Learning Objectives

• Learn how an opera company transitions from rehearsals to the final performances.
• Explore ways in which works of art created at a specific time and place might resonate similarly and differently with audiences from different time periods and cultures.
• Analyze the ways that music can be part of telling a greater story by reflecting mood, tone, emotion, and character.

Education Standards Alignment

• Re7: Perceive and analyze artistic work.
• Re8: Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work.
• Cn11: Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding.

Common Core Standards

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.2: Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.3: Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.3: Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

(Social and Emotional Learning)

• Social Awareness: The abilities to understand the perspectives of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and contexts.
  • Showing concern for the feelings of others
  • Identifying diverse social norms, including unjust ones
  • Recognizing situational demands and opportunities
  • Understanding the influences of organizations and systems on behavior

Sinéad Campbell Wallace as Leonore and “Fidelio.” Photo by Matt Karas.

What to Expect

Performance

• In this rehearsal, the Washington National Opera’s artists will work out the final details of their production before opening night.
• While the details can change based on what the cast and crew need to be ready, most rehearsals include a full run-through of the piece with occasional stopping and starting.
• While a rehearsal is often very similar to a performance, it’s possible there will be some differences, like some performers will be conserving their voices or physical movements for the real thing or some costumes getting their finishing touches off stage.

Performers

• The main characters in the opera and their voice types are:
• Leonore, in disguise as “Fidelio” (soprano)
• Florestan, a political prisoner being held unjustly, and Leonore’s husband (tenor)
• Rocco, the jailer (bass)
• Marcelline, the jailer’s daughter (soprano)
• Prime Minister (mezzo-soprano)
• Jaquino, turnkey and porter (tenor)
• Pizarro, overseer of the prison (baritone)
• Prime Minister’s Bodyguard (bass)
• The opera also features chorus members who play soldiers, prisoners, and others.
• In this version, luminary mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves plays the Prime Minister and is accompanied by a bodyguard. In the original opera, these roles were one character, Don Fernando, played by a bass.

Sound

• Operatic singing is very dramatic. Sometimes, the performers may sing louder to show emotions such as sadness, anger, or fear.
• Fidelio is a type of work called a Singspiel. Singspiels are works, usually in German, that combine music and spoken dialogue, similar to many musicals or Disney movies today. Singspiels were popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Since most audience members spoke the same language used on stage, Singspiels were generally considered relatable to the public.

Visuals

• English translations of the text that characters are singing will appear as supertitles on a screen above the stage. Fidelio is sung in German, the language in which the opera was originally written.

Lighting

• Lighting effects are used throughout the show on stage to help set the mood of the scene.

Audience Interaction

• If you like the rehearsal, you can clap or even say, “Bravo!”

What to Bring

• Please bring any tools that will help make the experience comfortable for you! Some suggestions are: noise-canceling headphones, sunglasses or visors, fidgets, and communication devices. If you need to borrow a pair of headphones or a visor, a limited number will be available for use in the Opera House Lobby.

Resources

• Visit the Kennedy Center Opera House webpage to learn more about the theater where you’ll see the performance. You can also check out a 360-degree view and seating chart of the space!

Look and Listen for

Before you watch the performance, check out this list of important moments and ideas. Look and listen for:

• The singers’ unique voices. Opera singers spend years learning how to sing in a way that can be heard over a big orchestra in a huge concert hall—and they do it all without microphones! In addition, opera singers learn to sing in many languages. It takes a lot of work and dedication to be an opera singer, but they get to sing beautiful music and tell epic stories. Opera singers have different voice types, too: singers who usually sing high are called sopranos and tenors; singers who sing low are called mezzo-sopranos, baritones, and basses.
• The way that the music helps to tell the story. Even if we don’t understand the words, the music can give clues about how the characters feel. See if you can notice how the music helps show when the characters are worried, happy, or falling in love. You might even notice times when the music helps show that a character feels sick, or when a character is showing off to try to get someone’s attention.
• The differences between a rehearsal and a final performance. In these rehearsals, audiences are invited in to watch the final stages of preparation before opening night. Many times, dress rehearsals will be very similar to a performance as the performers and crew try to run everything just the way they will for the real thing. Other times, adjustments need to be made. What do you notice? Are there staff and technicians in view observing and making notes that you might not see during a performance? Are any of the performers “marking,” or singing lightly, to save their voices? Is anyone out of costume, and if so, why do you think that is? Does the company decide to stop and fix anything? Even though the performance is not quite ready, why do you think the company would want to invite an audience to see a dress rehearsal?

Think About

Opera: The Ultimate Collaboration

Opera uses so many things to tell a story: words, music, sets, costumes, lighting, and more. Because of this, many people need to work together, or collaborate, to make it happen! Some of the people who collaborate to make operas include composers (who write the music), librettists (who write the words), singers, orchestral musicians, conductors, costume designers, set designers, lighting designers, stage managers, stagehands, technicians, hair and makeup artists, costume shop workers, and more—not to mention all the people who advertise the show, sell tickets, help audience members, and more!

Which of these roles do you think would be the most fun for you? What would be the hardest? What challenges do you think they might face? What do you think opera company members need to do to be able to work well together? What things do you do when you need to work with others to make something big and exciting happen?

Fidelio, Ludwig van Beethoven’s only opera, reflects his deep interest in the politics of his day. Beethoven (1770-1821) spent most of his life in Vienna during a time of great political change and upheaval throughout Europe. Like many others, he was inspired by the ideals of the French Revolution (1789-1799): liberty, equality, and fraternity. At the time, France faced massive inequality in wealth and power, which was being challenged by both intellectuals and the poor. However, the Revolution itself became authoritarian in nature, culminating in a period of terrifying state-sponsored violence known as the “Reign of Terror,” during which large numbers of suspected enemies of the Revolution were executed. (Read this article to that reflected how Beethoven felt betrayed by Napoleon being declared emperor in 1804 after claiming to be a champion of the people.)

Premiering in 1805 and revised in 1806 and 1814, Fidelio would have been seen by audiences of the time as basically “ripped from the headlines.” While set in Spain, it reflects both the ideals and corruption of the French Revolution. Leonore disguises herself as a man named “Fidelio,” and gets a job in the prison where her husband is being held unjustly as a political prisoner in the hopes of finding a way to free him. In the end (spoiler alert!), she prevails with the help of the arrival of authority figures who can stop corruption and restore justice. In Fidelio, hope for liberty, peace, and justice is realized despite the presence of deep despair and entrenched injustice. How do you think that the message of Fidelio might affect audiences today and throughout history? How might one’s experience of seeing this piece change based on where—and when—they live, and based on their own political opinions or affiliations? What specific events, movements, or people from real life come to mind as you watch and reflect on the story?

The Many Overtures of Fidelio

Beethoven spent a long time working on his only opera, Fidelio. Three different versions of the piece premiered over the span of about a decade as he worked to refine the material. Similarly, he wrote multiple overtures to the opera. An overture is a piece of music played by the orchestra at the beginning of a musical, opera, or ballet that sets the tone for the story that is to follow. Originally calling the opera Leonore, Beethoven wrote three different “Leonore Overtures” in addition to the eventual “Fidelio Overture.” The Leonore Overture No. 3 is still popular as a concert work. Listen to as well as to . How are they similar and different in setting a tone? Which do you prefer? Why do you think Beethoven continued to work on refining his ideas?

Leonore as a Comic Book Hero!

Inspired by Leonore’s epic level of bravery, dramaturg and librettist Kelley Roarke and costume designer and artist Erik Teague recreated the story of Fidelio in a genre fit for heroes: the comic book.  with accompanying music. Are there other ways that you would tell a historic rescue story such as Fidelio? Are there other operas, musicals, or stories that you would like to see made into comics? What story would you choose, and what type of art would really bring the story to life?

Explore the Ongoing Impact of Fidelio

In 2022, Heartbeat Opera produced a reimagined version of Fidelio in which some of the choral music sung by the prisoners was performed by actual incarcerated people. The prison choirs were recorded, and , which you can see and hear in this video. The piece they are singing, “O welche Lust” (“Oh what joy”), expresses the joy that those incarcerated feel when they are granted a rare respite of some brief time outside. Explore written by the participants describing how the experience of learning and performing music written over 200 years ago affected and resonated with them. What stands out to you about their responses? Is anything surprising to you?

Write a Message of Hope

In addition to “O welche Lust,” one of the most well-known pieces from Fidelio is “Komm, Hoffnung” (“Come, hope”), sung by Leonore as she tries to hold onto hope in the face of danger. You can see the text and translation as well as on this webpage. What would you need to hear in a time of deep trial and fear to hold on to hope? Write a note to yourself or a friend that would acknowledge fear and hardship while holding on to hope. What would you include? Then, imagine how your message could be adapted into a piece of music. How would it sound? What types of musical ideas would make your message of hope more powerful?

Kennedy Center Education

Generous support for educational programs at the Kennedy Center is provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

Gifts and grants to educational programs at the Kennedy Center are provided by The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Bank of America; Capital One; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Carnegie Corporation of New York; The Ednah Root Foundation; Harman Family Foundation; William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust; the Kimsey Endowment; The Kiplinger Foundation; Laird Norton Family Foundation; Lois and Richard England Family Foundation; Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather; The Markow Totevy Foundation; Dr. Gerald and Paula McNichols Foundation; The Morningstar Foundation; Myra and Leura Younker Endowment Fund; The Irene Pollin Audience Development and Community Engagement Initiatives;

Prince Charitable Trusts; Dr. Deborah Rose and Dr. Jan A. J. Stolwijk; Rosemary Kennedy Education Fund; The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates; The Victory Foundation; The Volgenau Foundation; Volkswagen Group of America; Jackie Washington; GRoW @ Annenberg and Gregory Annenberg Weingarten and Family; Wells Fargo; and generous contributors to the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund and by a major gift to the fund from the late Carolyn E. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas. Additional support is provided by the National Committee for the Performing Arts..

The content of these programs may have been developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education but does not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education. You should not assume endorsement by the federal government.