Beethoven's "Fidelio" is no ordinary opera. This tale of a
heroic woman, Leonore, who, disguised as a man ("Fidelio"),
works as a jailor's assistant in order to free her unjustly
imprisoned husband, is a timeless monument to those who fight
tyranny and oppression. "Fidelio" requires a conductor with a
strong concept, along with singers who can negotiate Beethoven's
near-superhuman demands. This live performance from the 2010
Lucerne Festival fills the bill in just about every way,
starting at the top with conductor Claudio Abbado, whose command
of fortitude and drama is evident in the first bars of the
Overture, and builds with the unfolding of the plot. He
underpins the high-powered vocalism of his A-level cast with
multi-layered instrumental nuance, and makes the little
throwaway march that introduces the villain Pizarro into a
highlight not to be missed.
His cast is about as good as
might be assembled in this generation. Nina Stemme's sumptuous
soprano inhabits the title role with gorgeous sound that puts
meaning into every word and phrase. She is matched by
the handsome-sounding Florestan of supertenor Jonas Kaufmann,
whose spectacular crescendo from a wisp of sound to a fortissimo
on his opening word of invocation (Gott!") makes it hard to
believe ones ears. His aria that follows is heartbreaking, and
in the grueling hallucinatory "freedom" section, right on the
mark with stamina and ring. The remainder of the cast
is similarly exemplary, and the finale -- an ode to joy not
unlike that in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony -- exhilarating to the
very last note.
