Nero

Bregenz Festspielhaus, Bregenz, Austria

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7:30 PM

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Important Info

Festival: Bregenz Festival 2020

Type: Opera

City: Bregenz, Austria

Starts at: 19:30

Acts: 4

Duration:

Sung in: Italian

Titles in: German

Ticket delivery: E-Tickets

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

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You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Festival

Bregenz Festival 2020

Overview

One of history's most notorious figures will make his appearance at the Festspielhaus: Roman emperor Nero, as a colourful character in Arrigo Boito's lavish opera. The spectacular self staging of his power contrast with pangs of remorse he feels after murdering his mother. Glaring contrasts exist in the sombre rituals practised by pagan magician Simon Magus and the transfiguring purity of emerging Christianity embraced by the prophet Fanuel. Fanuel is loved by Rubria, a vestal virgin who sees herself as a mediator between both creeds. With the assistance of Asteria, who is in love with Nero, Simon Magus conjures up the appearance of the goddess of the night to make the Emperor compliant. However, Nero exposes the illusion, proclaiming the demise of the gods. Placing himself on the altar, he begins to sing. Enjoying adulation as an artist and godly poet, he commands that a huge spectacle begin, even as Rome has already started to burn.

Begun in 1862, Boito strived to complete the piece for several decades, and it became his life's work. Only after his death did conductor Arturo Toscanini create a performable version, whose world premiere was held at La Scala Milan in 1924. Boito's libretti, including those for Giuseppe Verdis's Otello and Falstaff, are some of the most outstanding achievements in operatic history. A leading intellectual in the Scapigliatura artistic movement, Boito also wrote the libretto for Franco Faccio's opera Hamlet, which was performed at the 2016 Bregenz Festival, marking the first time in almost 150 years that it had been performed once again on a European stage.

The directorial team behind this acclaimed rediscovery is now working on a new production of Boito's Nerone: Olivier Tambosi, an ardent enthusiast of Boito, is staging this fascinating, multi-faceted opus in collaboration with set designer Frank Philipp Schlössmann and costume designer Gesine Völlm. Dirk Kaftan, who also made his debut on the Werkstattbühne at the 2016 Bregenz Festival, is acting as musical director.

History

Premiere of this production: 01 May 1924, La Scala

Nerone(Nero) is an opera in four acts composed by Arrigo Boito, to a libretto in Italian written by the composer. The work is a series of scenes from Imperial Rome at the time of Emperor Nero depicting tensions between the Imperial religion and Christianity, and ends with the Great Fire of Rome. Boito died in 1918 before finishing the work.

Venue Info

Bregenz Festspielhaus - Bregenz
Platz der Wr. Symphoniker

The Bregenz Festspielhaus is an event center in Bregenz and was opened in July 1980. It is the venue for the Bregenz Festival and the venue for conferences, congresses, and events. The operator of the Congress culture Bregenz GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the state capital Bregenz is.

In 1990, architectural competition for an extension of the building was announced, which was won by the architects Helmut Dietrich and Much Untertrifaller, based in Bregenz and Vienna, with their architectural office of the same name, Dietrich/Untertrifaller. The concept envisaged a two-stage expansion of the existing building.

The first part of the extension was built in 1996/1997, including the workshop stage with side stage, lake studio, lake foyer, central kitchen, and the new administrative part of the house.

In 2005/2006, the existing building from 1980 was completely renovated and expanded by 10,000 cubic meters. The "Platz der Wiener Symphoniker" in front of the Festival and Congress Hall was redesigned as part of an "Art and Construction" project.

The approximately 7-meter high sculpture "Ready Maid" was created by Gottfried Bechtold. According to the renowned Vorarlberg artist, the inverted tree made of polished bronze is a striding tree woman, an antipode, a diametrically opposed art object to the performances. The sculpture stands in a slight depression, which, depending on the amount of precipitation, turns into a water-based paint and mirror surface up to 15 centimeters deep.

Cerith Wyn Evans created an installation of white neon light that reads "299,792,458 m/s" - the speed of light. The installation was mounted on the Festspielhaus and can be perceived as a light object itself, as a reflection in window panes and in the water, as shadows, etc.
The multifunctional orientation of the Festspielhaus now enables the implementation of a wide variety of event types. Conferences and congresses, cultural events, entertainment as well as company events, and social events form the portfolio of the house. In 2009 the Festspielhaus in Bregenz was voted one of the best event centers of its size in Europe by the European Association of Event Centers (EVVC) and received the corresponding award "Best Center 2009". In 2013, the Bregenz Festival Hall again received an award from the EVVC, this time in cooperation with the German Convention Bureau, namely the “Meeting Experts Green Award” in the “Sustainable Event Center” category.

In addition to the annual Bregenz Festival, performances of the Bregenz Spring Dance Festival, the Bregenz master concerts, concerts of the Vorarlberg Symphony Orchestra, and shows and concerts of all genres take place in the Festspielhaus.

At the Seebühne Stars like Falco, Peter Gabriel, Supertramp, Herbert Grönemeyer, Elton John, Udo Jürgens, Xavier Naidoo and Cro gave concerts. In 2008, film recordings of James Bond 007: a Quantum consolation were recorded there.