A Masked Ball by Verdi, sze 05 dec 2012, -tól (2012/2012), Rendezte David Pountney,, Karmester Nello Santi, Opernhaus, Zurich, Switzerland

Un ballo in maschera After his successful triad of Rigoletto , Il trovatore and La traviataGiuseppe Verdi chose historical material for his next opera: the assassination of the Swedish king Gustav III. at a masked ball in 1792. The historical event becomes the tragic love story between Gustavo and Amelia, the wife of his best friend. It ends with the king being killed by Amelia's jealous husband, Renato Anckarstroem, just as he has renounced forbidden love. Not only the circumstances of the murder at the eponymous masked ball, but also characters such as the fortune teller Ulrica or the page Oscar make the opera a dazzling piece in which the tragic basic conflict is repeatedly overlaid with absurd comedy and operetta-like lightness. The British director David Pountney, known for his black humor, staged Un ballo in maschera as a deadly game within a game: Gustavo seems to have confused world politics with a gigantic theatrical performance, whereby he increasingly loses control of the direction. At the revival, the globally successful tenor Marcelo Álvarez will play the Swedish monarch. The opera house debut of the American soprano Sondra Radvanovsky as Amelia is also eagerly awaited, while Marie-Nicole Lemieux makes her debut in Zurich as Ulrica. General Music Director Fabio Luisi conducts the Philharmonia.