Customer Reviews

Beethoven - Fidelio / Dohnanyi, Benackova, Protschka, Royal Opera House Covent Garden

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

 

 

This is my seventh or eighth opera on DVD (I have over 250 operas on CD)and since I had never heard of the principal singers before, I was rather anxious when I bought it. However, the entire production is really quite glorious. It is everything a Fidelio should be in terms of voice, orchestra, scenery and visuals, and sound reproduction. This has been the only opera DVD I have purchased that I felt obliged to watch straight through (it got better and better) and then I watched it again the following day in its entirety. I haven't been able to give von Karajan's Don Giovanni a complete run through yet. So inspite of my not knowing the principals, I would very highly recommend this DVD to anyone. It is, in my opinion, a "must have".

This performance
became the source for which I learned the opera inside and
out. FIDELIO is a great opera. Full of Beethoven's heart
and soul, about tenacity, loyalty, love, courage and
steadfast devotion. I do not see the "faults" that have
been leveled against it. By the time of that final chorus,
I'm swept away in its soaring emotionalism.

I saw the Mattila MET telecast. A fine performance by the
soprano, involved and committed, but I do not feel it is
right for her voice. She certainly has the highs, but not
the lows, and the color of the timbre does not seem to be
right for the richness of Leonore's vocal persona.

What makes the 1991 Covent Garden performance so special
for me: Gabriela Benackova's Leonore. It was held in many
of the reviews of the initial LaserDisc & VHS release by
many critics that she lacked the intensity of Soderstrom
and some of the past exponents of the role, but I disagreed
heartily after the very multiple viewings I took in.

No, Benackova struck me as being deeply sincere, touching,
and dignified. No overdone histrionics here: as a result,
her traversal of the music is about the best sung, most
accurately handled to my ears. I heard most of the major
recordings - Ludwig (committed, but stretched at the top),
Nilsson (not enough warmth) Rysanek (uneven throughout the
range) Jones (squally) Janowitz (glacial) ~~~ the recent
ones I haven't heard.

Benackova's rich, warm tone is ideally suited to the score,
and she uses her voice with unfailing, consummate skill.
The big aria is a success, the awkward tessitura presenting
no problems; the security is of a rarely-matched standard,
the steadiness of the tone faultless. The top Bs ring out
commandingly. Moreover, you really believe in the passion
of Leonore's unwavering faith.

Where Benackova really shows her mettle, though, is in the
scene where she reveals her true identity to Pizarro, after
he brandishes his knife to Florestan. Her full-throttle cry
of "Zurück" is simply hair-raising: and when she launches
into the "Ich bin sein Weib, Geschworen hab ich ihm Trost,
Verderben dir," Benackova stuns with the overwhelming
power, thrust and intensity of her singing. The voice
sounds huge, full-bodied and in absolute focus - it alone
could seemingly blow Pizarro away; the resolute fury is
thrilling (I hate that overused word but its so apt here).

"O namenlose Freude" is one of those killer passages, after
a long night of singing, that seems to defeat many
sopranos; not Benackova - it is right on the money, poised
and deftly handled.

But what makes this such a winning portrayal is how honest
and straightforward Benackova's performance is. You see
registering in her face the spontaneous, inner responses to
the text and situation. The restraint is commendable, yet
it remains a warm, rather sweet assumption. Her success in
imparting these aspect is all the more impressive for the
amount of scrutinizing close-ups; no wild, bulging-eyed
reactions, and the security of her technique prevents the
typical facial contortions one often sees.

Josef Protschka's Florestan is another heartfelt portrayal.
Though a bit sqwawky at times, you really feel for his
character's pain. He and Benackova are totally believable
in their conjugal devotion, and their reunion and aftermath
is supremely moving.

Marie McLaughlin is a sweet Marzelline: she sets the tone
for a marvelously sung "Mir ist so wunderbar."

The late Monte Pederson is a properly nasty Pizarro: the
voice is a bit undersized for the role, but he is a good
actor.

Margit Bardy's sets are minimalist, grim and fittingly
depressing: the catacomb hellhole prison for Florestan is
terrifically claustrophobic and dank. Not sure about those
weird costumes, but they weren't distractingly offensive.

The prisoner's chorus is as usual moving and effective:
they are made to be dirty, tired and beat looking.

Christoph von Dohnanyi leads the Covent Garden forces with
skill and verve, really bringing the drama of the score.

I saw in the recent Opera Now that this release has been
"re-packaged" - I hope that means they'll do a better
engineering job than the one Image Entertainment did. The
LaserDisc incarnation I once had was outstanding - full,
rich, dynamic sound; on the Image DVD, the acoustic sounds
to me compressed and recessed. It took some fiddling with
the equalizer to enhance it.

All the elements are there for an enjoyable experience. Whilst not in the front line of operas, such as Aida, Rigoletto, Carmen and La Traviata, Beethoven's Fidelio is composed of music that is deeply satisfying. The story line, when you eventually figure this out (see below), is appealing, even in modern times. The singers are quite competent and photogenic, and sing with feeling and good stage presence. It is somewhat odd that a burly and healthy looking Joseph Protschka sings the part of Florestan, when he is supposed to have been some time in the dungeon, and on "half rations", but, hey, this is opera!

The audio is very good; both PCM Stereo and Dolby 5.1 options are available; thanks mainly to the conductor (Christoph Von Dohnanyi). The video is clear and crisp.

Generally, stage presentations of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden are second only to the Metropolitan's; the less lavish budgets of the former, may account for this. The set lighting for this Fidelio is bright, and the backdrops appealing.

Then why not five stars?

Poor packaging!

It has become standard for DVD operatic presentations to come with no libretto, so I cannot complain about this. But all the packaging gives are the names of the singers. Some of these singer's voices and faces will not be at all familiar to most of us, so it is very confusing at first, to try and identify the singers and the parts they are portraying. Especially so, when, early on, one of the male looking singers, Fidelio (aka Leonore), is clearly a woman (she is - see below), and another woman (Marzelline) is in love with him (her) to the delight of the latter's (Marzelline's) father (Rocco). Confusing isn't it!

I eventually had to skip to the ending credits and write down the relevant information to resolve this unforgivable oversight. Worse! Apart from a general (and brief) blurb about the importance of the opera when originally written, there is not a hint of any synopsis of the story line. I eventually figured this one out as well.

So this presentation had to lose one star.

It is still well worth having, but to save you from unnecessary grief, I give below details on the main characters, and at the same time indicate the parts they play. This is really all the information you require to fully appreciate this otherwise excellent presentation. I'm sure you will easily figure out the rest.

They are listed in order of appearance:

Jaquino (Neill Archer) - a prison turnkey, in love with Marzelline

Marzelline (Marie McLauglin) - In love with Fidelio, who is actually Leonore in disguise.

Rocco (Robert LLoyd) - father of Marzelline, and the chief prison guard

Fidelio, actually Leonore (Gabriela Benachova) - disguised as a male prison guard to try and rescue her husband, Florestan, who, she believes, is imprisoned in the dungeon.

Don Pizarro (Monte Pederson) - the prison Governor, and the "heavy" of the story; wants to "eliminate" Florestan.

First Prisoner (Lynton Atkinson)

Second Prisoner (Mark Beesley)

Florestan (Joseph Protschka) - a "freedom fighter" and a prisoner in the dungeon.

Don Fernando (Hans Tchammer) - a "fair minded" Government Minister

Enjoy!

Although we may be still in need of THE dvd Fidelio, this solid, reliable and competent ROH performance fills the void very well. Dohnanyi conducts the work in his usual objective, no-nonsense approach, yet projecting beautifully the melodic lines' essential nobility of spirit; he no doubt has the schooling and the feeling for that and finds in the ROH Orchestra a suitable and compliant vehicle for his wishes; they play outstandingly, mind you. He seems more preoccupied with reinforcing the work's architecture than in probing into the depths of beetovenian philosophy, however, and is well served by both the Covent Garden forces and Dresser's staging conception. Consequently, character projection advances beyond the sketchy and archetypical we usually and consensually blame on librettists Sonnleithner & Treitschke, and become more complex, a complexity to which contribute the intelligent singing of especially Benackova, Lloyd and Protschka (but why, according to Dresser, Pizarro surrenders the keys to the penal colony and simply walks away instead of being made prisoner himself is beyond me). As is rather customary today, there's no Leonore III inserted before the final scene.

Visual direction is superior, but there's no supplementary material; information on the covers is deficient.

Good, not great. For one thing, the dialogue is kinky. How could any producer of "Fidelio" omit that wonderful exchange: when Florestan tells his wife how much she's done for him, and she replies, "Nichts, nichts, mein Florestan." A real weeper, for sure. And this guy cuts it. AAAH!

Singing is good. Staging is rather less impressive than the old Glyndebourne production on video. When will someone release Bernstein's production?

There are a number of really fine DVDs of Fidelio available these days. Among those are the Met's version with Mattila and Heppner Beethoven - Fidelio / Levine, Mattila, Heppner, Pape, Lloyd, Polenzani, Metropolitan Opera and one with Popp and Kollo Beethoven - Fidelio. This 1991 production from Covent Garden has been available before and has had mostly positive reviews. It is a traditional staging with era-appropriate and lifelike mise en scéne and costumes. Further, it has some of the finest voices of the time. I was especially pleased with the Rocco of Robert Lloyd, whose 'Hat man nicht auch Gold beineiben' is a delight. The first act foursome leads give us a marvelous 'Mir is so wunderbar.' As the second couple, Marie McLaughlin (Marzelline) and Neill Archer (Jaquino) are excellent. Monte Pedersen makes a suitably evil Don Pizarro. The important choral parts are movingly sung. In the pit is the young Christoph von Dohnyani who has the proceedings firmly in his grasp. The two main leads, sung by Gabriela Benacková and Josef Protschka, are certainly acceptable and in the case of Benacková, outstanding. Benacková's warm, soaring voice is perfect for the rôle. Her 'Abscheulicher, wo eilst du hin' is superb. The couple's acting is somewhat generic.

This would not be my first choice if you are going to have just one DVD of this great opera. I would give the palm to the Met/Levine/Mattila/Heppner/Pape version. But it would not be bad for a second version.

TT: 125mins; Sound: PCM stereo; Subtitles: German, French, English,T Italian, Dutch, Spanish; Format 4:3; Region Code: 0 (worldwide); NTSC.

Scott Morrison

Other reviewers have covered various aspects of this fine production. A wonderful treat by Beethoven, he might have gone far had he stuck with opera, is given appropriate impact by a group of singers who show every sign of putting their hearts into it. To my surprise, Beethoven led us into the grim prime meat by a light salad of comedy which acquaints us with the cast members we are meant to see.
That there may be structural weaknesses in the drama, bothered me not at all. I doubt if they will bother anyone fixed on the theme, the music, and the song.
Yes, I, too, took it in one sitting with a few brief intermissions. Not many productions, musical or rhetorical, keep me in my seat (awake) that long.
Highly recommended for lay opera lovers or anyone who likes good musical drama of any sort.

Fidelio is a difficult opera to perform, both for the orchestra and the actors. I've watched a few on DVD and this is my favorite performance. The DVD production itself, from extra features (or, rather, the lack thereof) to the poor packaging design, leaves much to be desired, but the performance itself makes this recording worth buying and keeping.

This performance is so absorbing, so convincing, and so satisfying that I will just mention the few flaws I saw: 1. Monte Pederson's voice often seems pinched to me, an understandable problem with the extremely shouty and difficult role of Pizarro. 2. Josef Protschka is much too fat to be Florestan visually. He 's supposed to have been living on two ounces of bread a day for many months, right? Normally I would not even mention this, but it's particularly irksome because virtually all other visual aspects of this performance are so convincing.

Robert Lloyd deserves special credit for his supportive ensemble singing and for conveying the various facets of Rocco's personality--the cheerful father bouncing Marzelline on his knee, the cowering underling who refuses to kill, and the crippled taskmaster who keeps Leonore focused on her digging.

This is a solid performance that provides a decent idea of what this opera is like. The singing is uniformly good and Beethoven's stirring score provides it share of goosebumps. Some of the singers are pretty effective actors, particularly Rocco. But I find Pizarro a little wooden and un-scary (with an expression suggesting the eating of too many pickles); and Leonore/Fidelio not at ease with her character. Another poster commented on Florestan's plump physique, and I agree; the dungeon seems actually to have agreed with him. As for Leonore, I realize that no woman singing a role in drag could fool anyone in the real world. This Leonore, though, barely tries, given her ample bosom (which is apparent behind her coat) and netted long hair in back. This is asking for a bit too much suspension of disbelief. I would prefer a less buxom singer who looks more appropriate in drag. As for the sets and costumes, they're conservative and rather literal, and don't add much to the proceedings. And while the story may take place in sunny Spain, I would have liked a darker, more forbidding feel.