AN EXCELLENT NEW FIDELIO

ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

The superb players of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra led by Marek Janowski shine in a new recording of Beethoven’s Fidelio (PENTATONE PTC5186880)

Janowski proves himself once more the ideal conductor of German opera, opening with a movingly eloquent reading of Beethoven’s Leonore Overture, and then drawing out a performance from his cast, chorus and orchestra rich in colors and attentive to textual details.

The cast features the plush voiced Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen as Leonore, who sings Abscheulicher! Wo eilst du hin? with unflappable aplomb, balancing lyricism and dramatic heft.

The resonant Christian Elsner as Florestan, the object of Lonore’s heroic search, rides with rock solid assurance the implacably difficult tessitura of his assignments in act II leading up to the reunion duet with his wife.

The other roles are filled to perfection by basses Georg Zeppenfeld, an impressive Rocco and Günther Groissböck, a noble Don Fernando.

Baritone Johannes Martin Kränzle is a menacing and well sung Don Pizzarro. The supple voiced Soprano Christina Landshamer as Marzelline and the ringing tenor Cornel Frey as Jaquino round out the cast.

Fidelio is the iconic rescue opera, celebrating love and courage in a fight against tyranny and injustice. PENTATONE’s release of Beethoven’s masterpiece was recorded in two studio sessions, with two superb choirs: the Sächsischer Staatsopernchor Dresden, and the MDR Leipzig Radio Choir. Both shine in the two great choral moments of this opera: the finale and the prisoner’s chorus.

The engineering and all the production details of this recording are uniformly excellent.

Rafael de Acha       ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Published by ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Rafael de Acha has enjoyed a distinguished career in the arts as a performer, stage director, producer, and educator. He was born and grew up in Cuba. At the age of 17 he moved to the United States to study Drama at the University of Minnesota, and later Languages at L.A. City College, Music at the Juilliard School of Music, at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, and at the New England Conservatory of Music, from which he received the Master's degree. He has taught courses on the History of Music at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and at Florida International University, and contributed writings and reviews to Seen and Heard International (www.seenandheard-international.com ) and to this blog. He co-founded the award-winning New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida, where he produced and staged twenty seasons of classical and contemporary theater, including fifty world premieres of plays that went on to have international and national productions on and off Broadway, including Ana in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz (Pulitzer Prize for Drama 2002 and Tony Nomination 2003.) In 2006 he was presented with a citation from The Dade County Cultural Affairs Council for “trailblazing contributions to the arts in South Florida.”