Beethoven: Fidelio

There seems to be something about Fidelio which inhibits passionate, straightforward productions of it, such as we had about 40 years ago. Perhaps our cynicism about all politicians makes its message of the possibility of universal brotherhood seem callow.

Our rating

3

Michael Beek

Published: January 20, 2012 at 4:31 pm

COMPOSERS: Beethoven
LABELS: Opus Arte
WORKS: Fidelio
PERFORMER: Melanie Diener, Roberto Saccà, Kre≥imir Straˇzanac, Lucio Gallo, Alfred Muff, Sandra Trattnigg, Christoph Strehl; Zurich Opera Chorus & Orch/Bernard Haitink; dir. Katharina Thalbach (Zurich, 2008)
CATALOGUE NO: OA 1023 D

There seems to be something about Fidelio which inhibits passionate, straightforward productions of it, such as we had about 40 years ago. Perhaps our cynicism about all politicians makes its message of the possibility of universal brotherhood seem callow.

This production from Zurich seems, to begin with, to be traditional; but then we notice that the characters are wearing clothes from different periods – no harm in that; and then, when the villain Pizzaro appears, he is dressed entirely in white, with double-breasted waistcoat, an eye-rolling gangster, and behaves with such absurdly exaggerated menace that the whole drama becomes, literally, a joke.

A pity, because there are some fine performances, especially from Roberto Saccà as Florestan, and for much of her role from Melanie Diener as Fidelio, though she can’t cope with all Beethoven’s vocal demands.

Haitink’s conducting is mostly staid, and he doesn’t get the Zurich orchestra to play as well as it can: the Leonore No. 3 Overture is given a laborious account. Michael Tanner

Reviews Editor, BBC Music Magazine

Michael is the Reviews Editor of BBC Music Magazine. He looks after the 26 pages of recording and book reviews in the magazine each month, deciding what will be reviewed – no easy task with so much being sent in for consideration! Michael joined the team in 2018, following ten years as a freelance film music journalist and fifteen years at St George's Bristol. Film and television music is his favourite thing, and when he’s not listening to things to be reviewed in the mag, Michael loves nothing more than to listen to the music of John Williams and James Horner – his favourite film composers. He was the Editor of MusicfromtheMovies.com and has written for the BBC Proms, BBC Concert Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Albert Hall, Hollywood in Vienna and Silva Screen Records. His favourite writing gigs so far have been programmes for each of the Doctor Who Proms, soundtrack album notes for Doctor Who – Series 4 and Torchwood – Children of Earth, plus programmes and features for live concert screenings of Jurassic Park, Gladiator, Back to the Future and Raiders of the Lost Ark. While he never got the chance to interview the late James Horner, Michael was delighted to spend an hour on the phone with John Williams for the 2020 Christmas issue of BBC Music Magazine. Also a presenter, Michael has hosted concerts and live events for Bristol Film Festival and St George's Bristol, plus Debbie Wiseman's ‘Music and Words from Wolf Hall’ shows at venues across the UK. Michael has worked regularly with Debbie Wiseman over the years, writing concert programmes and scripts (for Terry Wogan and Simon Bates) and producing her 2011 album Piano Stories.