Fidelio

Politcal prisoner Florestan in unjustly held captive by Don Pizarro, the corrupt govenor of a state prison. Florestan's wife Leonore disguises herself as a young man called Fidelio and joins the prison staff as a guard. Her mission to rescue Florestan is a timeless, universal tale of the power of love and fidelity triumphing over injustice and tyranny.

Two hundred years after its original premiere, Beethoven's Fidelio continues to thrill audiences with echoes of the composer's symphonic works, powerful orchestral imagination and exquisite melodies. 

In this current production, Calixta Bieito's unique vision of Beethoven's only opera throws open the doors of the psychological prisons in which each character is trapped. It's an abstract, contemporary production that seeks to challenge our expectations and certainties about this much-performed, much-admired work. 

Fidelio is conducted  by ENO music director Edward Gardner. The cast of this groundbreaking new production is led by acclaimed soprano Emma Bell as Leonore and Stuart Skelton as Florestan.