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Casanova at Oper Leipzig

About the Event

Enjoy a wonderful evening listening to the melodies that one day Lortzing dedicated to the legendary womanizer Casanova.

Casanova became famous for his memories, especially for his numerous erotic adventures. In 1841 Albert Lortzing turned this material into an opera in Leipzig, showing himself as a true theatre person. Although it was a comedy, the show played a chord of social criticism (one of the reasons why it quickly disappeared from the repertoire). Despite his lack of renown, as Zar und Zimmermann before him and Der Wildschütz after him, Casanova counts as one of Lortzing's masterpieces.

Lortzing, who wrote the text for the opera, came from a simple medium and was never recognized as a 'serious' composer. To feed his family, in addition to his activities as an actor and singer, he composed virtual operas on the production line. Although his plays were very successful, he saw little of the money. The theater directors, on the other hand, deserved a golden nose in it. Anger at these unjust conditions shines through in 'Casanova'. The conductor Cusch Jung and the Ensemble of Musical Comedy tickle the intelligent humor and ambiguity of the piece that Lortzing composed for him with a fast and ingenious rhythm.

Cast / Production

Music director: Stefan Klingele
Production company: Cusch Jung
Stage, costumes: Beate Zoff
Choral production: Mathias Drechsler

Casanova: Radoslaw Rydlewski
Rosaura, her niece: Lilli Wünschet
Bettina, her daughter: Hinterdobler Magdalena
Busoni, commander of the fortress: Justus Seeger
Gambetto: Hinrich Horn
Rocco: Milko Milev
Peppo: Andreas Rainer

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