Beethoven: Fidelio / Overtures to Leonore Nos. 1 & 3, Fidelio

Plácido Domingo (Artist), Waltraud Meier (Artist), Falk Struckmann (Artist), René Pape / Werner Gura (Artist), Soile Isokoski (Artist), Kwangchul Youn (Artist), Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Daniel Barenboim (Conductor), Staatskapelle Berlin (Orchestra), Berlin German State Opera Chorus (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Berlin German State Opera Chorus
• Orchestra: Staatskapelle Berlin
• Conductor: Daniel Barenboim
• Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
• Audio CD (January 18, 2000)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Teldec / Warner Classics
• ASIN: B000031X0Z
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #227,591 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This interesting new Fidelio--one of over a dozen available--has a couple of things going very much in its favor, and a couple against it, too. A great pro is the leadership of Daniel Barenboim, who wrings from the orchestra and chorus fabulous playing and singing; just on a symphonic level, this is worth hearing. Barenboim also paces the work sensibly--those who do not like huge, glacial performances of this opera (i.e., fans of the superb Klemperer or various Furtwängler readings) or the "new school" of Beethoven conducting that seems to prefer racing through his music (occasionally in Gardiner or Harnoncourt) will welcome the inner tension Barenboim deeply understands in the music as well as his sympathy for his singers. This set grew out of a live performance in which all dialogue was cut and replaced, at times, with a flashback narration by Leonore. Here we get only the music Beethoven composed with no dialogue at all; the text Leonore spoke is printed in the accompanying booklet. It's not enough--one misses some dialogue, however brief and abbreviated, between numbers. This seems like a set of highlights without any. The quality of the soloists varies: Soile Isokoski and Werner Güra make a nice pair of youngsters; René Pape's Rocco is exactly the right combination of toady and good guy and he sings gloriously, and Falk Struckmann draws Pizarro villainously and manages his way around the difficult music. Domingo's Florestan is handsomely sung--almost too Italianately beautiful at times--but well thought through, and if not quite on the Jon Vickers level, certainly not terribly far away. Waltraud Meier's career continues to astonish. This pushed-up mezzo with an ugly tone has intelligence and passion in her voice, but the sound is curdled. Doesn't anyone notice that she sings off key and harshly half the time? So, a mixed bag: Domingo and Barenboim fans will need this, but it's like getting only a part of Fidelio (Barenboim, by the way, begins the opera with the Leonore Overture No. 2; an appendix includes the other three overtures Beethoven wrote for this work), and Meier is outclassed by every other Leonore on CD. Why not go for the recent Halasz reading on Naxos? It's good, it's cheap, and there's just enough dialogue to keep the plot intelligible. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Change !, April 21, 2000

By 

Daniel Guy (Israel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beethoven: Fidelio / Overtures to Leonore Nos. 1 & 3, Fidelio (Audio CD)

I have ignored all the warnings concerning this recording, and decided to buy it, only because i have much appreciation to Daniel Barenboim's musical taste, and to Waltraud Meier's singing. It is true, it isn't an ordinary Fidelio. The dialogues (which are quite boring anyhow) are missing, and the main singer (Leonore- sung here by Waltraud Meier) doesn't seem to fit to the role THEORETICALY. But thought it seems like a failure, the recording is simply outstanding. The singers reach new levels, Falk Struckmann's Pizaro is amazingly strong. Domingo's Florestan is a bit too soft, but that brings more beauty to the role. Waltraud Meier's Leonore, is amazingly inteligenty interpreted. Many reviewers say that Meier doesn't have the vocal capabilites to sing Loenore. Well, it isn't an ordinary leonore, and it certainly isn't very gentle. But it is amazingly strong, full of true emotions, and the singing is beautiful. I reject the reviews saying Meier is singing off key. Don't forget it is a studio recording, if something went wrong, you should rely on Daniel Barenboim as a conducter, and Waltraud Meier as one of today's greatest interpreters to fix it. I give this recording full 5 stars. I find it astonishingly good !

18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of two new releases, February 22, 2000

By 

F. Behrens "Frank Behrens" (Keene, NH USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Fidelio / Overtures to Leonore Nos. 1 & 3, Fidelio (Audio CD)

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.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A great dramatic Leonore stuck in a mannered production, December 7, 2007

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beethoven: Fidelio / Overtures to Leonore Nos. 1 & 3, Fidelio (Audio CD)

I must say that for my money the Amazon reviewer has things upside down. He commends Daniel Barenboim, but I found the conducting of this Fidelio sometimes mannaered to the point of eccentricity. Has anyone begun the Leonore #2 overture at such a glacial speed, only to let 'er rip in the allegro? As usual with Barenboim, the attempt to out-Furtwangler Furtwangler rings false, particularly when it comes to pointless, affeected rubato.

The Amazon reviewer believes that Waltraud Meier is the weak link here, when I found her Leonore utterly compelling -- gripin in its drama, wonderful in interpreting the text, and vocally thrilling. She's much more impassioned than almost any other Leonore I can think of, and although Meier's vocal tone per se isn't apapealing to me, her other gifts override that. The Gramophone review struck a chord with me when it pointed out that Domingo's singing, though powerful, is so lacking in German style that he makes an uncomfortable contrast with Meier's total grasp of that style. But it's welcome, of course, to hear a great tenor undertake Beethoven's suffering hero.

I hope more listeners get to hear Meier's achievement here. Needless to say, a Fidelio that doesn't include any dialogue is disqualified automatically from being anything like a top choice. But I'm glad I overcame my own trepidations and had a listen.