Fidelio - Review of 2025 Live From the Met Production

The Metropolitan Opera delivered a delectable production of Beethoven’s Fidelio from New York directly to a movie theatre near you and around the world. After seeing dozens of operas for more than a decade I am still pleasantly surprised every time to see a production on a big screen with marvelous acoustics and comfort. There are many advantages to seeing a transmission live from New York, but I will say more about it below.
The current production is a revival of a staging by Jurgen Flimm that was first seen in 2000. At times there is pressure to shelve the old for something new, but when it is good and fills the house, why bother?
The production has a first-rate cast starting with the lead role of Leonore who of course pretends to be Fidelio and disguised as a man works in a jail where her husband is held as a political prisoner. A very pregnant soprano Lise Davidsen brings a superb voice and acting ability to the role. She must hide her sex and her feelings, first, to avoid the love and marriage prospects to Marzelline, the warden Rocco’s daughter. (Don’t worry about the title) and when she sees her husband Florestan at the point of death in the hideous dungeon. Davidsen has the vocal range and beauty to do a superb job in the role.
Bass Rene Pape sang the role of Rocco in the 2000 production and many times since. In the first act it is a comic role with a twist where, as a father he wants to see his daughter marry Fidelio, the nice new worker, and he gives advice about the need for money. Rocco must stand his aground when he is told to kill Florestan, and his role becomes more serious. Pape has a fine bass voice and handles the role with aplomb.
We love his daughter Marzelline who is lively, pretty and in love. Soprano Ying Fang in the role must rebuff Jaquino, who is persistent to the point of becoming annoying in his marriage proposals. She wants to marry Fidelio, and we know where that is going. Fang has a sweet and agile voice that matches her physical quickness to give us a splendid Marzelline.
We feel sorry for the persistent and rebuffed Jaquino, but Flimm does provide hope for him. Tenor Magnus Dietrich handles the role of the rejected lover well.
We have the baddy Don Pizzaro who is crooked and vengeful and wants to liquidate Florestan. Tomasz Konieczny in a fine suit (it’s a modern dress production) looks like a bank manager but is quickly revealed as corrupt, remorseless and evil Pizarro who will stop at nothing to eliminate his enemy. Cringe.
The imprisoned Florestan (tenor David Butt Philip) for whom Leonore risks everything is the focal point of the opera, but he appears only in the second act (and changes the tenor of the opera completely) and he does have some tough arias to handle. As soon as he comes-to from near death Philip as Florestan, following a tense musical introduction, delivers “Gott! Welch’Dunkel Hier”. The aria demands range, stamina, power and expressiveness that approach heldentenor ability. Philip is not in that company, but he does sing the aria superbly.
The men of the Met Opera Chorus do their usual superb work as the prisoners. In the final scene the women join them when the prisoners are freed and are presumably joined by their families, including their children.
Susann Malkki conducted the Met Opera Orchestra with beautiful clarity. Robert Israel designed the set which shows two-stories of jail cells on the right with Rocco’s living area in the middle and entrances and exits for all on the left side.
The hosts of Live from the Met in HD for the movie theater audiences always remind us that seeing opera on a large screen is nothing compared to going to Lincoln Center or an opera house near you. There is truth in that but there are some advantages to seeing it on the large screen. The camera zeroes in on the orchestra during the overture and you get an excellent view of its orchestration as they focus on the instruments.
In the beginning Marzelline makes it clear that she does not want to marry Jaquino but in the last scene, during the celebration of the freeing of the prisoners, the camera, Live in HD Director Gary Halvorson shows us Jaquino and Marzelline being reconciled. We may not notice that and many other details in the opera house, least of all in the huge Lincoln Centre. In other words, there is much to be said for watching Live from the Met in a movie theatre.
Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven was shown Live in HD from the Met at select Cineplex theatres across Canada on March 15, 2025, and can be seen again in encore showings starting March 29, 2025. For more information go to:
www.cineplex.com/events

Scene from “Fidelio” at the Met. Photo: Karen Almond, Met Opera

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