COMPOSERS: Beethoven
LABELS: Mondo Musica
WORKS: Fidelio
PERFORMER: Jon Frederic West, Eva-Maria Bundschuh, La Fenice Orchestra & Chorus/Isaac Karabtchevsky
CATALOGUE NO: MFON 20141
This performance is not going to challenge any of the other versions on disc. Most of the supporting cast are perfectly adequate, but Jon Fredric West’s too-pronounced vibrato detracts from a sensitively sung Florestan, and Eva-Maria Bundschuh’s Leonore resolutely fails to come to life. Charles Osborne
Beethoven: Fidelio
This performance is not going to challenge any of the other versions on disc. Most of the supporting cast are perfectly adequate, but Jon Fredric West’s too-pronounced vibrato detracts from a sensitively sung Florestan, and Eva-Maria Bundschuh’s Leonore resolutely fails to come to life. Charles Osborne
Our rating
2