Ludwig van Beethoven: Fidelio, Welsh National Opera, New Theatre Oxford, 1 December 2010.
An advantage of making a Group Booking for opera at the New Theatre is that, apart from the discount available, it is possible to reserve the best seats at the time booking opens but without committing payment until two months before the performance. An added bonus, tested for the first time on this occasion, is the possibility of ordering refreshments, including the perfect honey and ginger ice-cream, to be delivered to the seat in the interval – it worked! A quandary is presented, however, if, as on this occasion, the reviews were so uniformly bad, that it is tempting to call it off. Fortunately we did not. Despite the failings mainly of the direction, analysed below, the magic was there. Fidelio came over as what it is, more than an opera, as a great hymn to humanity, freedom and the power of love.
The story of the opera will be familiar to most readers. Leonore disguised as Fidelio has obtained employment in the household of Rocco, gaoler in a prison where she believes her husband Florestan to be incarcerated by his enemy its governor Don Pizzaro. In Act I, scenes of domesticity, where Marzelline, Rocco’s daughter repels the advances of her suitor Jaquino, a porter, having fallen for Fidelio, are interrupted by the arrival of the governor demanding Rocco’s assistance in the murder of Florestan. In Act II, Leonore follows Rocco down to the dungeon to prepare a grave for Florestan, where she intervenes to save his life, just before the arrival of an inspecting minister Don Fernando who arrests Don Pizzaro and frees the prisoners; a final scene combines the reactions of the individual protagonists with a great chorus of praise from the prisoners and the people
We feared the worst on seeing the scene set for Act I featuring a dominating steel- barred cage filling half the stage but these fears were swept aside as soon as the orchestra started to play the Fidelio overture (with an outstanding solo horn). Under the baton of WNO’s Music Director Lothar Koenigs the orchestra played throughout with tremendous symphonic sweep, reminding us that on occasions like this it can beat any opera orchestra in the world. The music has rarely sounded so exciting; while the singing was good this performance was deserving of the greatest cast. The orchestra provided excellent and flattering support for the singers but at no point did the singers break through to soar over it, as they should. The casting was interesting: to me outstanding was the Marzalline of Elizabeth Donovan whose clear pure voice seemed less dependent on orchestral support; Robin Tritschler as Jaquino and James Cresswell (Rocco) gave adequate performances. Lisa Milne as Leonore gave of her best in a moving performance but was hampered by her tight fitting costume and by her direction, as will become clear. Florestan and Don Pizzaro were played by WNO veterans Dennis O’Neill and Phillip Joll. O’Neill was impressive at the start of Act II but his voice showed signs of strain in the finale; Joll was in good voice and gave a chilling performance. The Don Fernando of Quentin Hayes lacked authority. But to be fair, all the voices made their contribution to the heart-stopping cadences and modulations of Beethoven’s score.
I remarked, as I left the theatre, that I was prepared to name and shame those responsible for the direction, the set designs and the lighting. On return home, able to read the small print of the programme, I discovered these were one and the same person, Director Giuseppe Frigoni, the production originally staged by Opéra National de Bordeaux. In his apologia, printed in the programme, he says ‘I want to help the audience understand the music and I give visual clues -…. - to help the audience interpret the music’. Apart from the patronising arrogance of this remark, how is the audience helped by a descent into the dungeon to dig a grave without a shovel, by offering Florestan bread with empty hands and intervening to save his life unarmed? What is the purpose in the first act of all the fidgeting with candelabra? But these are minor irritations compared to the major misjudgements of the moving prison bars and the associated abrupt changes in the black and white illumination, not to mention the appearance on stage, in the dungeon, of the trumpeter heralding the arrival of Don Fernando blowing his fanfare right into the ear of Don Pizzaro. The job of the director is to produce visual imagery which enhances the music and the text. In my view Fidelio cries out for a naturalistic representation, as in the 2001 Glyndebourne production in which Lisa Milne played Marzelline. On the other hand ‘helping the audience interpret the music…’ could describe the job of the surtitle writer, in this case intelligently undertaken by Simon Rees, though such was the clarity of the singers’ diction that for anyone with a smattering of German they were unnecessary.
In the end, it was Beethoven, the orchestra and the singers who triumphed. To answer the question I always pose: our enjoyment of the performance was in spite of the production. Despite its many outstanding successes, Welsh National Opera is occasionally injudicious in its choice of director.
An advantage of making a Group Booking for opera at the New Theatre is that, apart from the discount available, it is possible to reserve the best seats at the time booking opens but without committing payment until two months before the performance. An added bonus, tested for the first time on this occasion, is the possibility of ordering refreshments, including the perfect honey and ginger ice-cream, to be delivered to the seat in the interval – it worked! A quandary is presented, however, if, as on this occasion, the reviews were so uniformly bad, that it is tempting to call it off. Fortunately we did not. Despite the failings mainly of the direction, analysed below, the magic was there. Fidelio came over as what it is, more than an opera, as a great hymn to humanity, freedom and the power of love.
The story of the opera will be familiar to most readers. Leonore disguised as Fidelio has obtained employment in the household of Rocco, gaoler in a prison where she believes her husband Florestan to be incarcerated by his enemy its governor Don Pizzaro. In Act I, scenes of domesticity, where Marzelline, Rocco’s daughter repels the advances of her suitor Jaquino, a porter, having fallen for Fidelio, are interrupted by the arrival of the governor demanding Rocco’s assistance in the murder of Florestan. In Act II, Leonore follows Rocco down to the dungeon to prepare a grave for Florestan, where she intervenes to save his life, just before the arrival of an inspecting minister Don Fernando who arrests Don Pizzaro and frees the prisoners; a final scene combines the reactions of the individual protagonists with a great chorus of praise from the prisoners and the people
We feared the worst on seeing the scene set for Act I featuring a dominating steel- barred cage filling half the stage but these fears were swept aside as soon as the orchestra started to play the Fidelio overture (with an outstanding solo horn). Under the baton of WNO’s Music Director Lothar Koenigs the orchestra played throughout with tremendous symphonic sweep, reminding us that on occasions like this it can beat any opera orchestra in the world. The music has rarely sounded so exciting; while the singing was good this performance was deserving of the greatest cast. The orchestra provided excellent and flattering support for the singers but at no point did the singers break through to soar over it, as they should. The casting was interesting: to me outstanding was the Marzalline of Elizabeth Donovan whose clear pure voice seemed less dependent on orchestral support; Robin Tritschler as Jaquino and James Cresswell (Rocco) gave adequate performances. Lisa Milne as Leonore gave of her best in a moving performance but was hampered by her tight fitting costume and by her direction, as will become clear. Florestan and Don Pizzaro were played by WNO veterans Dennis O’Neill and Phillip Joll. O’Neill was impressive at the start of Act II but his voice showed signs of strain in the finale; Joll was in good voice and gave a chilling performance. The Don Fernando of Quentin Hayes lacked authority. But to be fair, all the voices made their contribution to the heart-stopping cadences and modulations of Beethoven’s score.
I remarked, as I left the theatre, that I was prepared to name and shame those responsible for the direction, the set designs and the lighting. On return home, able to read the small print of the programme, I discovered these were one and the same person, Director Giuseppe Frigoni, the production originally staged by Opéra National de Bordeaux. In his apologia, printed in the programme, he says ‘I want to help the audience understand the music and I give visual clues -…. - to help the audience interpret the music’. Apart from the patronising arrogance of this remark, how is the audience helped by a descent into the dungeon to dig a grave without a shovel, by offering Florestan bread with empty hands and intervening to save his life unarmed? What is the purpose in the first act of all the fidgeting with candelabra? But these are minor irritations compared to the major misjudgements of the moving prison bars and the associated abrupt changes in the black and white illumination, not to mention the appearance on stage, in the dungeon, of the trumpeter heralding the arrival of Don Fernando blowing his fanfare right into the ear of Don Pizzaro. The job of the director is to produce visual imagery which enhances the music and the text. In my view Fidelio cries out for a naturalistic representation, as in the 2001 Glyndebourne production in which Lisa Milne played Marzelline. On the other hand ‘helping the audience interpret the music…’ could describe the job of the surtitle writer, in this case intelligently undertaken by Simon Rees, though such was the clarity of the singers’ diction that for anyone with a smattering of German they were unnecessary.
In the end, it was Beethoven, the orchestra and the singers who triumphed. To answer the question I always pose: our enjoyment of the performance was in spite of the production. Despite its many outstanding successes, Welsh National Opera is occasionally injudicious in its choice of director.