Ein verstecktes Kloster in Nordspanien hütet ein Geheimnis: Seine Mauern beherbergen den Orden der Ritter von Heliopolis, ein Bund unsterblicher Alchemisten, die im Verborgenen ihren Studien nachgehen. Ende des achtzehnten Jahrhunderts unterzieht sich der Schüler Siebzehn dort einer Prüfung auf Leben und Tod, um in den Reihen der Ritter aufgenommen zu werden. Doch als sein Meister den anderen Ordensbrüdern das Geheimnis seiner Herkunft offenbart, wird Siebzehn vor eine schwerwiegende Entscheidung gestellt. Denn er ist der legitime Sohn von Ludwig XVI. und Marie-Antoinette: König Ludwig XVII. von Frankreich. Wird er das Leben eines Ritters von Heliopolis wählen oder versuchen, sein Erbe als Herrscher anzutreten? Das Schicksal von Ludwig XVII., der angeblich mit nur zehn Jahren im Gefängnis starb, ist eine der großen Mythen Frankreichs. Mit 'Die Ritter von Heliopolis' verbindet Alexandro Jodorowsky kongenial Fakt und Fiktion zu einem Historic-Fantasy-Comic sondergleichen. Und kein anderer Zeichner als der junge Meister Jérémy könnte die Pracht von Versailles und die dunkle Mystik geheimer Tempel gleichermaßen gut einfangen. 807280130195LangtextWalter Felsenstein (1901-1975), founder and general director of the Komische Oper in Berlin, was one of the twentieth century's greatest creative theatre directors, who played a hugely important role in the revival of opera as a theatrical art form. A brilliant artist who directed over 190 productions during the course of his career, he was equally committed to the works, their creators, the ensemble and the audience. When Walter Felsenstein is offered to shoot an adaptation of the story about Fidelio/Leonore in the early fifties, he accepts. Together with Hanns Eisler, he develops a whole new version of the story by changing, cutting out and rearranging parts of the text. The overture is incorporated into the filmic adaptation and tells the prelude of the story. In doing this, Felsenstein uses the medium in a whole new way. The music is not only there to accompany the images; Fidelio is not meant to be an operatic film but a musical film. However, the project is weighed down with difficulties from the very beginning, as it is temporarily uncertain as to how the project should be financed. Although the finished film provokes some fierce political controversy, it is a success among the public. Looking back sixteen years later, Felsenstein commented: "It is the only music film I have ever made - even though it had its faults. The other films were basically stage performances adapted and arranged for the cinema. They were intended to document Felsenstein productions at the Komische Oper and were modified to make them suitable for filming, but were still based on theatrical productions. My only real music film was Fidelio." "Arthaus's scholarly and imposing 'Walter Felsenstein Edition' offers a fascinating glimpse of an important moment in operatic history now vanished." The New York Times