Gioacchino Rossini: Guillaume Tell

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Gioacchino Rossini: Guillaume Tell
Opera in 4 acts on a libretto by Etienne de Jouy

Musical direction: Sébastien Rouland
Director: Roland Schwab
Choir: Jaume Miranda
Decor: Piero Vinciguerra
Costumes: Gabriele Rupprecht
Light: André Fischer
Dramaturgy: Frederike Krüger

Hedwig: Judith Braun
William Tell: Peter Schöne
Arnold Melcthal: Sungmin Song
Walter Furst: Guillaume Antoine
Melcthal: Markus Jaursch
Jemmy: Herdís Anna Jónasdòttir
Gesler: Hiroshi Matsui
Rodolphe: Angelos Samartzis
Ruodi: Algirdas Drevinskas
Leuthold: Stefan Röttig
Mathilde: Pauliina Linnosaari

Saarländisches Staatstheater Choir & Orchestra

In his last opera Rossini takes all the risks to adapt to the new tastes of the public: Guillaume Tell, a great historical fresco inspired by Schiller's tragedy, breaks with the world of bel canto and inaugurates the genre of "grand opera in the French style" which would flourish with Meyerbeer. By choosing to set this founding episode of the Swiss Confederation to music, Rossini did not meet with the success he had hoped for. No doubt because it was a work hinge, on the eve of Romanticism, in which the feeling of nature and the patriotic impulse were served by new vocal typologies far removed from the usual style of the great Italian composer. In order to best serve dramatic expression, Rossini 'moved away from the ornate writing that had ensured his immense celebrity to create roles with formidable vocal demands. The character of Arnold, described as the "tomb of tenors" like that of Mathilde, a true spinto soprano, requires performers capable of asserting themselves in the face of an orchestration that has become powerful in order to gain theatrical expressiveness. With William Tell we are very far from the Barber of Seville and very close to Verdi. The work boldly announces the romantic future while disappointing the public it sought to conquer. Its exceptional length quickly led to it being given in a piecemeal manner and the difficulty of its distribution did not allow it to establish itself in the lyrical repertoire as it would have deserved. A true symphonic poem before its time, its famous overture in four movements remains one of the most famous musical pages.

The action takes place in 1307 in a Swiss village. William Tell feels a strong sense of revolt against the tyranny of the Austrian occupier represented by Governor Gessler. The old shepherd Melchthal shares his patriotism while his son, Arnold, hesitates to enlist, held back by the love he feels for Mathilde, princess of Habsburg, whose life he saved. In retaliation for an action William's courageous friend, Melchthal is taken hostage and murdered by Gessler's men, which finally convinces Arnold to come and fight alongside the patriots despite Mathilde's confession of her love for him. During a party organized by the Austrians to celebrate their domination, William is arrested and challenged to pierce with an arrow an apple balanced on the head of his son, Jemmy. He succeeds in this dangerous and cruel test but he is dragged away by the soldiers while Mathilde manages to save his son. Taking advantage of a storm raging on Lake Lucerne, William manages to escape the tyrant Gessler, whom he kills with an arrow, while the revolt of the Swiss patriots led by Arnold frees Switzerland from its oppressors.