Beethoven Fidelio

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Beethoven Fidelio (1978)

Directed by Otto Schenk

“Pretty darn close to having”

Music · 2h 27m

This production is a gala affair; the sets are traditional (evocative of 18th-19th century Spain); the lighting is bright, so colors are good and one can see all of the action. Singers are generally well chosen and perform admirably. However, at this point, slight reservations creep in; although Janowitz (Fidelio/Leonore) and Kollo (Florestan) look "good" and act well, the singing parts tax them a bit when pushed to the limit. Most of the time that doesn't matter, and an argument can be made that a little vocal strain is in character with their dire plight. Ideally, for me, Vickers as Florestan would have added extra vocal heft and more sensitive acting than Kollo.

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Cast

Gundula Janowitz Leonora René Kollo Florestan
M
Manfred Jungwirth Rocco Hans Sotin Don Pizarro Lucia Popp Marzelline
A
Adolf Dallapozza Jaquino
H
Hans Helm Fernando
K
Karl Terkal 1er Gefangener Alfred Šramek 2e Gefangener Leonard Bernstein Conductor
O
Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper

Crew

Director
Otto Schenk

Details

Release date
1978-11-04
Runtime
2h 27m
Genres
Music
Original language
DE
Spoken languages
German
Countries
Germany
Production
Deutsche Grammophon