Fidelio

Beethoven (Artist), Behrens (Artist), Hofmann (Artist), Solti (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 11, 1997)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B0000042G9
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #554,652 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Fidelio: Overture

2. Fidelio: Act I: Jetz, Schaetzchen, Jetzt Sind Wir Allein

3. Fidelio: Act I: Owaer Ich Schon Mit Dir Vereint

4. Fidelio: Act I: Mir Ist So Wunderbar

5. Fidelio: Act I: Hat Man Nicht Auch Gold Beineben (Rocco)

6. Fidelio: Act I: Gut, Soehnchen, Gut (Rocco)

7. Fidelio: Act I: Marsch

8. Fidelio: Act I: Ha! Welch Ein Augenblick! (Pizarro)

9. Fidelio: Act I: Jetzt, Alter! Jetzt Hat Es Eile! (Pizarro)

10. Fidelio: Act I: Abscheulicher! Wo Eilst Du Hin? (Leonore)

See all 15 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Fidelio: Act II: Gott! Welch Drunkel Hier! (Florestan)

2. Fidelio: Act II: In Des Lebens Fruehlingstagen (Florestan)

3. Fidelio: Act II: Wie Kalt Ist Es In Diesem Unterirdischen Gewoelbe! (Leonore)

4. Fidelio: Act II: Nur Hurtig Fort, Nur Frisch Gegraben (Rocco)

5. Fidelio: Act II: Euch Werde Lohn In Bessern Welten (Florestan)

6. Fidelio: Act II: Er Sterbe! (Pizarro)

7. Fidelio: Act II: O Namenlose Freude (Leonore,Florestan)

8. Fidelio: Act II: Heil Sei Den Tag!

9. Fidelio: Act II: Des Besten Koenigs Wink Und Wille

10. Fidelio: Act II: Wer Ein Holdes Weib Errungen

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Under-rated recording, July 5, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Fidelio (Audio CD)

I think this recording is under-rated. It shows how influential reviewers from Grammophone and Penguin can be. I think this is a fabulous performance. Behrens may not be the best of Leonores - she is definitely not in the league of Christa Ludwig, Birgit Nilsson, Leonie Rysanek or Jessye Norman - but hey, we are comparing her with the best of the best Leonores. In fact, she sings with keen dramatic sense and involvement, and her top notes are superb. Pizzaro is outstanding in this set, sung with biting malevolence. Florestan here may not be Jon Vickers but i think his performance is very good nonetheless.I like Solti's reading which is brisk and urgent - more in the Fricsay mould. In addition, the Chicago players and Chicago chorus surpass the orchestras and choruses in the other recordings, although vocally, the other recordings are superior.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE, October 1, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Fidelio (Audio CD)

Solti is reputedly one of the the greatest conductor in the world, in the class of superconductors league with Bernstein and Karajan.

This Fidelio is excellently prepared and excellently recorded. behrens is a very involved Fidelio and she sings her parts fabulously. The cast is excellent and so is the orchestral playing.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is arguably the best orchestra in the world and the CHicago Symphony Chorus has won more Grammys than any other Symphony Choruses.

The Celebrated Solti-CSO partnership presenting Beethoven's one and only celebrated opera. A performance not to be missed. Buy it!!! Recommended without any reservations.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An alternative reading of Beethoven's only opera., January 31, 2007

By 

Abel "AMY" (Hong Kong) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fidelio (Audio CD)

I give it 5 stars for two reasons - first, Theo Adam's Pizarro; second, Behrens' Leonora.
Theo Adam is simply electrifying as the verminous Don Pizarro. He is really hard to beat in this role.
Too many people compared Hildegard's portrayal of Fidelio with Ludwig, Jurinac, and lately, Mattila.
Well, Behrens offers a more lyrical rendition, so does her partner Peter Hofmann as Don Florestan.
If one tends to look at this couple as superhumans, I have nothing more to say.
But they aren't, though their bond and 'fidelity'(hence the title of the opera) to each other is noble and uplifting.
To cast them as superhumans would miss all the frailty and struggles that this couple has to go through in the main storyline. Hence I do not buy in the casting of 'big voices' in Florestan's role. Peter Hofmann, being chosen by Solti even before he did his recordings of Parsifal for Karajan and Tristan for Bernstein, is fully convincing as a dying prisoner savagely treated by a monster-like Pizarro. He evokes successfully the image of a severely wronged upright gentleman, being beaten to the point of near-death.
Behrens, as his wife, effectively brings out the feminity and astounding inner strength of Leonora, a noblewoman nonetheless, even though garbed
as a young man.
I don't have to tell you how much I detest the much more recent DVD on the same opera who put Karita Mattila in a more than masculine look as the heroine.