Orchester der Oper Zurich - Fidelio

This is an effective production that seems a little underpowered at times -- the chorus is small, and Muff's Pizzaro is a bit hit-or-miss -- but the other principals do their work effectively. Nylund's Leonora is an avenging angel, much more chilly and desperate than Mattila, in the DG version with Levine and Heppner, but she makes it work, and she sings with security and feeling. Kaufmann's Florestan looks like a crucified Christ by Durer, and he too comes across well, if lacking the easy power and warmth of Heppner. Marzellina and Jacquino are engaging too, and I prefer this handling of Marcellina's disappointment in the final scene to the one in Levine's Met production, though the singing is fine in both cases. Polgar was fine as Rocco, but yields somewhat in emotional engagement to Levine's Rene Pape. Harnoncourt seemed a bit fussy at times -- do we really need the broad contrasts of dynamics and volume -- but the orchestral sound was fine. Levine's DG account gives the voices a tad more prominence, and I liked that, but this is a solid, engaging production in its own right, and the emotional climaxes ring true.

A heads-up. This is the same performance that's available packaged with Schumann's Genoveva and Weber's Der Freischutz, available right here on Amazon. Nicolaus Harnoncourt Opera Collection: Fidelio, Der Freischuetz & Genoveva [Blu-ray ]Strangely, this reincarnation of the recording has a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack whereas the packaged set offers only PCM stereo. Although on blu-ray, the performance is not in HD, it has been (re)formatted with an aspect ration of 16:9.Harnoncourt offers a bracing, sharply etched performance hampered only by the sluggish and imprecise Pizarro of Alfred Muff. The other principals are nothing short of terrific and even Muff, through all his bluster, manages to convey enough of the villainy of Pizarro to invite a certain tolerance for his obvious weaknesses. This is my first encounter with Camilla Nylund, whose Leonore is both visually and vocally impactful. Kaufmann is Kaufmann, the lyric-almost-helden-tenor of our age.

Was not familiar with the opera but figured anything by Beethoven would be wonderful and was it ever. Glorious singing.

This dvd is absolutely first rate with wonderful singing and near perfect interpretation of the music. I bought this disc when it first appeared about fifteen years ago and have loved it ever since. It features fantastic performances by Camilla Nylund, Laszio Polgar, and Jonas Kaufmann, under the secure guidance of conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt. The first time I watched this disc, I told my friends that I had just heard a fabulous tenor, some young guy named Kaufmann whose performance was simply astounding. I had not previously been aware of this singer, but told anyone who would listen that he had the potential to be a great Wagner tenor and a great interpreter of the most demanding Italian opera roles. His version of Florestan equaled that of the best performer I ever heard in this role, the great Jon Vickers. This disc is wonderful and I recommend it highly.

I thought that it would be helpful to start by pointing out that there are two blu-ray versions of Fidelio starring Jonas Kaufmann being released about now, which is bound to cause confusion! There is this Zürich version, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt and a Salzburg version conducted by Franz Welser-Möst.This version is not new, but a 2004 performance which has been available on DVD since 2005. It’s very much a mixed bag. Jonas Kaufmann as Florestan is, of course, superb, and, to me, his opening scene of Act 2 is worth the price of the blu-ray on its own. Camilla Nylund is good, but not outstanding, as Leonore, and Laszlo Polgar is good, if a bit wooden, as Rocco. The rest of the cast are not so good. Alfred Muff’s Pizarro is frankly dreadful – a mixture of shouting, wobbling and pantomime acting.The production is simple, but uninspiring. It’s been updated (I think) to around the time of the opera’s composition (roughly 1805-1814), but follows the traditional story, and includes the normal spoken dialogue. The direction of the singers isn’t up to much. The great dénouement is particularly clumsy and unconvincing – Pizarro would have stabbed Leonore long before she pulled out her anachronistic Wild-West style revolver.Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducts a generally lively performance, although there are a few oddities, such as the way he slows right down for “O namenlose Freude” – totally robbing it of its proper ecstatic quality.The sound and pictures are probably OK for a 2004 recording, but the pictures especially are not up to today’s standards. Technical details: LPCM 2.0ch 48kHz/24-bit and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 48kHz.This is certainly not a “great” performance, but it’s very interesting for Jonas-fans to have an example of his work before he became a global mega-star. I’m giving it three stars – all for Jonas.

Die Aufnahme mit Jonas Kaufmann ist wunderbar.

Great singing and sound. Nice visuals.

I didn't like not seeing Jonas Kaufmann standing in most of his scene.

La force et la musicalité de Harnoncourt et de tous les chanteurs qui font partie de cette representation nous donne une nouvelle experience de cette magnifique opera de Beethoven