Vienna Opera Tickets

Based on a Friedrich Schiller play, Kabale und Liebe, Luisa Miller is a three-act opera by Giuseppe Verdi that comes to the stage of the Vienna State Opera this season. This production is performed in Italian, the original language of Salvadore Cammarano's libretto, the writer who had previously collaborated with Verdi for Alzira (1845) and La battaglia di Legnano (1849). He would also go on to create the libretto for Il Trovatore in 1853. The 15th opera Verdi composed, Luisa Miller was first performed at Teatro San Carlo in Naples on 8 December 1849. Verdi had resigned from the Neapolitan Opera House the previous year but went on to write Luisa Miller for it due to ongoing contractual commitments.

The story focuses on Luisa, the daughter of a retired soldier known as Miller. Luisa is in love with a young huntsman who has come to her village, whom she knows as Carlo. It turns out that Carlo's presence coincides with the arrival of a new feudal lord, Count Walter. However, the lord's castle steward, a character called Wurm, is in love with Luisa. Consequently, Wurm tells Miller that the supposed hunter is, in fact, Rodolfo, the Count's son. Given the social constraints of the time, Miller realises that a marriage between his daughter and the man she has fallen for would be impossible. As the action plays out, it becomes apparent that Rodolfo is willing to fight for his love. However, the young couple find themselves increasingly trapped by a stifling court society in which their options seem to be ever more limited.

Despite the social commentary that such a story implies, the censors at Naples Opera House required an opera that did not present too many modern or revolutionary ideas, especially on the topic of class. Almost inevitably, therefore, Verdi's opera focuses on the romantic entanglements of Rodolfo and Luisa more than their social constraints. For some, this means that Luisa Miller lacks the degree of storytelling depth Verdi was typically capable of. For others, it means that the opera is more emotionally charged and timeless because of its emphasis on love themes. What's more, the opera includes some of the great composer's most passionate arias and duets. In addition, there are several inventive orchestrated passages that a number of musicologists argue signify an end to Verdi's first period and the start of his so-called middle period.

This staging of Luisa Miller at the Wiener Staatsoper offers audience members a chance to enjoy Verdi's dramatic vision in all its glory. The Vienna Opera House is a wonderful venue for such a thrillingly emotional production with intrigue and heartbreak throughout.