Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Fidelio

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I've never been much of an advocate for opera in English. I mean, to hear typical Italian and French operas, what with the repeats and reprises of the duets, etc, somehow to me greatly lessens the dramatic plausibility of the opera (which, in most cases, are minimally plausible anyway!). In other words, sometimes you are better off if you DON'T understand the language the opera is being sung in. This has always been my feeling, and it hasn't really changed. That said, however, I must say, that in a few great operas, such as Mozart's "Abduction of the Seraglio" and "The Magic Flute", and Verdi's "Falstaff", a complete understanding of the language is a definite advantage.
I now must add Beethoven's "Fidelio" to that small list. Never, never, NEVER has the drama of political tyranny and man's inhumanity to man become so vivid as it does in this English language version of "Fidelio". The singers all have an exemplary command of the language, and they unfold this drama has it has never unfolded before. I was so moved by the plight of Florestan (my mind focused on those barbaric beheadings in Iraq, as well as the horrendous murder of Daniel Pearl in 2002) that I could feel a lump developing in my throat. Don Pizzaro comes across the the embodiment of evil, and Leonora's bravery has never seemed so vivid, urgent, and real. Christine Brewer is a real dramatic soprano, and she isn't Birgit Nilsson, she's close enough. Her singing is heroic and brilliant. Richard Margison's Florestan would could extract tears from a stone. There isn't a weak link in the entire cast. But in the final analysis, it is David Parry's taut and compelling conducting that shapes this performance into the monumental phenomenon that it is, as well as the Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, whose contribution is invaluable.
I've heard most of the legendary recorded "Fidelio" recordings made in the last fifty years (starring the likes of Flagstad, Modl, Nilsson, Rysanek, Ludwig, as well as some of the more recent ones)------ but NONE of them reached and "spoke" to me the way this one does. It is truly a Amazonian achievement.