Verdi’s Luisa Miller returns to the Wiener Staatsoper after a 35-year absence, with Michele Mariotti on the podium. This marks Mariotti’s third time conducting the work, having previously led it at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, where he serves as Music Director.
Performances are scheduled for 7, 16, 20, 23, 26 February and 1 March.
For Mariotti, this opera holds a pivotal place in Verdi’s output: “One of the most important works Verdi ever wrote. In Verdi it is essential to have a sense of the timeline — each opera is connected to the next, like links in a chain. Luisa Miller is ideologically crucial: it marks a turning point, the moment Verdi steps away from patriotic themes to focus on the analysis and critique of human nature, society, and its relationships.”
Composed in 1849, when Verdi was 36, Luisa Miller immediately precedes the celebrated trilogy of Rigoletto, Il trovatore, and La traviata.
The production is directed and designed by Philipp Grigorian, with costumes by Vlada Pomirkovanaya, choreography by Anna Abalikhina, lighting by Franck Evin, and video by Patrick K.-H.
The cast features Nadine Sierra in the title role, Freddie De Tommaso (Rodolfo), George Petean (Miller), Roberto Tagliavini (Graf von Walter), Daria Sushkova (Federica), Marko Mimica (Wurm), Teresa Sales Rebordão (Laura), and Adrian Autard (A Peasant).