Music / operafilm

Fidelio


Reviews (34)


MusicWeb international

2016 August

By

By

Terry Barfoot

2016 August

"Musically Kaufman does not disappoint ... And ... he is joined by a cast who work musically as a team, with Adrianne Pieczonka as his wife Leonore adding a special intensity ... With an excellent cast therefore, and with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Franz Welser-Möst, this Fidelio recorded live at the Salzburg Festival would on the face of it have much to recommend it ... However, this is a DVD issue, and unless you are one those very few opera lovers who likes to have each new performance reinterpreted by a director who is so intelligent that his vision and insights leave us other mere mortals behind, then this new version cannot be recommended".


Presto classical

2016

By

2016

"Claus Guth's strikingly experimental new production drew fervent reactions at its premiere at the 2015 Salzburg Festival. On an elegantly spartan set - suggestive of Freud's "salon of the unconscious" - the opera is reworked with amplified noises and ambient sounds substituting for the traditional dialogue and the inclusion of hand-signing doppelgangers who shadow some of the lead characters. "Jonas Kaufmann's gorgeously sung Florestan" (Financial Times) and Leonora - "triumphantly sung by Adrianne Pieczonka" (The Guardian/Observer) - masterfully execute Guth's conceptual exploration of the mind's ability to self-impose its own prison".


MusicWeb international

2022 March

By

By

Stephen Barber (musikanmelder)

2022 March

"Fidelio is certainly a great work but it is also a problematic one ... And then the two leading roles are very demanding ... This production had a rocky start. The great attractions were originally that Lise Davidsen would be singing her first Leonore, with Jonas Kaufmann as Florestan ... Kaufmann had to withdraw after the premiere ... Tobias Kratzer takes it upon himself to alter the action. He has not just abbreviated but rewritten the dialogue, with frequent changes to not only the meaning but also the action ... Anyway, despite the problematic staging, the performances are good. The strong cast is rightly dominated by the splendid Leonore of Lise Davidsen ... David Butt Philip is a satisfactory replacement for Kaufmann ... This is worth seeing for the excellent performances, particularly Lise Davidsen's Leonore".


Politiken

d. 9. Jan. 2007

By

By

Jan Jacoby

d. 9. Jan. 2007

"Naturalistisk iscenesættelse med respekt for angivet tid og sted og en noget tyndslidt lyd, hvor orkestret rykker i baggrunden for sangerne: Nej, små 30 år er ikke gået ubemærket hen over denne Fidelio, men det er en klassisk aftapning, der dårligt kan gøres bedre ... besat med førsterangs sangerskuespillere og en mesterdirigent, der tager idealisme og indignation dybt alvorligt uden at tabe blikket for åbningsscenernes lystspilagtige borgerlighed ... Ingen taknemmelig opera, men her er den både dybt tilfredsstillende og stærkt gribende som musikalsk båret skæbnedrama".


Jyllands-posten

d. 20. Dec. 2006

By

By

John Christiansen

d. 20. Dec. 2006

"Bernstein dirigerede i 1978 på Wiens Statsopera en serie legendariske opførelser af Beethovens frihedsopera Fidelio ... Der er en fantastisk kraftudstråling fra scenen og orkestergraven med Wiener Philharmoniker i topform. Man rives totalt med. Otto Schenks naturlige iscenesættelse giver plads for en række strålende præstationer af sangerskuespillere ... Det er Beethoven".


Kristeligt dagblad

d. 7. Mar. 2022

By

By

Peter Dürrfeld

d. 7. Mar. 2022

"Gott! Welch Dunkel hier! O grauenvolle Stille - sådan begynder anden akt af Beethovens eneste opera, Fidelio ... I dagens operaverden kommer man ofte ud for, at iscenesætteren ret hæmningsløst går sine egne veje - på bekostning af komponistens og librettistens intentioner eller, sagt på anden vis, autenticiteten. I en ny dvd fra Opus Arte er der hverken mørke eller stilhed i begyndelsen af anden akt ... Det er der givetvis en pointe med fra iscenesætteren Tobias Kratzers side, men jeg skal afholde mig fra gisninger herom ... Det er synd, for udgivelsen har ellers et stort plus i den stoute norske sopran Lise Davidsen, der både vokalt og scenisk er en fin Leonore/Fidelio".


Jyllands-posten

d. 30. May 2007

By

By

John Christiansen

d. 30. May 2007


Kristeligt dagblad

d. 29. Nov. 2006

By

By

Bernhard Lewkovitch

d. 29. Nov. 2006

"En prægtig indspilning og stort set ulastelig som fotograferet operateater ... Kendetegnende for Bernstein er hele det vidt udspændte musikalske billede som sat op som med knappenåle, gennnemtænkt og virkende i kraft af den præcise instruktion i enhver tænkelig henseende ... Og så er der altså Gundula Janowitz som Leonora, som trods alt stjæler billedet totalt såvel med sit ydre og ikke mindst med sin stemme, og her må alle øvrige medvirkende affinde sig med en plads bag hende".


Jyllands-posten

d. 17. Feb. 2004

By

d. 17. Feb. 2004


Jyllands-posten

d. 4. Jan. 2008

By

By

John Christiansen

d. 4. Jan. 2008


Jyllands-posten

d. 28. May 2008

By

By

John Christiansen

d. 28. May 2008


Diapason

2016 octobre

By

By

Emmanuel Dupuy

2016 octobre


Fono Forum

2006 Februar

By

By

Ekkehard Pluta

2006 Februar

"Otto Schenk inzeniert, wie vom ihn gewohnt, "frisch von der Leber weg" ohne Fragen and das Stück zu stellen ... Gundula Janowitz spielt die Titelrolle sehr glaubwürdig und singt sie Respekt gebietend ... René Kollo ... meistert die heikle Kerkerarie ohne Mühe. Eine herausragende Leistung bietet Lucia Popp als Marzelline"".


Operabladet Ascolta

(2007) 25. årgang nr. 6

By

By

Henrik Marcussen

(2007) 25. årgang nr. 6

"Det kunstneriske niveau er meget højt ikke mindst via det elektriske spændingsfelt, som Bernstein tilføjer ... Bernstein og hans fantastiske sangere kommer her meget tæt på Beethovens hensigt med Fidelio som en hyldest til friheden og medmenneskeligt sammenhold".


Diapason

2009 Juin

By

By

Rémy Louis

2009 Juin


BBC music magazine

2009 August

By

By

Michael Tanner (musikanmelder)

2009 August

"The production, by Pier'Alli, is straightforward, though the setting, on a vast scale, is sometimes hard to work out ... The largely veteran cast give their all ... I was enthralled".


BBC music magazine

2022 March

By

By

George Hall (musikanmelder)

2022 March

"The production itself is a controversial one ... Few complaints about the musical performance, which is distinguished from the point of view of Covent Garden's chorus and orchestra as well as conductor Antonio Pappano, who brings dignity and dynamism to his task. Lise Davidsen makes an ideal Leonore, perfectly matched by the shining tone of her tenor partner".


Diapason

2022 novembre

By

By

Emmanuel Dupuy

2022 novembre


Klassisk

2022, nr. 65

By

By

Jeppe Rönnow

2022, nr. 65

"Instruktøren udstiller os alle sammen i Beethovens "Fidelio" ... For pludselig er rammen skiftet fra første akts 1800-tals kostumer og kulisser til vor egen tid i anden akt, hvor koret nu sidder i pænt koncertgængertøj omkring den fængslede Florestan. De er det passive mindertal, som ikke reagerer, når uretfærdigheden finder sted lige foran deres øjne ... Den 42-årige tyske instruktør Tobias Kratzer vil gerne twiste handlingen, og det virker ... Lise Davidsen synger og spiller en stærk og mangefacetteret Fidelio ... George Zeppenfeld, Marzellines far Rocco, skal også fremhæves for sin indlevende basbaryton, ligesom ... Amanda Forsythe (Marzelline) især må komplimenteres for sit skuespil".


Klassisk

2010, nr. 18

By

By

Mikael Garnæs

2010, nr. 18

"Jürgen Flimm understreger det brutale miljø, som operaen fremhæver, og slutningens optimistiske utopi får bestemt ikke love til at stå uden forbehold ... Harnoncourt skaber en spændende klangdramaturgi ... Der spilles slankt og fleksibelt, så nuancerne kommer frem og sangstemmerne får lov at slappe af ... Det hjælper også med en fornem sangerbesætning ... En spændende og anbefalelsesværdig Fidelio".


Operabladet Ascolta

(2006) 24. årgang nr. 5

By

By

Henrik Marcussen

(2006) 24. årgang nr. 5

"Det var en rigtig god aften i Opernhaus Zürich. Højspændt aften med fyrig dirigent ... scenisk formet i overensstemmelse med tidsperioden ... nøgleordet dysterhed understreget af fængselslivets barskhed ... Det vokal niveau er gennemgående stærkt med en meget overbevisende Camilla Nylund".


Fono Forum

2016 September

By

By

Manuel Brug

2016 September

"Wieder mal anödende, gar nicht neue Experiment, Fidelio ohne die ebenfalls nicht sonderlich gelungenen Dialoge zu geben".


The gramophone

2016 Awards

By

By

Hugo Shirley

2016 Awards

"This Fidelio was among the high-profile offerings at the 2015 Salzburg Festival. Jonas Kaufmann led the cast with the excellent Adrianne Pieczonka as Leonore ... What could go wrong? Quite a lot, in fact ... Guth does away with all the dialogue, replacing it with portentous recordings of heavy breathing and nervous mutterings ... There aren't really many musical compensations, either ... Franz Welser-Möst's conducting is brusquely efficient, while the Vienna Philharmonic hardly excel themselves".


BBC music magazine

2016 October

By

By

Michael Tanner (musikanmelder)

2016 October

"This is a great musical performance of Beethoven's sublime opera, hitched to a production which sets new standards, if that's possible, of irrelevance, impertinence and directional conceit. My advice for Fidelio-lovers is to watch it once, then to listen to it often. The conducting of Franz Welzer-Möst is on the highest level ... Jonas Kaufmann is a magnificent Florestan ... and Adrienne Pieczonka a heroic Fidelio ... There isn't a weak link in the cast - this is the finest new Fidelio I have heard for years".

Vurdering (music): 5/5.

Vurdering (production): 1/5.

Vurdering (picture & sound): 4/5.


Jyllands-posten

d. 30. July 2007

By

By

John Christiansen

d. 30. July 2007


Kristeligt dagblad

d. 14. June 2004

By

d. 14. June 2004


Operabladet Ascolta

(2004) 22. årgang nr. 5

By

(2004) 22. årgang nr. 5


BBC music magazine

2004 March

By

By

Alan Blyth

2004 March

"Another disappointingly updated version, somewhat redeemed by a dedicated cast ... James Levine conducts a crisp account of the score, but not a particularly grand or spiritual one".


Jyllands-posten

d. 30. July 2007

By

By

John Christiansen

d. 30. July 2007


Fono Forum

2009 September

By

By

T. U.

2009 September

"Scheint ihm in szenishcer Hinsicht ein Selbstläufer zu sein ... Die Sänger sind sich weitgehend selbst überlassen".

Vurdering (Szene): 2/5.

Vurdering (Musik): 3/5.


The gramophone

2022 June

By

By

Hugo Shirley

2022 June

"Editor's choice: It's a moving document in many ways ... German director Tobias Kratzer's production received mixed reviews ... With a second viewing on screen, though, it proves more effective and coherent, with Rhodri Huw's video direction revealing a great deal of telling detail ... There's still plenty of focus on the main characters, though, not least with Davidsen's wonderful Leonore, touchingly acted and superbly sung, her voice sound gloriously rich and youthful both at full power and in moments of tenderness. It's a magnificent performance. But Philip is outstanding too. His Florestan is technically supreme, his tenor firm and controlled ... For a musically excellent Fidelio married to a thought-provoking, challenging production, this can be safely recommended".


Fono Forum

2022 März

By

By

Manuel Brug

2022 März

"Atmosphärisch, dabei vorgeblich ganz altmodisch erzählt Tobias Kratzer unter Antonio Pappanos feinfarbig flutender Leitung die 'Fidelio'-Vorgeschichte ... Lichtfigur ist hier schon Leonore, weil Lise Davidsen in diesem eindrücklichen Rollendebüt leichte, starke Höhen offenbart ... Florestan liegt auf einem Dreckhaufen, David Butt Philip kämpft sich trotzdem gestaltungssicher durch seine Arie, mit langen Schwelltönen und guter Attacke".


Operabladet Ascolta

(2005) 24. årgang nr. 2

By

(2005) 24. årgang nr. 2