Guillaume Tell
Rossini’s William Tell is performed in Switzerland as part of a co-production between Irish National Opera and Nouvel Opéra Fribourg. Five sold-out performances in Dec 2023 and Jan 2024
Irish National Opera
Rossini’s William Tell is a celebration of community, family, country, nature, nationalism, bravery and beauty. Its musical treasures unfold on a vast scale over an extended evening. Dizzying vocal challenges, glorious uplifting choruses, infectious dances and the most famous overture of all.
The original creative team re-united with a new cast and the chorus of Nouvel Opéra Friboug. In the pit, the score is performed by the Orchestre de chambre fribourgeois. Sung in French.
Théâtre Equilibre, Fribourg 29, 31 December 2023, 03, 05, 07 January 2024
Creative Team:
Director: Julien Chavaz
Set Designer: Jamie Vartan
Costume Designer: Severine Besson
Choreographer: Nicole Morel
Lighting Designer: Sinéad Wallace
Cast:
Guillaume Tell: Edwin Fardini
Arnold: Jihoon Son
Mathilde: Rachel Croash
Jemmy: Roxane Choux (29 December, 03, 05, 07 January)
Jemmy: Iris Keller (31 December)
Hedwig: Eva Kroon
Melcthal / Walter: Benjamin Schilperoort
Gessler: Graeme Danby
Leuthold: Gyula Nagy
Ruodi: Kiup Lee
Rudolph: Seán Tester
Dancers: Maria Demandt, Stephanie Dufresne, Laura Garcìa Aguilera, Jeanne Gumy
Chœur du NOF, Orchestre de chambre fribourgeois
Conductor: Fergus Sheil
The Fribourg Chamber Orchestra is in Olympic form under the baton of Fergus Sheil… Listening to the pit, we savour the dynamism, the responsiveness of the whole – La Liberté
Gioachino Rossini’s music is bursting with power. The Fribourg Chamber Orchestra under Fergus Sheil conveyed this power well. You could hear this, for example, in the famous overture… It was a great strength of the production how this Fribourg orchestra interpreted Rossini’s complex music – Freiburger Nachrichten
On the podium, the Irish conductor Fergus Sheil – artistic and musical director of Irish National Opera (which he founded) – is extremely enthusiastic. His spirited direction is simply masterful, and the Fribourg Chamber Orchestra follows him in all his intentions, whether in the elegiac airs evoking La donna del lago or in the large ensembles alla Moïse et Pharaon. His mastery of the sound balances specific to this immense lyrical score was particularly admirable with a keen sense of the characterisation of the atmosphere and the psychology of the characters – ClassiqueNews.com
