Ernani

Opera in four acts (1844)
Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave based on Victor Hugo’s (1830)
drama Hernani ou l’Honneur castellan 
In Italian with German surtitles

PREMIERE

19 July 2023 - 7.30 p.m., Festspielhaus

Six years before Rigoletto, Giuseppe Verdi had already composed a gripping drama about love and revenge: Ernani – his breakthrough as a composer. The opera was also based on a play by the French author Victor Hugo, whose text inspired Verdi's unique style with moving arias, stirring choruses and scenes of high drama.

Three men driven by revenge and the love for a woman: The outlaw leader Ernani seeks revenge when he finds out that his father died at the hands of Spanish King Carlo – and even more so when Carlo declares his love for Ernani’s beloved Elvira. She, however, is supposed to marry Silva; a wedding that Ernani wants to prevent. On the other hand, Silva and Ernani share a common wish: revenge on King Carlo. As soon as the latter is elected as the new emperor at Aachen Cathedral, he orders the conspirators to be punished. It is only thanks to Elvira that he pardons them and even agrees to her wedding with Ernani. Then however, a hurt and angry Silva remembers a promise his rival once gave him and ruthlessly spins the wheel of revenge once more.

Stage director Lotte de Beer and stage and costume designer Christof Hetzer work together on the fictional plot with references to the 16th century. The two have already demonstrated their creativity with historic material when they directed Rossini’s Mosè in Egitto in 2017. Once more, they work together with conductor Enrique Mazzola, who showed his passion for Verdi’s music when Rigoletto was staged on the Seebühne.

Ernani Saimir Pirgu
Don Carlo Igor Golovatenko
Don Ruy Gomez de Silva Goran Jurić
Elvira Guanqun Yu
Giovanna Aytaj Shikhalizada
Don Riccardo Omer Kobiljak
Jago Stanislav Vorobyov

Musical Director Enrique Mazzola
Stage Director Lotte de Beer
Stage Designer | Costume Designer Christof Hetzer
Light Alex Brok
Fight Choreography Ran Braun
Choirmaster Lukáš Vasilek
Dramaturge Peter te Nuyl

Prague Philharmonic Choir

Stage music in cooperation with Stella Vorarlberg Privathochschule für Musik

Wiener Symphoniker