Sotto Voce & Avanti Festival Orchestra Present Beethoven's "Fidelio"

Heralded as "the area's most innovative new opera organization" (Buffalo Spree, Best of WNY 2025), Sotto Voce will partner with Avanti Festival Orchestra to present FIDELIO – Beethoven’s only opera – on Friday, August 14 and Sunday, August 16, 2026 at 7pm.  Performances take place at Asbury Hall, 341 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo. This production marks Sotto Voce’s third collaboration with conductor Mason Cancilla and will serve as the signature event of Avanti’s Third Annual Buffalo Beethoven Festival. 

Fidelio tells a timeless story of transcendent love and heroism. Leonore - the wife of a political prisoner - disguises herself as the young boy, Fidelio, in order to befriend her husband's captors. When the moment is right, she fights for his freedom, at great personal risk. The production features both local and national talent and showcases the power of bel canto vocal technique. Two original cinematic interludes accompanying the instrumental overtures at the start of each act will broaden the visual depth of the unfolding drama. The opera will be fully staged with sets, costumes, and props. The opera will be sung in the original German with English supertitles and dialogues in English between musical numbers.