A rarely performed masterpiece, Gioachino Rossini’s Mosè in Egitto takes centre stage at the Bregenz Festival thanks to Lotte de Beer who retrieves this hidden gem of opera literature for a spectacular staging.

De Beer, one of the most sought-after stage directors of her generation (International Opera Newcomer Award 2015) teams up with the Dutch theatre collective Hotel Modern to tell the story of the Biblical Exodus. Their unique production concept for Mosè in Egitto revolves around the ingenuity of Hotel Modern. The theatre group conjures up its own reality by using live animations to portray the mass scenes and the parallel narratives of the people and the slaves. Miniature cameras, thousands of puppets, models of villages and cities and a spectacular aquarium installation present the biblical tale of plagues and the parting of the Red Sea on the Bregenz stage – “a stroke of genius” (Der Standard).

The universal narrative, with its themes of migration and the inability to deal with power, has lost none of its urgency and topicality and is brought to life by the Wiener Symphoniker under Enrique Mazzola and the Prague Philharmonic Choir. Mazzola, who is a live wire on the rostrum, drives the Symphoniker to a top performance. Soprano Mandy Fredrich captivates as Amaltea and British bass baritone Andrew Foster-Williams’ Faraone competes with Goran Jurić who is “a Mose with bear-like strength and softness” (Der Standard). Clarissa Costanzo (Elcia) displays her expressive soprano. Energetic Matteo Macchioni and dazzling Taylan Reinhard impress in their roles as Aronne and Mambre, while Sunnyboy Dladla (Osiride) shines with “the beautiful timbre of his lyrical tenor” (Kurier).