Customer Reviews

Beethoven - Fidelio / Levine, Mattila, Heppner, Pape, Lloyd, Polenzani, Metropolitan Opera

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When Act 2 of Fidelio is being poured out in the most glorious tones imaginable from Mattila, Heppner and Pape - who can possibly complain? Who would honestly want to replace any of them? Who can fail to be overwhelmed with gratitude to own this disc?

If I continue to count our blessings, I might mention the splendid Robert Lloyd drawing us to a thrilling finale as Don Fernando; and Falk Struckmann a convincingly evil Pizarro.

So it is certainly not complaining, but fulfilling a reviewer's obligation to tell all, when I admit that Jennifer Welch-Babidge is little more than adequate as Marzelline. One might wish for a purer vocal line in this role - like a Bonney or an Isokoski.

The production has a few eccentricities that don't quite work. I could pick holes, but to be fair the production as a whole functions well enough, and with singing - and, in most cases, acting - like this, who cares?

Brian Large's cameras are always where you want them. Sound is DTS 5.1; Dolby 5.1 or Stereo. Menu is in English only. Subtitles in German; English; French; Spanish and Chinese.

Don't worry, you won't regret it.

I also saw the broadcast, and I would echo the previous reviews, and add a few points.

First of all, Mattila. Lord. What amazed me most of all from this very committed performance is her singing at the END of the opera -- you would have no clue that this woman had just finished one of the most punishing roles in the repertoire.

Re the comments on Heppner: You know, the singing IS the acting. It is the unique thrill and excitement of the human voice that brings these characters to life. There are many more opera singers throughout history who couldn't act half of what Heppner brought to his role, much less fit the supposed physical requirements. People! Hello! If physique were actually important, we would have to throw out as unimportant all the contributions of Pavarotti, Caballe, Eaglen, Voigt, not to mention the greats of other times like Caruso, Gigli ... the list is impossibly long. Enough said.

Finally, the aforementioned hopefully upcoming DVD of Tristan from the Met would have to be shelved, because the combined weight of the two stars easily tops 600 pounds -- and who the hell cares? It was the most eagerly anticipated Tristan of a generation, because here were two singers that could really do justice to the demands of the roles.

Bring on Eaglen and Heppner!

When considering if you want James Levine's 2000 recording of Beethoven's only completed opera, "Fidelio" the question to ask is: "What's your perspective on Fidelio?" Should it be staged to reflect the time in which it was composed? (Ca. 1805) or should it have a more modern set and staging? (as is the case here). James Levine and the Metropolitan Opera orchestra play wonderfully and are - as almost always - very reliable and sensible in tempos, balance, and phrasing. The singers: Mattila, Heppner, Pape, Lloyd, Polenzani, etc. are all excellent. But the staging - which may seem controversial - is modern, with such items as 20th century handguns, American style Khaki military uniforms, and in the last act, the announcement of the President coming (not the governer as would be the case in Austria, 1805). Some who insist on a more authentic, Austrian, period staging of Beethoven's opera may not care for this.

There are elements of humor brought out on the stage in some places, and I found the Prisoners' Chorus very moving. I can't comment blow by blow on the singers, as I'm not a singer myself, but it all sounds excellent to me: well balanced with the orchestra and chorus, and in the bigger choral numbers, everyone is right in the action and on cue/target musically as well.

I love Beethoven's music, and always feel great comfort and a sense of victory and rightness about the world when listening to/watching FIDELIO, or hearing the incidental music to EGMONT. Beethoven had a firm belief in democracy, the triumph of right over wrong: justice for the accused who are innocent, and that one man/woman or class should not rule over another - he hoped for an egalitarian society somewhat as the French Revolution, Socialism, or later in Russia, Bolshevism promised, but did not deliver. I think Beethoven would have liked living in a democracy as the United States, or Austria today, more of a parliamentary democracy for sure than it was 200 years ago during his lifetime.

If you don't want Levine's Met. production of FIDELIO, consider the following CD releases: Klemperer/Philharmonia (EMI) or Bohm/Dresden State Orchestra (DG, 1969, recently re-released).

I can't recall the first time I ever heard this score, since after a single listen I didn't want to hear it again (my apologies to those who adore it). Perhaps I fell into the myth of "this is Beethoven's only opera and you can see why" that some promote.

In any case, it was only years later that I happened to see this production on PBS, and completely fell in love with it. Jurgen Flimm's towering gray walls seem destined for controversy, despite being handsomely designed and admirably well-suited for the story. The set may be grim to some, but to my eyes it provides a neutral background against which Karita Mattila and the rest of the cast emerge in vivid colors.

Mattila is splendid in the lead role, and just sings and acts up a storm. (I doubt anyone on the operatic stage has ever eaten a banana with more aplomb.) Ben Heppner is also terrific, as are Rene Pape, Robert Lloyd, Jennifer Welch-Babidge and Matthew Polenzani. Only Falk Struckmann, to me, disappoints slightly with some forced-sounding tone, but even he summons such stage presence that I didn't really mind. This is one of the best-acted operatic productions I've seen in quite awhile.

James Levine gives a fleet performance of the score and draws magnificent playing out of the Met Orchestra, which has been praised to the skies and justifiably so. The Met Chorus, attired in Florence von Gerkan's atmospherically gray uniforms, also gives its heartfelt all, especially in the renowned "Prisoner's Chorus" that should stir even the most apathetic of viewers.

The sound quality on the DVD is superb. The filming, by Brian Large, puts you right in the middle of the action when needed, but with plenty of long shots of the large group numbers, which are thrillingly staged. Highly recommended for many reasons.

When this Fidelio was broadcast, I actually wrote in to the MET begging them to release it either on DVD or on CD. Now my dreams have come true!! Truly, this is one of the great Fidelios on record not so much for the sets but more for the singing!! The sets are fine. I think they are wonderful but personally I would have preferred the time setting to be during Beethoven's time - early 19th century. But this time setting works as well, simply because of the intensity of the acting and singing. Sometimes, when singers sing intensely, they lose vocal control and everything goes out of pitch of out of tune. Not so here!

Yes, the glory of this set is the singing, the acting, Levine's conducting - in fact everything. Except perhaps the chorus in the finale which doesn't really lift the spirit as it should. but that doesn't really dent the performance. Marzelline and Jacquino are well-cast. Rene Pape shows why Birgit Nilsson thought so highly of him and gave him the first Birgit Nilsson prize. Pizarro is suitably nasty - acting and singing are excellent. Ben Heppner is too well-endowed but his singing and acting is so intense, after a while you are totally immersed in the drama and you don't notice.

However, the greatest glory of this set is the flawless soprano of Karita Mattila!! In the murderous role of Leonore, Mattila triumphs and triumphs magnificently!! Leonore is a notoriously difficult role. The singer is on stage most of the time, and the singing is taxing. From the start, she has to sing a quarter, a trio then an extraordinarily difficult aria which few sopanos are able to pull off well. Then she sings in the finale of Act 1. All the while, the tessitura gets higher and higher (esp in her Act 1 aria where she has 2 exposed high B's), and the leaps and intervals are big and awkward, not to mention that she has to sing loud and do short coloratura. Then Act 2 begins, she starts in a duet, then a trio, then the dungeon quartet, then she sings a duet with Florestan (where she has 2 high B's side by side). And then the finale (another high B). Mattila's high B's are rock solid. Birgit Nilsson herself said that Beethoven didn't make things easy for the voice, Leonore has to sing long stretches of music at a very high tessitura in a part of the voice that even Nilsson found difficult!!! But Mattila does it all and does it flawlessly.

I am in the expensive habit of collecting Fidelios. I have heard all the most famous Fidelios in the market - Birgit Nilsson's 4 versions (!), Kirsten Flagstad's 2 versions (!), Gundula Janowitz, Christa Ludwig's 4 versions including her famous Klemperer version(!), Jessye Norman, Inga Nielsen, Leonie Rysanek, Waltraud Meier, Hildegard Behrens. I can definitely say that Mattila ranks with the best!! She can hold her own with Christa Ludwig, Birgit Nilsson, Leonie Rysanek or Kirsten Flagstad.

Fidelio rarely gets a good recording - the 1962 Klemperer set is still the best!! And it is rare that singers in their prime is captured on record with all the inspiration of the moment. If you like Fidelio, don't do yourself a disservice. Go and get a copy!! Also, buying this will encourage the Met to release more of their treasures!! I'm looking forward to Jane Eaglen's & Ben Heppner's 1999 Tristan Und Isolde.

I was fortunate enough to have been an audience member and witness the remarkable talents of Levine, Mattila and Heppner in person at the MET. That is why I was so thrilled to see this powerful production not only on PBS but to own it. Not many works come across with such human pathos written in the vocal line nor are there such singing actresses as of Mattila's stature. She carries the show, she comes across so believable that you wonder how she does it and is able to maintain a difficult trouser role and remain credible. The DVD comes across brilliantly and you experience her every nuance not seen from the audience standpoint. The towering finale will cause you to leap to your feet as the audience did on the night I was there and the cast received a standing ovation - not common at the MET I assure you.

I too saw this Metropolitan opera production on TV. It is further proof that the production can make all the difference. It also shows that anachronistic productions can make preeminent sense. My first experience of Fidelio was an older, traditional production on VHS, I believe from Glyndenbourne. It left wondering why Fidelio was in the repertoire.
This production helped me to understand. It is set somewhere between 1950 and 1970, judging by the dress and guns, in a unidentified fascist state.
The only weak spot in the casting is that Florestan (played by Heppner?) is not physically convincing as a starving prisoner. But his singing is fine. Other characterizations are superb. Pizarro (played by someone I don't recognize) is suitably evil. Mattila deserves all the praise in the top review.

This production of FIDELIO by Jurgen Flimm premiered at the Metropolitan Opera House in October 2000 and was telecast in December 2002. Although certain critics have disliked Flimm's staging, I think that it is a good example of intelligent updating. Unlike (for example) TOSCA (another opera about tyranny and torture), FIDELIO's libretto contains no specific historical references; the story could just as well take place in the twentieth century as in the eighteenth (the era in which it is traditionally set). Indeed, it has become popular in recent years to set FIDELIO during the World War II era. In Flimm's version, the action appears to take place during the 1930's or 1940's, in a police state. But even this is not very specific (no one wears a Nazi uniform, for instance), giving the viewer room to use his or her imagination while watching the performance.
I find it interesting that, while well-known critics moan about Flimm's work, nearly all of the reviewers on this site comment first on the music and the singing, THEN on the production. And truly it is the music that communicates, first and foremost. The cast of this FIDELIO is stellar and in superb voice. Karita Mattila, possessor of a luminous and penetrating dramatic soprano, is also one of today's finest operatic actresses. Thus it makes sense that her Leonore - when in the guise of "Fidelio" - is an ACTRESS playing the role of a young man; she plays her part well, too (watch her flirt with Marzelline at her first entrance). Elsewhere, Mattila conveys Leonore's anxiety and sadness in voice, expression, and gesture. She sings her aria with both intensity (in "Aubscheulischer!") and quiet poignancy (in "Komm, Hoffnung"). Ben Heppner likewise gives a deeply felt performance, not least in his dialogue with Rocco when he pleads for a drink of water. As usual, his singing is as remarkable for its beauty as for its power. Baritone Falk Struckmann, with his powerful, malevolent sound, sings a chillingly evil Don Pizarro. Rocco is, in this production, more middle-aged than elderly. Perhaps it is not entirely believable that this relatively young-looking man would need Fidelio's assistance in digging a grave; but the conception of the character is surely a more helpful one for the young bass Rene Pape. He sings throughout with firm, rich tone and perfect legato, and he really shines in a light-hearted rendition of his "Money Aria" ("Hat man nicht auch Gold beneiben"). Jennifer Welch-Babidge and Matthew Polenzani interact well and make fine vocal contributions as Marzelline and Jaquino. The always-outstanding Robert Lloyd is noble and dignified as Don Fernando, who administers justice at the end of the opera.
James Levine's tempi are on the fast side (unusual for him, as he normally favors weightier tempi), but his affection for and experience with FIDELIO shows. This luxuriously cast, intelligently updated production compels attention as a FIDELIO for our own era.

but....hear me now and believe me later: KARITA MATTILA IS NO DRAMATIC SOPRANO!!!!!! Just like Hildegard Behrens, who was somehow convinced (wrongly) that she had a dramatic voice, Mattila is shifting her career towards the more dramatic repertoire, with mixed success. Her natural talent for acting and for conveying emotion with her vocal instrument works well for her in the lyric roles and gains her some sympathy in the dramatic roles. However, whenever presented with the true tests in the dramatic roles, she always falls short. Cases in point in this Fidelio: a) In her centerpiece of the first act, "Abscheulicher," Mattila's singing is so lovely and moving despite the stupid things she has to do with her hands. Even in the closing section "Ich folg dem innern Triebe," she moves along wonderfully. But then comes the clincher: In "Gattinliebe," the last word of the aria, she shrieks out the high B like a banshee, ruining the entire effect. Granted, hardly anyone can negotiate this note with power AND grace (Gwyneth Jones in the Karl Boehm film is the only singer I've ever heard do it perfectly) but Mattila's overextension is so obvious you want to convince her to go back to Rusalka; b) She sounds coarse in the demanding ensemble number that brings the first act to a close; c) In the second act, in the recognition scene, "Toet erst sein Weib" we have the same banshee howl (this time under pitch) on "Weib" that seems to define or be a calling card for her vocal limitations.

So, if Leonore had been written as a lyric role, Mattila would be astounding. She looks good in her chimney sweeper outfit, and fakes gay marriage really well. But, although she is slightly better than Soederstroem in the role, she falls woefully short in light of her great predecessors (Nilsson, Flagstad, Ludwig, and especially G. Jones). As is usually the case these days, we just have to settle.

Heppner is above average in what is basically a one-aria role. The sweetness of his voice and his ability to sustain the lyric phrases of the "In des Lebens Fruehlingstagen" are admirable. He gets somewhat carried away by emotion and falls out of step with Levine toward the climax of this second-act opener, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's a live thing.

Of the remaining cast, Rene Pape is the most satisfying, playing a curiously dissheveled and disoriented Rocco. He is vocally perfect for the role. Matthew Polenzani is the main casualty of the director's character re-thinking....he's bitter, petty, and aggressive, making you wonder why Marzelline would ever want him in the first place. Nice singing, though. Jennifer Welch-Babidge sounds a little fluttery, but her penetrating voice cuts through the ensembles even more than Mattila's (especially in the finale) and adds some much-needed treble. Falk Struckmann's is just a character voice, which falls short in delivering the required level of malice. Anyone from the chorus could have done as well. Robert Lloyd sounds like Kurt Moll with the flu.

It's obvious this staging has a German production team, for nearly all German Fidelios are unrelentingly gray and drab. The costumes in the finale are so haphazard and ugly that if the sound was off I wouldn't know if I was watching 'NYPD Blue' or 'Treemonisha.' (There are some REALLY lame attempts at jubilant dancing as well.) Luckily Levine and the Met orchestra and chorus provide such fine aural support throughout that the distastefulness of the sets and direction can be cheerily characterized as components of just another one of those ubiquitous eurotrash concept stagings we're all required as modern operagoers to endure.

Fidelio is not an opera. It is Beethoven. There is also a curious fact associated with Fidelio. And that's this - it is a very difficult opera to bring off - both on record and in the theatre. But ... when one does bring it off (so to speak), the result is always a towering monument to Beethoven's genius.

There are very few outstanding recordings of Fidelio but the outstanding ones always blow you away with the music. Just listen to Otto Klemperer's Classic 1962 Fidelio. Now at long last, we have a DVD-Video that can complement Klemperer's legendary set. This 2000 Metropolitan Opera performance blows every single Fidelio video away. It is the best performance of Fidelio ever captured on DVD. Even if you just look at the audio alone, it is a performance that is on par with Klemperer's 1962 performance. We are a lucky generation.

Whether you like opera, or just Beethoven, or just Fidelio, or just music, this set is indispensable!! You must have it in your collection. I am not surprised that the Metropolitan Opera chose this 2000 performance over its other performances as the first in a series of new DVD-Video releases with Deutsche Grammophon.

By the way, the famous Metropolitan 1999 Tristan Und Isolde featuring Jane Eaglen and Ben Hppner is out!! Delivers on Mar 9. Search for it on Amazon and buy it up too!!