Opera

Benvenuto Cellini

Hector Berlioz

In his early opera »Benvenuto Cellini«, which premiered in Paris in 1838, Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) produced an astonishing work of art centred around one of the most important artists of the 16th century. Although the opera sketches only three days in the colourful life of the Florentine sculptor, namely between Shrove Monday and Ash Wednesday in 1532, they are tumultuous enough: After several hours in the hustle and bustle of carnival celebrations in Rome, during which Cellini fatally stabs an enemy, the artist nevertheless enjoys sweet victory at the story’s end.

Hector Berlioz was known for his phenomenally differentiated use of the orchestra and its instruments. His many admirers included Richard Wagner. The richly varied score ranges from large-scale tableaux with rousing choral passages to uniquely orchestrated chamber scenes. In this way, Berlioz creates an unparalleled musical depiction of revelry at carnival time. 

Opéra-comique in three acts (Weimar version)
Libretto by Léon de Wailly and Auguste Barbier

Performed in French with German and English supertitles

Premiere
29. June 2024,

No further performances in the current season.

Premiere cast

Sächsischer Staatsopernchor Dresden
 Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden

Generously supported by the Semperoper Foundation

Explore

Interview with Dr. Claudia Kryza-Gersch

 Who was Benvenuto Cellini?  Together with art historian and curator Claudia Kryza-Gersch, we will explore these questions in the Old Masters of the Dresden State Art Collections (SKD). We can reveal this much: genius and madness lie very close together.
Making-of

Interview with Barbora Horáková & Peter Theiler

„It is a personal pleasure for me to be able to hand over one of my favourite operas, in Barbora Horáková's production, as the last new production of my time as artistic director in Dresden, to the French repertoire of the Semperoper Dresden. This brilliant and furious artist opera by the romantic musical firebrand Hector Berlioz was last staged at the Semperoper almost 100 years ago and continues to fascinate today with its mixture of comedy and tragedy, Roman carnival frenzy and the absolute will to create something great and artistically overwhelming.“ - Peter Theiler
Making-of

Interview with Giampaolo Bisanti

The complex score of Benvenuto Cellini, which already deeply impressed Wagner, is renowned for its brilliant orchestration, the extraordinary demands it places on the soloists and the magnificent choral scenes. Giampaolo Bisanti conducts the Weimar version of Hector Berlioz's opéra-comique on the stage of the Semperoper.
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