Fidelio’s story of an enslaved freedom fighter who
experiences liberation through love sounds as if it could have
been written in our present time. Beethoven’s unforgettable
music may be two centuries old, and the conceit of a woman whose
disguise as a man escapes the recognition of her potential bride
and father-in-law may be as incredibly operatic as they come,
but the passion and humanity with which Claudio Abbado conducts
the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Arnold Schoenberg Chor, and a
sterling cast has the power to bring you to tears.
Abbado
believes in Beethoven’s music with all his heart and soul. His
intro to and pacing of the radiant opening quartet, “Mir ist so
wunderbar” (Such wonder fills my breast, I feel my heart must
burst), is so loving, gentle, and sublime that it brings to mind
the most magical of Mozart’s operatic ensembles. Leonore’s great
solo scene and her prisoner husband Florestan’s equally moving
second act opener both grip us not just because they are
wonderful pieces of music, marvelously sung here by Nina Stemme
and Jonas Kaufmann, but because they are framed and supported
with such emotional immediacy. The final scene of recognition,
rescue, and redemption transcends all artifice to serve as a
profound spiritual rite of passage.
Kaufmann
uses every tone at his disposal to express passion, pain, and
ultimate liberation. His “Gott! Welch Dunkel hier! ... In des
Lebens Frühlingstagen” (God! What darkness here! ... In the
springtime of my life) begins with a flawless swell from
pianissimo to double forte. As impressive as that may be, what
elevates it from superb technique to high art is the way
Kaufmann transitions from the husky, covered tones of an
enslaved, starving prisoner to the gleaming sound of someone
crying for his love, conveying the emotion of the moment. His
spoken dialogue is equally convincing.
Although
Stemme’s almost uncontainable passion translates on record as a
bit of unsteadiness, and the microphones cover too much of her
glorious tone, the triumphant climax of her great
“Abscheulicher! ... Komm, Hoffnung” (Loathsome monster ... Come,
Hope) gleams like a blade cutting through steel bars. She gets
steadier as the opera progresses, and delivers dialogue as vital
as Kaufmann’s. Christof Fischesser (performing Rocco) may be out
of his element as a speaker, yet his singing is extremely
beautiful and filled with humanity. Nor can I slight the
contributions of Peter Mattei (Don Fernando), Falk Struckmann
(Don Pizarro), Rachel Harnisch (Marzelline), and Chrisoph Strehl
(Jaquino).
Operaphiles whose shelves are already sagging
under the weight of multiple versions of Christa Ludwig’s
Leonore, Jon Vickers’ Florestan, and the two live recordings
from Furtwängler (featuring Flagstad and Patzak/Mödl and
Windgassen) may wonder whether there’s reason enough to purchase
this live document (with no audience noise, as strange as that
may seem). Thanks to Abbado and Kaufmann, the answer is a
resounding “yes.” As in their Decca aria recital with the Mahler
Chamber Orchestra, their musicianship is of the highest order.
