Dear audience,
In Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio, of which we will be presenting you a new production this season, a trumpet signal is heard at a decisive point in the second act – one of the great moments in the history of music. The famous fanfare is more than a symbol of Florestan’s liberation from the dungeon of the tyrant Pizarro: it creates a caesura in the action and triggers an emphatic appeal for freedom that only Beethoven could have composed. The strains of the trumpet thus become a symbol par excellence of the power of art to break chains and change the world. Unlike Beethoven, today we no longer believe entirely that music enables us to turn the world upside down. Yet Fidelio is a thrilling reminder that art is capable of more than merely pleasantly whiling away our time. Like Beethoven’s fanfare, it has the capacity to transport us far from our everyday lives. It heightens our senses. Through beauty, it moves us and challenges our thoughts and emotions by making us experience another reality. However, it only succeeds in doing so when it is consistently conceived and well executed. And that is the pledge that we would also like to give you, dear audience, for the next season: to continue to offer you opera, ballet and symphony concerts of the highest artistry and craftsmanship. We guarantee – for both new productions and our revivals – first-rate casts, and at the same time intend to surprise you with new names. We have engaged singers, conductors, directors and choreographers who share our passion for stirring, topical and precisely crafted musical theatre. And we shall continue to do our utmost to make Zurich Opera House accessible to a wider audience. In the first season under our direction, we have endeavoured to introduce many innovations, on both a large and a small scale, and received much encouragement and lively, positive reactions from you. In our second season, we would also like to promote and refine all this with undiminished zeal. We place emphasis on continuity through renewal. And we still have a long way to go before we achieve our goal. The 13/14 season is only the second stage of our adventurous journey, on which we want to take our loyal opera-, ballet- and concertgoers as well as the many people around the Opera House who are now beginning to feel a newfound enthusiasm for musical theatre and dance. The great party with which we also intend to launch the new season this season should be seen as a sign that we attach extraordinary importance to being close to our audience – and to all those who energetically support our work, such as the Friends of Zurich Opera and Friends of Zurich Ballet. We are especially grateful to the Canton of Zurich, our many sponsors and benefactors, and not least to our partners, Credit Suisse and UBS.

The doors of the Opera House are wide open. You are most welcome.

Andreas Homoki, Director
Fabio Luisi, General Music Director
Christian Spuck, Ballet Director
Christian Berner, Commercial Director