Beethoven: Fidelio

There is much to recommend this performance of Beethoven’s Fidelio, recorded in clean mono sound. Karl Böhm was an immensely experienced conductor of this opera, and his account of the Leonore No. 3 Overture is thrilling. He takes most of the score at a good lick, though sometimes to the point of rushing. Jon Vickers, in one of his first Florestans, is in uneven voice, but committed. Birgit Nilsson makes an exciting Fidelio, and the rest of the cast are at least adequate, with the exception of Oskar Czerwenka’s rusty-voiced Rocco. Michael Tanner

Our rating

4

Michael Tanner

Published: January 20, 2012 at 4:39 pm

COMPOSERS: Beethoven
LABELS: Sony
WORKS: Fidelio
PERFORMER: Birgit Nilsson, Jon Vickers, Hermann Uhde, Oskar Czerwenka, Laurel Hurley, Charles Anthony, Giorgio Tozzi; The Metropolitan Opera & Chorus/Karl Böhm
CATALOGUE NO: Sony 88697853092

There is much to recommend this performance of Beethoven’s Fidelio, recorded in clean mono sound. Karl Böhm was an immensely experienced conductor of this opera, and his account of the Leonore No. 3 Overture is thrilling. He takes most of the score at a good lick, though sometimes to the point of rushing. Jon Vickers, in one of his first Florestans, is in uneven voice, but committed. Birgit Nilsson makes an exciting Fidelio, and the rest of the cast are at least adequate, with the exception of Oskar Czerwenka’s rusty-voiced Rocco. Michael Tanner

Michael Tanner

Journalist and Critic, BBC Music Magazine

Michael Tanner is a critic for BBC Music Magazine and the opera critic of The Spectator. He is now a fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, having lectured in the Philosophy faculty at the University of Cambridge for 36 years. In 2010, he released The Faber Pocket Guide to Wagner.
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