Opera in two parts (2025/26)
Libretto by Georg Holzer
Commissioned by Staatstheater Nürnberg
Cast:
Giovanni Falcone, investigating magistrate – Baritone
Paolo Borsellino, investigating magistrate – Lyric tenor
Francesca Morvillo, judge and Falcone’s wife – Soprano
Rita Atria, witness – Lyric soprano
Rosaria Costa, wife of Vito Schifani – High lyric mezzo-soprano
Vito Schifani, bodyguard – Baritone
Tommaso Buscetta, witness – Bass-baritone
Small roles/Choral solos:
Judge Giordano – Tenor
First Mafioso – Tenor
Michele Greco ('The Pope') – Tenor
Second Mafioso – Baritone*
Voice of Giulio Andreotti (Italian Foreign Minister) – Bass-baritone
Leonardo Sciascia, writer – Baritone/Bass-baritone
Chorus: People of Palermo, Mafiosi, Carabinieri from Falcone’s security detail, press, Mafia investigators, Archbishop of Palermo, Falcone’s neighbors
Orchestra:
2 (2nd also Picc.) 2 2 2 – 2 2 2 1 – Timp. Perc. (2 players) – Hrp. – Str.
Duration: approx. 90 min
Premiere: November 28, 2026, Staatstheater Nürnberg
Conductor: Jan Croonenbroeck
Director: Jens-Daniel Herzog
Set design: Mathis Neidhardt
Costume design: Sibylle Gädeke
Chorus master: Tarmo Vaask
Choreography: Ramses Sigl
Dramaturgy: Georg Holzer, Hans-Peter Frings
Palermo in the 1970s and 80s: The Sicilian Mafia is waging brutal gang wars; explosions, gunshots, and corpses on the open street have become the norm. Anyone who stands in the way of organized crime is marked for death by the bosses. Investigating magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino refuse to accept the reign of corruption and violence. They successfully investigate the Mafia, even though they know that sooner or later they will pay for it with their lives. Anno Schreier’s new opera tells the story of people for whom fairness, the rule of law, and transparency matter more than their own survival.