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Uneven Performances in Beethoven’s Heroic ‘Fidelio’

Despite The Metropolitan Opera’s stirring cast and chorus, several elements failed in March 12th performance.
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Uneven Performances in Beethoven’s Heroic ‘Fidelio’
The cast of Beethoven's "Fidelio," with Lise Davidsen (C) as Leonora. The Metropolitan Opera
Raymond Beegle
Updated:

NEW YORK—Time is our greatest critic. Out of the thousands of operas written from the Renaissance to the present day, only a hundred or so have survived and make up the standard repertoire we hear in the major theaters. Of this number, most were commissioned and only a few were written purely out of inspiration.

Beethoven’s “Fidelio” is the greatest among them, as the composer was deeply moved by the true story of a political prisoner saved by a faithful young wife who disguised herself as a boy, worked in that prison, and managed his escape.  The Metropolitan Opera went to great trouble and expense to hire the world’s most celebrated artists and tried its best to deliver the superlative performance the piece deserves.

The Conductor and Orchestra

Despite a brilliant cast of singers there were many difficulties in this production. Conductor Susanna Malkki presided over an orchestra that did not give her its best. From the outset both brass and strings had intonation problems and made ragged entrances, and, throughout, the entire orchestra rarely played as a unified ensemble.
Raymond Beegle
Raymond Beegle
Author
Raymond Beegle has performed as a collaborative pianist in the major concert halls of the United States, Europe, and South America; has written for The Opera Quarterly, Classical Voice, Fanfare Magazine, Classic Record Collector (UK), and The New York Observer. Beegle has served on the faculty of the State University of New York–Stony Brook, the Music Academy of the West, and the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. He taught in the chamber music division of the Manhattan School of Music for 31 years.