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In a lonely palace lives Prince Azor who has been transformed by a vengeful fairy into a beastlike form. When a foreign merchant disturbs the palace peace, the creature-occupant demands a human sacrifice as punishment. Zemira, the merchant’s daughter, is ready to give her life but soon discovers Azor's beastly form hides an altogether different soul. Will love save the day? Beauty and the Beast needs little introduction. Here the magical fairytale finds the form of an entertaining comedy by the Belgian-French composer André Grétry which premiered in Fontainebleau in 1771 with arias, a ballet and spoken dialogue that quickly conquered audiences far and wide. The version that had its first performance at the Mannheim Court Opera in 1776 was the first Italian translation of the opera, which replaced all spoken dialogue with recitatives. Now the Nationaltheater Mannheim’s new production of Zemira e Azor takes to the stage of the historic Schlosstheater Schwetzingen built in 1753. Conductor Be
