The real star of this performance of Beethoven's Fidelio is
the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, in whose hands the music seems
to glow from within. The playing is thrilling throughout, with
Claudio Abbado caressing every detail of Beethoven's score,
occasionally relaxing the tempo fractionally for a moment of
heightened emotion, but never at the expense of the music's
overall sweep and momentum. The Arnold Schoenberg Choir rises to
the occasion, too, producing hushed singing of great beauty in
the Act I prisoners' chorus, and an overwhelming sense of joy in
the opera's final scene. Tenor Jonas Kaufmann is a
commanding Florestan. His opening phrase as he lies in the
depths of the dungeons is spine-tingling. However,
soprano Nina Stemme's account of the role of Leonore is less of
a success: her singing is unfocused, and it's hard to make out
her words.
It's unfortunate, too, that the spoken
dialogue has been so severely pruned, and that what remains of
it has largely been rewritten. Joseph Sonnleithner's libretto is
no literary masterpiece, but much of the essential dramatic
information it imparts is missing here. And if nothing else, the
dialogue provides welcome breathing space between the musical
numbers, which here follow each other with undue haste.
Nevertheless, with its orchestral contribution, Abbado's
conducting and a generally strong cast, this is a Fidelio that
has much to offer.
