Until the fat lady dunks Nov 18, 2008
"It's the 'Fidelio,' " Marc said ... Beethoven wrote it in the early 19th century, and since then there have been many other "Fidelios," the Portland Opera's being one, and if I said I went to see "Fidelio" instead of "the Fidelio," well, that'd be like suggesting the dramatic tenor and the lyric tenor could magically switch roles, and that's crazy ... The "Fidelio" was Marc's suggestion. (OregonLive, OR -- Living)
Obituaries in the news Nov 16, 2008
She was also famed for her roles in Beethoven's "Fidelio" and in productions of works by Wagner and Verdi. Goltz was part of the Vienna State Opera ensemble from 1950 until she retired in 1970. (Anchorage Daily News)
The Air This Week Oct 14, 2008
11 p.m. Paavo Jarvi/Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra: Beethoven "Fidelio" Overture and "Emperor" Concerto (Sevarin von Eckardstein), Bartok Concerto for Orchestra (KWAX). midnight Milwaukee Symphony (KBPS). (Boston Globe)
Richard Monette, 64 Sep 13, 2008
He won a Dora Mavor Moore Award for his production of Saint Joan at Theatre Plus in 1990 and he ventured into opera when he directed Beethoven's Fidelio for Brian Dickie at the Canadian Opera Company the following year. He served as an associate director of the festival from 1988 to 1990 and artistic director of the Citadel Theatre Young Company in Edmonton in 1989. (Globe and Mail -- Entertainment)
Boston Chamber Music Society Beethoven festival ends on autumnal note Aug 27, 2008
But the Andante cantabile variations were the highlight: deep, still, and luminous, reminiscent of the most quietly empathetic moments of Beethoven's opera "Fidelio." It was an autumnal benediction to the summer series, the oft-stereotyped Romantic-heroic Beethoven attuned to nature, and human nature, in all its seasons. Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company. (Boston Globe)
Opera favourites for next year, Bliss comes later Aug 15, 2008
The Sydney Morning Herald: national, world, business, entertainment, sport and technology news from Australia's leading newspaper. Bryce HallettAugust 15, 2008. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Opera enthusiasts travel to see critically acclaimed performances May 2, 2008
In early 2005, he saw Beethoven's "Fidelio" performed at Chicago's Lyric Opera, then flew to Atlanta a few months later to compare it to the Atlanta Opera's production. "I was very impressed with the staging in Atlanta," he said. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Travel)
Complex operas sometimes hit low notes Apr 3, 2008
" As for the heroics of Mr. Walker singing and conducting from the pit? Neither Mr. Hahn or Mr. Driscoll has ever heard of that happening before. "I have heard several times singers singing from the side of the stage, but not conductors," said Mr. Driscoll. In fact, the former happened at the Benedum in 2005 when soprano Jane Eaglen sang while Susan Marie Pierson acted on stage in the Pittsburgh Opera's production of "Fidelio. " "Under 5 percent of conductors have professional voices good... (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA)
[REVIEW] LSO, chorus deliver wonderful performance Mar 31, 2008
The concert began with the Overture to Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven. The overture is a lovely and brief work that served well to warm up both the audience and orchestra. (Lima News, OH)
LSO pairs with Lima Symphony Chorus for concertPosted 4 hours, 36 minutes ago. Mar 28, 2008
First on the schedule will be the overture to the opera Fidelio, written by Ludwig van Beethoven. Fidelio was Beethoven s only opera, Sroufe said. (Lima News, OH)
Willamette Concert Opera Mar 19, 2008
Lebanon Express: Calendar. Welcome to the Lebanon-Express. (Lebanon Express, OR)
Finnish soprano Karita Mattila brings Puccini heroine back to the Met after 18-year absence Jan 30, 2008
Mattila, a Finnish soprano, is a familiar presence at the Met, notable for her thrilling upper register and her emotionally intense portrayals of characters as diverse as Leonore in Beethoven's "Fidelio" and the title roles in Janacek's "Jenufa" and Richard Strauss' "Salome.". Manon Lescaut is an interesting addition to her gallery of strong female personalities, but although she has had success in the part in Chicago and San Francisco, it may not ideally suit her either vocally or dramatically. (International Herald Tribune)
Puccini Heroine at Met After 18 Years Jan 30, 2008
Mattila, a Finnish soprano, is a familiar presence at the Met, notable for her thrilling upper register and her emotionally intense portrayals of characters as diverse as Leonore in Beethoven's "Fidelio" and the title roles in Janacek's "Jenufa" and Richard Strauss' "Salome.". Manon Lescaut is an interesting addition to her gallery of strong female personalities, but although she's had success in the part in Chicago and San Francisco, it may not ideally suit her either vocally or dramatically. (Newsmax)
Bradshaw legacy continues in COC season Jan 16, 2008
The other works on the bill are Mozart's Don Giovanni, Beethoven's Fidelio, Verdi's Simon Boccanegra and Puccini's La Boh ... Other shows were developed with partner companies abroad: War and Peace is a co-production with the English National Opera, A Midsummer Night's Dream with Houston Grand Opera and Fidelio with two companies in Europe ... There are plenty of top-drawer Canadian singers in leading roles, including soprano Adrianne Pieczonka (Leonore in Fidelio), tenor Michael Schade (the... (Globe and Mail)
Letter: Arts cuts will devastate literary translation Jan 15, 2008
One of the world's most sought-after opera directors, Vick has developed a method of presenting opera with professional singers and musicians but built round a core of community performers in site-specific environments (so, Fidelio in a circus tent, Ulysses in a former ice-rink, Don Giovanni in an abandoned bank). As well as providing extraordinary new insights into these great operas, Vick's policy has not only expanded those participating, but also those attending opera, into sections of... (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
The year in classical music Dec 30, 2007
Two early highlights of 2007 - Schoenberg's "Erwartung" and Beethoven's "Fidelio" - came thanks to Levine's ambitious Beethoven-Schoenberg project, which paired the works of these two revolutionary composers in fresh and provocative ways. Without any grand organizing ideas comparable to the Beethoven-Schoenberg pairing, the current BSO season paints on a smaller canvas. (Boston Globe)
Talk of the Town: All I want for Christmas and more Dec 21, 2007
The central focus of her repertoire is in the young dramatic, and she has won acclaim with critics and audiences alike for her sensitive and technically assured performances of roles such as Salome, Sieglinde, Leonore (Fidelio), the Kaiserin, Ariadne, and Senta. Equally at home on the concert stage, she has performed with such notable Maestri as James Conlon, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Colin Davis, Zubin Mehta, Ricardo Muti, Giuseppi Sinoppoli, and Wolfgang Sawallisch. (Green Valley News & Sun, AZ)
Powerful story of slave Margaret Garner a runaway success Sep 17, 2007
The score for the prolific American composer's first opera is a sweeping synthesis - everything from slave songs to hints of Gershwin's Porgy Copland's Tenderland, Bernstein's West Side Story and even Beethoven's Fidelio. Despite these influences, Danielpour maintains an originality that propels the libretto by Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison. (The Clarion-Ledger)
TOP-notch show Sep 17, 2007
Modesto's opera-singing married couple Roy Stevens and Annalisa Winberg, who have performed in major opera houses around the world, wrote new lyrics to a duet from Beethoven's "Fidelio" in praise of the Gallo center. Their revised lyrics, printed as a "translation" of the German piece in the supertitles above the stage, praised major donors Marie Gallo, the Foster family and all of the arts center's amenities. (Modesto Bee, CA)
Verdi's Requiem Sep 11, 2007
Sunday afternoon, with the stage still warm from the "Fidelio" premiere the night before, found the Requiem back in operatic hands, not necessarily to best advantage. Placido Domingo, L.A. Opera's tenorissimo, impresario and -- increasingly nowadays -- maestro, assembled an impressive quartet to manage the work's stunningly beautiful vocal demands, along with his own opera chorus and orchestra. (Variety)
Opera events around the world 2007 Sep 1, 2007
Cecilia Bartoli will sing Amina, the sleepwalker, in a concert version of Bellini's "La Somnanbula" and Claudio Abbado will return to this spa town to lead "Fidelio." Sept. 23: Tristan und Isolde -- www. festspielhaus. (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
More of this story Sep 1, 2007
Grant Gershon, Los Angeles Opera's recently hired chorus master, is working on the company s two season-opening productions, Verdi s Requiem and Beethoven s Fidelio ... Gershon isn't simply looking forward to Requiem, which will be performed Sunday, Sept. 9, and to Beethoven's Fidelio, which opens Sept. 8, but to the coming season with the company he has followed closely since its inception ... "Gershon's never-ceasing smile seemed to grow another inch on each side as he nodded in... (Los Angeles Downtown News, CA)
Rose Bampton, at 99; star of the Metropolitan Opera Aug 24, 2007
She recorded with Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony, and a broadcast version of their "Fidelio" remains in print. "I think I lived in the most wonderful period, really, of singing and other things," she had said. (Boston Globe)
Jürgen Flimm at Salzburg Festival: Letting the demons back in Jul 25, 2007
His productions for the Metropolitan Opera - "Fidelio" in 2000 and "Salome" in 2004, both starring the Finnish soprano Karita Mattila - were hits with the news media and public alike. His Wagner "Ring" cycle at the Bayreuth Festival in 2000 was more controversial. (International Herald Tribune)
Moonstruck by Moonlight Jun 21, 2007
The operas he's conducted include Lucia di Lammermoor, Fidelio, Don Giovanni and Aida. He has recently conducted Tristan und Isolde in Puerto Rico and Turandot in Naples, Fla. (Cranbury Press, NJ)
Who, what, when at Tanglewood May 20, 2007
7/20: Mark Elder conducts Beethoven program: "Leonore" Overture No. 1, Piano Concerto No. 3 with Imogen Cooper, "Abscheulicher! Wo eilst du hin?" from "Fidelio" with Christine Brewer, soprano; Symphony No. 4. 7/21: Hans Graf conducts Beethoven program: "Leonore" Overture No. 2; Triple Concerto with Beaux Arts Trio; "Ah! Perfido!" with Christine Brewer, soprano; Symphony No. 2. (Boston Globe)
Vancouver Opera announces 2008 lineup Apr 15, 2007
Toronto -- A Serbian production of Beethoven's Fidelio set in Cold War Europe tops the list of the four operas on Vancouver Opera's agenda next year, details of which were announced by company director James W. Wright this week. The company will present its first performances of Beethoven's only opera in 23 years. (Globe and Mail)
Underrated? Maybe not Apr 12, 2007
Carmelo Giammello's one-set design featured a grassy knoll and radiantly clouded sky at one end of the stage, and a lot of iron-plated surfaces everywhere else, as if the production (from Naples's Teatro di San Carlo) had been recycled from an old Fidelio. The only dramatically effective detail was the sky, which initially looked like a projection, but turned out to be an old-fashioned stage painting, cleverly and variously lit by Thomas C. Hase. (Globe and Mail -- Entertainment)
The Diva Next Door Apr 6, 2007
In her 23 years as a stalwart on the Met's roster, Hong has given more than 300 performances and played 23 roles, including the Countess and Susanna in "Le Nozze di Figaro," Mica la in "Carmen," Marzelline in "Fidelio," Pamina in "Die Zauberfl te," Antonia in "Les Contes d'Hoffmann," Ilia in "Idomeneo," Juliette in "Romeo et Juliette," Gilda in "Rigoletto" and Cleopatra in "Giulio Cesare.". Her work with the Met this season has included some of her favorite roles, including Violetta in "La... (Queens Village Times, NY)
Two Georgians win Met auditions Apr 2, 2007
With the Atlanta Opera, Smith has sung small but noticable roles in Beethoven s Fidelio and Gershwin s Porgy and Bess. The opera also sponsored Smith s solo recital at the Woodruff Arts Center last fall. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Beethoven's opera 'Fidelio' is a fitting project finale Mar 23, 2007
He'll conduct three concert performances of Beethoven's sole opera, "Fidelio ," over the next five days. "Fidelio" tells the story of the nobleman Florestan, who has been unjustly imprisoned for exposing the crimes of the prison's governor ... Florestan's wife, Leonore, disguises herself as a youth named Fidelio to infiltrate the prison and rescue her husband. (Boston Globe)
Clarke happy to chill with Ice Mar 21, 2007
Hot-ticket soprano Karita Mattila will not perform Beethoven's "Fidelio" with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, because of illness. Supersub Christine Brewer will replace Mattila in the three concert performances starting Friday. (Boston Globe -- Living)
Swiss tenor Ernst Haefliger dies Mar 20, 2007
He won several awards for recordings with companies such as Columbia Records and Deutsche Grammophon, where he sang numerous Mozart operas and Beethoven's Fidelio. Haefliger, who was born July 6, 1919, in Davos, studied singing and violin in Zurich, before becoming a singer with the Zurich Operahouse. (CBC.ca)
Obituary: Ernst Haefliger, Swiss tenor, is dead Mar 19, 2007
Recordings with companies like Columbia Records and Deutsche Grammophon, where Haefliger registered numerous Mozart operas and Beethoven's "Fidelio," brought him several awards. A regular guest at festivals in Lucerne, Salzburg and the English village of Glyndebourne, Haefliger received particular praise for his interpretation of the Evangelists in Bach's Passions, with the German Bach choir of Munich directed by Karl Richter, according to an appraisal by the Lucerne Festival. (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
Swiss opera singer Ernst Haefliger dies at 87 Mar 18, 2007
Recordings with companies such as Columbia Records and the Deutsche Grammophon, where he registered numerous Mozart operas and Beethoven's "Fidelio," brought Haefliger several awards. A regular guest at the festivals of Salzburg in Austria, Glyndebourne in Britain and Lucerne, Haeflinger earned particular praise for his interpretation of the Evangelists in Bach's Passions, with the German Bach choir of Muenchen directed by Karl Richter, according to an appraisal by the Lucerne Festival. (International Herald Tribune -- Sports)
Israel Philharmonic strives for normality Feb 9, 2007
The evening began with Beethoven's Third "Leonore" Overture, a musical summary of his opera of political liberation, "Fidelio," which has the theme of good triumphing over evil. Next came Schoenberg's "Transfigured Night," an evocation of a love poem, in which a good lover triumphs over jealousy. (Los Angeles Times)
Peering into Schoenberg's dark wilderness Feb 3, 2007
The Schoenberg/Beethoven pairing continues to be an illuminating one , but this two-year course in musical revolution concludes in March, when Levine will lead the orchestra , chorus, and soloists in Beethoven's "Fidelio." If his Met track record with this work is any indication, those performances are not to be missed. Jeremy Eichler can be reached at. (Boston Globe)
Fidelio in concert: The opera of enlightenment Jan 30, 2007
Composer Ludwig Beethoven, however, refused to produce a "traditional" opera in his Fidelio ... Contrary to the usual opera presenting a masculine hero, Fidelio's main character is Leonore, a wife dedicated to saving her husband imprisoned by his political rival ... Leonore, disguised as a man, takes on the name Fidelio and goes to work as a prison guard under the command of warden Rocco in a Spanish prison a few miles from Seville. (Jakarta Post, Indonesia -- Features)
L.A. Opera Announces Season of 'Giants' Jan 20, 2007
Speaking at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, General Director Plcido Domingo said, "If I were to give a title to our 2007-08 season, it might well be 'Los Angeles and the Giants.' Our planned season boasts the giants of composing with their giant compositions." The season, which debuts Sept. 8 with Beethoven's Fidelio, runs through June 28, 2008, and features 69 performances. The schedule include the company premiere of Jancek's Jenufa; revivals of Mozart's Don Giovanni, Puccini's La Bohme... (Los Angeles Downtown News, CA)
Opera confirms home renovation as it announces 2007-08 season Jan 19, 2007
The season will open with a gala performance of Beethoven's "Fidelio," a production new to the company from Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia of Valencia, Spain, directed and designed by Pier'Alli and starring Anja Kampe and Klaus Florian Vogt in their company debuts. Other productions are a revival of Mozart's "Don Giovanni," with bass Erwin Schrott in the title role (Nov. (Los Angeles Times)
My must sees for 2007 Jan 7, 2007
Late spring and summer brings rival operatic queen bees swarming to the Garden: the Finnish Venus , Karita Mattila, in Beethoven s Fidelio (May 27); opera s Russian It girl, Anna Netrebko, in a revival of Don Giovanni (June 11); and America s first lady of the lyric theatre, Ren. e Fleming, in a concert performance of Massenet s steamy shocker Tha. (The Sunday Times)
