Review: Beethoven’s Fidelio, Livestreamed from Leeds Town Hall

Saturday, December 12, 2020

THE prisoners at the heart of Beethoven’s only opera emerge from the stygian darkness of lockdown into bright sunlight. “Oh what joy! In the open air, freely to breathe again! The dungeon is a grave.” Their fervent chorus embodies one of the most powerful expressions of release in all music.

Opera North’s concert presentation of Fidelio was intended to be staged in front of a socially distanced audience limited to 250. Unfortunately the vagaries of Tier 3 necessitated a performance behind closed doors, but thanks to the technological wizardry of livestream this is now accessible on demand. More importantly, an auspicious musical event has been captured for posterity. Surely an emotionally charged occasion for the Opera North Orchestra, Chorus and principals taking part as this would be the first time they had all performed together since early March.

The Orchestra was paired down to just 33 players allowing for two-metre spacing between each one. Two dozen choristers were spaced across the orchestra risers and up to the organ pipes.

The freshness and vitality of this live performance under the masterly direction of conductor Mark Wigglesworth even filtered through the feeble speakers of my laptop to create an unmistakable frisson of excitement. Wigglesworth reveals his innate grasp of pacing and every member of his cast shines.

Dramatic soprano Rachel Nicholls is profoundly moving in the “trouser” role of Fidelio, a young man posing as a prison guard who is actually Leonore, wife of Florestan whom she has vowed to set free. The tenor Toby Spence wonderfully conveys Florestan’s range of emotions in his great aria Gott! welch’ Dunkel hier - God! What darkness here.

Nicholls as Leonore, soprano Fflur Wyn as Marzelline, bass Brindley Sherratt as Rocco the jailor, and tenor Oliver Johnston as Jacquino beautifully blend in their quartet Mir Ist So Wunderbar - A Wonderous Feeling fills Me. Baritone Robert Hayward is the villainous scowling Don Pizarro. Bass-baritone Matthew Stiff, as government minister Don Fernando, narrates the performance (in place of the spoken dialogue) and finally frees the prisoners.

The humanity of this great opera shines through in Opera North’s concert version. Yet again, creativity has triumphed over adversity.

Geoffrey Mogridge