is unique.