Prom 9 - 21.07.17: Beethoven – Fidelio

[Prommer]

At the Garden once I (quite truthfully) heard a disgruntled punter respond to Leonore 3 with a shout of "And meanwhile, back at the opera..." Bravo.

It is wonderful and exciting when done well; an overlong lacuna if not.

[Prommer]

It is wonderful and exciting when done well; an overlong lacuna if not.

I refer you to Klemperer at the ROH; Tennstedt at the Met...

[Bert Coules]

Didn't Klemperer actually direct a Fidelio at the Garden? I recall him saying in an interview that the curtain going up on a blaze of light after the gloom of the dungeon scene was made even more dramatic by sticking Leonora 3 between the two.

[Prommer]

He did, in 1961, when he conducted it to great acclaim (Leonore No.3 included). A cherished recording!

[Bert Coules]

Thanks for confirming that. I saw the production (again, under Davis, I think). Jon Vickers stunningly good as Florestan, the rest of the cast just a vague memory I'm afraid.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Thanks for confirming that. I saw the production (again, under Davis, I think). Jon Vickers stunningly good as Florestan, the rest of the cast just a vague memory I'm afraid.

Here you go, Bert:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fidelio-Klemperer-Covent-Garden-Orchestra/dp/B0000X81X0

[makropulos]

Thank you! I had half a thought that it was Davis but I wasn't certain, so it's good to have it confirmed. And what a splendid cast: seeing the details has brought it back to me. It was a blazing, exciting, highly dramatic evening - quite a contrast, sadly, to the extract I caught just now (though perhaps as I said I'm not being fair).

Interesting, and sad, that the Beeb archive listing credits the composer but not the librettists.

I went to that 1973 Fidelio as well - it was the first time I'd heard the whole opera and a really memorable evening.

[Bert Coules]

Here you go, Bert:

Hotter as Pizarro! Mine was a later revival, sadly; I've never seen Hotter on stage.

[Prommer]

Cannot find online the Klemp Leonore No.3 from Covent Garden as a taster for Bert, so here's Tennstedt instedt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVyiGkMeyyM

[Bert Coules]

Thanks, I enjoyed it. I'm not disputing that it's a good piece, but I am emphatically saying that it has no business interrupting the opera.

[Prommer]

It is not a random piece of music inserted as a filler: it is Leonore No.3!

In terms of Beethoven's development of a rather symphonic opera, it is rather important. Think of it as a long interlude or entr'acte (if that makes you feel any better!)

[Bert Coules]

It doesn't! Is there any evidence that Beethoven himself advocated the practice?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

It doesn't! Is there any evidence that Beethoven himself advocated the practice?

IIRC, it was Mahler who began the practice.

[David-G]

Thanks, I enjoyed it. I'm not disputing that it's a good piece, but I am emphatically saying that it has no business interrupting the opera.

It always strikes me as rather odd to be recapping the opera in the middle of the opera.

[David-G]

Thanks for confirming that. I saw the production (again, under Davis, I think). Jon Vickers stunningly good as Florestan, the rest of the cast just a vague memory I'm afraid.

I saw it in 1983 at CG with Davis and Vickers, and with Linda Esther Gray as Leonore. Vickers was memorable in every role that I saw him.