Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Fidelio

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Naxos operas seem to come in two varieties: good at the price and just plain good. This is one of the latter. Fidelio is certainly a unique opera, but that doesn't mean that it has to be treated monumentally as so many recordings do. Michael Halasz treats the work on a human level, well supported both by the orchestra and chorus and by the principals. Gosta Winbergh's light tenor turns out to be very suitable for Florestan and Inga Nielsen makes for a very convincing Leonore. I found that the others all did a good job. The recording is excellent and the diction clear. What more could you want? -- well the libretto is only in German, but there is an extensive synopsis in English which is keyed to the various tracks. This version may well be my favorite Fidelio, and the price cannot be beaten!

Beethoven had an extraordinarily difficult time in the composition of Fidelio, opus 72, his only opera. He first worked on Fidelio during 1803-1804. The opera received its first performance in Vienna in 1805 but closed after only three performances. Beethoven was urged to shorten the opera, and reluctantly he agreed. The revised version was produced in 1806 but closed after only one performance. Finally, Beethoven revisited Fidelio in 1814 and spent months of heavy effort in revising it yet again. The revised version was performed in 1814. This time it succeeded, and the work has been part of the opera repertory ever since.

When he revised Fidelio in 1814, Beethoven remarked: " I could compose something new far more quickly than patch up the old... I have to think out the entire work again." Anyone who has done substantial writing or editing can understand Beethoven's difficulties.

For all its difficulties, even in the final version, Fidelio is inspired music and one of the essential works of Beethoven's maturity. Beethoven worked heroically to compose his opera, and Fidelio is heroic in its themes. It tells the story of a young woman named Leonore who disguises herself as a man with the name of Fidelio and risks her life to rescue her husband, Florestan, from a dungeon where he has been held two years as a political prisoner. The work opens with a background of human suffering and ends in triumph as Leonore succeeds in entering the prison and rescuing Florestan, at the last moment, from murder by Pizarro, the governor. The work is celebrates human freedom and the treasures of winning a loving wife, both themes dear to Beethoven. It also celebrates the wise ruler who appears in the person of Don Fernando in the final scene of the opera to set matters aright. As the work progresses, it becomes less and less a characterization of specific people, Leonore and Florestan, and more an idealization of human freedom and of matrimonial love.

Fidelio is full of music both heroic and lyrical. Beethoven's lyricism, and his writing for the human voice difficult as it is, are often underestimated. Beethoven wrote four overtures for his opera. His final attempt, the "Fidelio" overture, was written for the 1814 performance and masterfully sets the stage for what follows. There is a beautiful "canonic" quartet early in the opera (no. 3) and a moving chorus for the prisoners at the end of the first act when Leonore prevails upon the prison guard to allow them into the courtyard for air (no 10) Each of the major characters in the opera has a solo aria, and there is a collection of duets, trios, and two quartets. Florestan has a long, moving aria at the beginning of the second act (no. 11) lamenting his fate and recalling happier days with Leonore. There are rousing choruses of triumph in the final scene after Leonore has rescued Florestan.

There are many recordings of Fidelio featuring famous conductors and soloists, but I found this Naxos CD first-rate. The opera is performed by a small chamber orchestra, the Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia, conducted by Michael Halasz. (The Esterhazy Sinfonia has also recorded very well the nine Beethoven symphonies on Naxos, but I found this Fidelio more impressive than the symphonies.) Soprano Inga Nielsen sings Leonore and performs with clarity and nobility. The role does not present an easy vocal line and Ms. Nielsen signs believably. Tenor Gosta Winbergh sings Florestan. His voice is rather light, but he brings passion and force to his great aria at the beginning of act 2. The scene in the dungeon where Leonore reveals her identity and comes to her husband's aid against Pizarro is dramatically effective. Alan Titus, baritone, as the villanous Pizaro brings the character to life in his aria in the first act (no.7)

For listeners new to opera or to Beethoven, this is an ideal place to start. The Naxos version sells for a budget price which should add to the incentive to explore this music. I also think there is something to be gained by coming to the music through a fine performance by relatively unknown artists. It helps the listener, particularly the new listener, focus on the score and on the singing and not worry a great deal about comparing this version with others. I think that the first priority in listening to a work of music should be -- the music. This CD may encourage new listeners to get to know Fidelio and then, if they are so inclined, to explore other versions and other music.

The CD includes a full libretto in the original German but no English translation. There is a full synopsis of each number, sufficient to allow an appreciation of the action and the arias. Altogether,this is an excellent performance of a great and inspirational work of Beethoven's maturity.

Fidelio was the first opera I listened to as a teenager and I've loved it so much that I have since collected some six different recordings (Klemperer, Karajan, Bernstein, Fricsay, Bohm, Maazel. This latest newcomer is a welcome addition. The sound is extremely clear and detailed with excellent spatial separation of voices and instruments. The protagonists are relative lightweights compared to the likes of Christa Ludwig and Jon Vickers but they have the advantage of clearer diction and clarity. The balance between soloists, chorus and orchestra is exemplary and the finale of Act 2 is gripping and hot-blooded stuff. At bargain price this opera set is an outstanding purchase. Buy it!

I was hesistant to buy this Fidelio set at first. Naxos is a budget brand so I thought that the quality would not be so good. But then I read the rave reviews about this set. And so I thought, why not buy it since the price is great - 2 CDs for the price of one mid-priced CD? I was stunned to hear the results. This is no second class Fidelio. This Fidelio stands with the great Fidelio recordings of the past. No, it doesn't replace the classic Klemperer set with Christa Ludwig and Jon Vickers. But at times, I think that Halasz tempi are more appropriate than Klemperer's. And although Inga Nielson is a lesser known soprano and has a smaller voice than Hildegard Behrens or Gundula Janowitz, I think she is more successful than either one of them. She doesn't 'overforce' her voice like Janowitz (who sounds strained at the climaxes in the Bernstein set). She is not as careless as Behrens (in Solti's set) in negotiating the fearsome passages in Leonore's lines. Unlike Klemperer, whose Fidelio is a large scaled and monumental reading with highly dramatic voices like Jon Vickers and Christa Ludwig, this reading is a lighter reading with lighter voices. Yet it works!! This is a thrilling Fidelio. I would rank it above the Bernstein set with Deutsche, or Maazel (with Birgit Nilsson) with Decca. In my opinion, the conducting here is better than Bernstein's or Haitink's (with Jessye Norman). The advantage that Haitink has over this set is his Leonore (Jessye Norman). Halasz' conducting is more exciting than Haitink (who sounds staid at times) or Bernstein's (who sometimes go too slow and sometimes go too fast). Jessye Norman's thrillingly rich and ravishing voice outshines Inga Nielsen. I am a great admirer of Birgit Nilsson's prodigious vocalism but somehow, when she made Fidelio with Maazel, she was rather careless with the lines. Yes, her voice is more thrilling than Inga Nielsen's but Maazel doesn't quite hold the opera together as well as Halasz. (As a side comment, if you realy want to hear Birgit Nilsson in the role of Leonore, you should get the 1956 Cologne version conducted by Erich Kleiber just a few weeks before he died. It is available under Koch Schwann in wondrous super clear sound. I don't know about the sound quality in other labels. That recording was made before Nilsson became world famous. And it seems then that she phrases and characterizes her Leonore better. Or perhaps it was Kleiber's inspiration.) Kurt Moll is a wondrous Rocco, few better. His deep resonating bass has few peers. Gosta Winbergh is a winsome Florestan. He sings his lines without strain at the top unlike the Goldberg in Haitink or Peter Hoffman in Solti's set.

Yes, the classic Klemperer is unsurpassed. Yes, this is a reading with lighter voices. But - IT WORKS! IT WORKS! IT WORKS! There are better Leonores than Inga Nielsen from a purely vocal viewpoint. But Inga Nielsen's smaller voice FITS in with this exciting reading. And I think the biggest star is Halasz who manages to hold everything together in a most exciting and thrilling way despite not having the advantage of "brand-name" and starry casts, and despite having to work with a tight budget. Thank you Naxos, for showing that there are still good conductors and good singers in this world who can carry the weight of Beethoven's magnificent opera. The only disadvantage is that there is no English libretto (an oversight on Naxos's part) but Beethoven's music is magnificent enough to listen to without understanding the words so I wouldn't worry about that.

This is not my first choice Fidelio (the Klemperer set is). But if you want just one Fidelio, this set works, and at an incredible price too - and great recorded sound!! Let me say this - that even if this set were at full-price, I would still not hesistate to recommend it as the only Fidelio set in your operatic library. This is full-price top brand quality Fidelio at a super budget price. Such bargains are not all that common - there are plenty of substandard recordings from top labels selling at full-price - so I would advise you to grab it when you come across it.

...as part of the Black Dog Opera Library edition of "Fidelio", which is available at Amazon under "Books" (search for "Black Dog Opera Library"). It came out in spring of 2002, along with a very good edition of "Flying Dutchman", also from Naxos.

The best feature of The Black Dog Opera Library series is that it is essentially a book of the libretto, both in the original language and in English, with some introductory material. The CDs (only 2-CD operas have been done so far) are on the inside covers of the book, which is hardcover.

So, those who want the Naxos "Fidelio" with an English translation of the libretto can find it! And for about the same price as this item!

Beethoven lovers take note: there are two new "Fidelio's" available, neither of which is perfect but both of which are quite good in their own ways.

The <Fidelio> from Naxos (8.660070-71) follows the last revision and uses the "Fidelio" Overture, followed by the Gilbert & Sullivan-like duet. It also has just enough dialogue to let you follow the plot, provided you read German, since there is no English translation of the libretto. The offering from Teldec (3984-25249-2) uses the "Leonore No.2," followed by Marzelline's aria and then the duet. It omits the dialogue entirely, based as it is on a Chicago production that had the Leonore narrate the plot between her entrances. The booklet inconveniently supplies these notes in the introduction and not in the libretto, which is tri-lingual in case you need a French as well as an English translation of the German.

Each set has a good Florestan in Gosta Winbergh (Nax.) and Placido Domingo (Tel.). In general, the Naxos cast is lighter voiced with a good Leonore in Inga Nielsen and a more than adequate Pizzaro in Alan Titus. The only sour note is the terribly sounding Fernando (Wolfgang Glashof) who seems to have been given the part because someone owed it to him. And how good it is to hear the deep bass of Kurt Moll as Rocco. The Telarc set has Domingo, I think, to thank for its existence, and he is splendid. The rest of the cast is fine, except--and this is fatal--for Waltraud Meier, who used to sing mezzo and does not seem up to the demands of the title role.

The Naxos set has the Hungarian Radio Chorus and Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia under Michael Halasz in a nicely paced, (again) somewhat lightweight but very enjoyable rendering. On Telarc, we have the chorus of the Deutschen Staatsoper Berlin and the Staatskapelle Berlin under Daniel Barenboim, who plays as an appendix the other three overtures Beethoven wrote for the different versions of this work.

Which one to buy? Domingo fans will of course go for the Teldec.. Others might opt for the Naxos at about half the price. I plan to enjoy both.

If you are coming to "Fidelio" fresh, this is a perfect way to become familiar with it; the price is amazing. But be warned; there is no English translation of the libretto, so unless you speak German you will have only an approximate idea of what's going on. Fortunately, the spoken dialog is kept to a minimum.

The performance itself is quite creditable. I'm particularly fond of the Klemperer recording with Jon Vickers and Christa Ludwig. The voices in this performance are lighter and thus the singspiel aspect of the opera is emphasized. Inga Nielsen, a singer new to me, sings Leonore with "Mut und Kraft", and she sings all the notes accurately and in tune, not always the case in this fiendishly difficult part. The orchestra and chorus are fine.

You can't go wrong at this exceptionally low price. Thank you, Naxos, for doing so much so well without crippling the buyer's budget.

At its initial release in 2000, Maxos' super-budget Fidelio was greeted as a real achievement, but I don't think that time has served it well. There's nothing wrong with casting lighter voices in the roles of Leonore and Florestan -- after all, the microphone can bring them forward -- but the problem is that Ingen Nielsen's voice is quite ordinary (for some reason she was a flavor of the month during this period, especially for her seductive Salome) and she slides over the music with no depth of characterization. The same goes for the rest of the cast with the glaring exception of Kurt Mill, a major singer taking on the role of Rocco.

Windbergh is also a veteran of major opera productions, but they have sent a boy to do a man's work here: his Mozartean smoothness doesn't convey the weight of Florestan's suffering or nobility. Ultimately, however, it's Michael Haladz's routine conducting that fails to ignite the proceedings except by fits and starts. I'm glad that Naxos had a hit, but even in the budget range one can get Bernstein, Klemperer, and Karajan very cheaply at Amazon marketplace -- all of them lead great performances.

SOURCE:
Studio recording made at Phoenix Studios, Budapest, November 7-10 and 14-18, 1998.

SOUND:
Good late 1990s digital stereo. Purely as a matter of personal taste, I would prefer the more forward placement of the voices typical of older recordings, but the point is a minor one.

CAST:
Leonore, the wife of Florestan who is disguised as a boy named Fidelio while she searches for her husband - Inga Nielsen (soprano)
Florestan, a prisoner unjustly held in darkness, now near his breaking point - Goesta Wingbergh (tenor)
Don Pizarro, governor of the prison, Florestan's ancient enemy and distinctly not a warm and cuddly guy - Alan Titus (baritone)
Rocco, the senior jailer of the prison - Kurt Moll (bass)
Marzelline, Rocco's daughter, who is falling in love with Fidelio - Edith Lienbacher (soprano)
Jaquino, a jailer who loves Marzelline and feels he is being cut out by Fidelio - Herwig Pecoraro (tenor)
First Prisoner - Peter Palinkas (tenor)
Second Prisoner - Jozsef Moldvay (bass)
Don Fernando, a government minister, friend to Florestan and deus ex machina - Wolfgang Glashof (bass)

CONDUCTOR:
Michael Halasz with the Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia and the Hungarian Radio Chorus.

TEXT:
As in many performances, the spoken words of the drama have been cut. In this case, however, the cuts have been done with the dullest of axes. The most obvious and painful example, one which displays an appalling lack of dramatic commonsense, occurs toward the end of Scene 1, Act II. Florestan has been saved. He and his wife are left alone on stage. Beethoven, the musician of musicians, chose to express this supreme moment and the true resolution of the opera in a few simple, spoken words:
. FLORESTAN: O meine Leonore, was hast du fuer mich getan? (O my Leonore, what have you done for me?)
. LEONORE: Nichts, nichts, mein Florestan! (Nothing, nothing, my Florestan!)
It is only after those affecting words have filled the opera house that Beethoven plunges into the ecstatic duet, "O namenlose Freude" (O nameless joy.)

In this recording, alas, all that is transformed into the plodding
. FLORESTAN: Leonore. (Pause)
. LEONORE: Florestan. (Pause)

FORMAT:
Disk 1 - Act I, tracks 1-20, 69:28.
Disk 2 - Act 2, tracks 1-10, 45:21.
The longer dialogue passages are on tracks kept separate from the music.

DOCUMENTATION:
Libretto in German only, which reflects the slashed text used in the recorded performance. Short essay on Beethoven and the creation of the opera. Lengthy summary of the plot tied into the track numbers. Track list that provides timings and identifies the singers. Thumbnail biographies of the performers.

COMMENTARY:
This is a recording with virtues. The Good Grey Gramophone Magazine positively gushes over it with this: "a taut reading of a desperate story, strongly and purposefully accented, with orchestral forces well balanced and every detail heard." And this, "Even in absolute terms, its most notable predecessors are matched, if not surpassed, by this daring newcomer."

Well, yeah, maybe.

This is very much a New School approach to "Fidelio." The Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia is "a hand-picked chamber orchestra, drawn from the Hungarian State Symphony," or so the Gramophone tells me, and I have no reason to doubt it. The cast is largely populated with fresh, young voices. The overall approach is light on its feet, and free of the moldy old "romantic, quasi-philosophical mode of Furtwangler or Klemperer." For those who follow the precepts of the New School, all this and the pleasingly low, budget price would more than justify a full five star rating.

I am not an adherent to the New School with regard to "Fidelio" (or almost anything else, for that matter.) The romantic, quasi-philosophical mode of Furtwangler or Klemperer is not only a better way to approach "Fidelio," it is the only way. Beethoven was almost a student of Mozart and was certainly a student of Haydn, but by the time he got around to "Fidelio" he had shed the last vestiges of Classicism and become a full-fledged, brooding, thundering Romantic.

There is nothing about "Fidelio" that is naturally light on its feet. It is high, even exalted drama as conceived by a composer who was not a true man of the theater. Mozart, a real theater man, would fully have fleshed out the comic potentials of Rocco, Marzelline and Jaquino. Verdi would have brougt Don Pizarro to full, snarling life as the center of the piece. Beethoven had little interest in people but much in archetypes: married fidelity, suffering nobility, malignant evil.

There is a great deal of drama in "Fidelio," but little of it is on the stage. After the great confrontation near the end of the first scene of Act II, for example, the villain simply walks away. The drama is in the music, exactly where one might expect it from such a composer. He deals in grand passion, even as Wagner does in "Tristan und Isolde," but he is far more direct and to the point. Nothing in Wagner matches the efficient--even terse--impact of "O namenlose Freude" or the big "Retterin" finale. I have seen "Fidelio" in both staged and concert versions. In some ways I prefer the latter, for in that form it is the greatest oratorio ever written.

The young singers are musical, well-schooled, meticulously prepared and generally uninteresting. An earlier Amazon reviewer referred to Gosta Winbergh as "a winsome Florestan." That is about as damning a comment as I can imagine for someone singing the archetype of nobly suffering humanity.

I readily acknowledge that Inga Nielsen could be impressive in many roles, but she is just too light in voice for Fidelio-Leonore. And throughout the first act, she is far too girlish for what is, after all, a pants part. The great quartet seems to have two Marzellines in it. Nielsen utterly and absolutely fails to rise to the magnificent test of "Toet' erst sein Weib!" (First kill his wife!) She turns it into a squeak. (When I finished with this recording, I hastened to Flagstad and Furtwangler for that passage, just to restore the balance of the universe.)

The Marzelline and Jaquino are all right, but they make no headway against the general idea that theirs are throwaway parts. (I once saw a performance in which the Marzelline stole the show with a terrific performance of her one big aria. That's never going to happen for Ms. Lienbacher.)

Among the older generation, Kurt Moll is obviously the designated adult in the cast. He is the only one who really digs into his part; unfortunately, Papa Rocco wasn't written with much depth. Alan Titus is adequate as Don Pizarro. That he became a principal Wotan at Bayreuth is simply more proof, it any were needed, that we live in a time of drought for great singers. Wolfgang Glashof is deplorable, just deplorable, in the thankfully small part of Don Fernando.

"Fidelio" is one of the great choral operas. The Hungarian Radio Chorus is cut from much the same cloth as the younger soloists, well-schooled, well-prepared and dead wrong. They sing too prettily. The heartbreaking Prisoners' Chorus sounds positively ... sweet. To my ear, the men's chorus has too many tenors--a very rare thing--and all of them sweetly lyric ones, too. The full chorus simply misses the required power for the great choral coda.

Rating this "Fidelio" is difficult. My own personal opinion is that this is just an adequate performance, almost a textbook example of a three-star piece. On the other hand, I am fully aware that I am out of step with most potential buyers. The New School approach, the young singers, the excellent sound, the budget price, all exert an upward pull. I'll compromise with four stars.

The new Naxos Fidelio from Budapest offers a first-rate modern cast incisively directed by Michael Halasz, and very well recorded. Inga Nielsen is an outstanding Leonore, with every note sharply focused, using the widest tonal and dynamic range from bright fortissimo to velvery half-tone. Few singers on disc in recent years begin to rival her account of the Abscheulicher, ranging from venomous anger to radiant tenderness. Gosta Winbergh makes a formidable Florestan, with Alan Titus a firm, sinister Pizarro and Kurt Moll a splendid Rocco. Only the Don Fernando fall short, with a voice too woolly to focus cleanly. Even making no allowance for price, this version is among the very finest to have arrived in years, gaining in clarity and incisiveness from the relatively small scale.