Der Freischütz

A romantic opera in three acts (1821)
Libretto by Friedrich Kind based on August Apel’s story of the same name (1810);
dialogue version by Jan Dvořák after a concept by Philipp Stölzl
Sung in German

PREMIERE 

17 July 2024 - 9.15 p.m., Seebühne

DURATION

2 hours (no intermission)

Shows 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31 July - 9.15 p.m.
1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 August - 9.00 p.m.

An uninviting village in Germany shortly after the Thirty Years’ War: The young clerk Max loves Agathe, the daughter of the head ranger Kuno. But in order to marry her, the inexperienced marksman Max must participate in an archaic tradition and score in a shooting trial – an unfulfillable challenge for him.

The dubious war veteran Kaspar knows this. He convinces the clerk to meet him at Wolf’s Glen at midnight to forge »free bullets« that never miss their target. Max, who does not see any other way out of his unfortunate situation, sells his soul to the devil. What he does not know, though, is that while six of the cursed bullets will hit their target, the seventh is in the devil’s hands. In the meantime, his fiancé Agathe tries to find sleep in this stormy night. On the morning of their wedding day, she is overtaken by a deep sense of foreboding. Even her best friend Ännchen cannot cheer her up. When the shooting trial finally begins, Max is on his seventh bullet. He brings the gun to his shoulder, aims and pulls the trigger …

»Bull’s eye«, Carl Maria von Weber triumphantly wrote to his librettist Friedrich Kind following the enthusiastically received world premiere of Der Freischütz in 1821 in Berlin. With its emotional and gripping music, it soon became the epitome of the German Romantic opera. As one of the most popular operas in the German speaking world, Der Freischütz is now staged on the Seebühne for the first time with director and stage designer Philipp Stölzl and Conductor in Residence Enrique Mazzola. The two team up again in Bregenz following the phenomenal success of Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto. 

Ottokar Liviu Holender, Johannes Kammler
Kuno Franz Hawlata, Raimund Nolte
Agathe Vera-Lotte Boecker, Nikola Hillebrand, Elissa Huber
Ännchen Hanna Herfurtner, Gloria Rehm, Katharina Ruckgaber
Kaspar Christof Fischesser, David Steffens, Oliver Zwarg
Max Thomas Blondelle, Attilio Glaser, Mauro Peter
Samiel Moritz von Treuenfels, Niklas Wetzel
A Hermit Frederic Jost, Andreas Wolf
Kilian Maximilian Krummen, Philippe Spiegel

Musical Director Enrique Mazzola, Erina Yashima
Stage Director | Stage Designer Philipp Stölzl
 Costume Designer Gesine Völlm
Lighting Design Philipp Stölzl, Florian Schmitt
Stunt and Movement Director Wendy Hesketh-Ogilvie
Stage Support Franziska Harm
Choir Director Lukáš Vasilek, Benjamin Lack
Sound Director Alwin Bösch, Clemens Wannemacher
Sound Effects Jan Petzold
Dramaturge Olaf A. Schmitt

Wired Aerial Theatre | Bregenzer Festspiele Extras
Bregenzer Festspiele Choir | Prague Philharmonic Choir
Wiener Symphoniker