Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Fidelio (Arturo Toscanini Collection, Vol. 54)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This 2-disk set preserves two live broadcasts: Act I was transmitted over NBC on December 10, 1944; Act 2 followed on Dec. 17. I believe the first program was a few minutes beyond 60 minutes; the second was a mite under an hour. Normally, a broadcast of a live performance would be much longer, including intermission and extensive commentaries.

I heard the actual broadcast in a rare tape dub of the FM simulcast, taken down on acetates in the NY area; the last time I had the opportunity of auditing it was about 1990: it had some of the announcements but no extensive remarks, and there was no German dialog, the proceedings being somewhat "condensed" and given at a fairly rapid clip; however, there were minuscule natural pauses in the live transmission that have been eliminated or shortened in both the LP and CD versions of the commercial Victor issues, which makes the intensity seem a bit too great, without the natural breathing-room: the result might seem a bit stressful if one compares the pacing to a staged production.

This is a very interesting historic recording; it was done in 1944, before the Furtwangler immortal version, and therefore is of a special value - to listen to how Fidelio was perceived by another conducting super-star, Arturo Toscanini.

Naturally, he plays the Leonore Overture (III); I can't imagine him skipping it; and he plays it quite well. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised by this Toscanini - I was afraid he would play Beethoven like Rossini, with furious tempi, but that laurel belongs firmly to Bernstein in Leonore Overture and Finale.

In fact, it is interesting to compare the Quartett "Mir ist so wunderbar" Nr. 3 in all the versions; and Toscanini is more abrupt there than Bernstein, less sensitive and singing. Yet the aforementioned parts he conducts slower than Bernstein.

The voices are very good for the time; I find it exceptional that Toscanini dared to play German music in USA, at that time an enemy of Germany, during the war. Perhaps some wise men, like Richard Taruskin, should pay attention to such facts before backing Wagner's absence from Israel. After all, wasn't Wagner a direct heir of Beethoven? In the same manner as Mahler, actually, who was a heir of them both.

Life is so full of contradictions, and perhaps this is another reason why Beethoven chose to stop writing anything with any said/spoken political agenda after his only opera. He gained universal global acceptance due to that wise choice, staying faithful to music only, which, as it is well-known, says nothing at all.

I give this recording four stars for historical value, high level of performing, and for keeping the Leonore Overture for all to enjoy.

Toscanini's Fidelio is in a class by itself. Not only is the conducting thrilling and imbued with an authentic sense of theater, but the singing is superb. What challenges today's singers is produced here effortlessly and dramatically.

Rose Bampton is a powerful, committed Leonora, Jan Peerce sings the big aria with pathos and power; Steber is just delicious. It's a pity there is no dialogue, but that is the only flaw in the recording. Yes, Herbert Janssen is a bit too pleasant for Pizzaro - it's hard to not think of Kurwenal trying to be a mean guy. But Sidor Belarsky is a surprisingly personable and human Rocco, creating a real character with warmth, feeling and compassion. This is a brilliant and soulful performance, fast-paced, exciting and a document of great art.

Toscanini was a great conductor and a great Beethoven interpreter, but everything works against this "Fidelio." For one thing, this was a period when he was conducting everything much too fast. For another, he omits all the spoken dialogue which compresses the opera even further. The cast is also dreadful, with almost every singer miscast: Bampton's Leonore is thin and shrill, Peerce's Florestan relentlessly loud and beefy-sounding, Steber's Marzelline too heavy. In addition, neither Bampton nor Peerce sing with any feeling or dramatic conviction. And then there are the Studio 8-H sonics, so dry and boxy that every note sounds like a thump on the head.

Try to find the legendary 1941 Met broadcast conducted by Bruno Walter, with Kirsten Flagstad, Rene Maison, Marita Farell and Alexander Kipnis. That is the "Fidelio" of the century!