There is definitely a place in the catalog for a recording of Beethoven’s Fidelio in English–particularly one starring the spectacular dramatic soprano Christine Brewer–but this isn’t it. To make a long story short, this set is one of the few I’ve ever come across that David Parry has conducted poorly. He stresses the singspiel, Classical aspects of the score to the detriment of the very crucial Romantic expression, and what we get is a rather bland performance. The singers speak their own dialog, but they seem to think that whispering (in an acoustic different from the one their sung music is recorded in) equals drama. In fact, the diversity of accents and lack of affect are nothing more than distracting; Peter Wedd’s Jaquino sounds Oxfordian (he sings well, by the way). In addition, the translation is not flattering: What would be wrong with Florestan’s original “Oh, my Leonora!” before the Prison Scene’s final duet? What improvement does “You incomparable woman” make, other than to make Florestan seem detached and priggish? There are worse transgressions and awkwardnesses, by the way, but they’re not worth examining.
Concerning the singing: Robert Lloyd attempts to bring some color to Rocco and he occasionally succeeds, his voice still a viable instrument; Pavlo Hunka sings Pizarro splendidly, spitting out the text with venom; Rebecca Evans is a lovely, expressive Marzellina. As suggested above, Brewer’s Leonora is dynamite–big and bold, well acted, tonally alluring and fearless, confident from top to bottom. Richard Margison sings here the way he does in the opera house–with great security and ease at all levels, and, unfortunately, in an all-purpose manner. His opening cry in the dungeon scene is a whisper–not an altogether incorrect interpretation considering Florestan has been languishing for two years–and he sings well at all dynamic levels. But he is completely unmoving. I can think of many more interesting and human Florestans without trying, starting with Jon Vickers and Julius Patzak, adding Ben Heppner and Torsten Ralf, moving through James King and René Kollo, and landing, if I had to, on Jan Peerce. What else to say? Orchestra and chorus play and sing well. This is a disappointment. Let’s lobby for a new, other, Christine Brewer Leonore.
