Beethoven: Fidelio / Norman, Goldeberg, Moll, Coburn, Blochwitz, Wlaschiha, Schmidt; Haitink

Fidelio, opera, Op. 72
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performed by Dresden Staatskapelle
with Jessye Norman, Kurt Moll, Ekkehard Wlaschiha, Egbert Junghanns, Pamela Coburn, Andreas Schmidt, Reiner Goldberg, Wolfgang Millgramm, Hans Peter Blochwitz
Conducted by David Syrus, Bernard Haitink

Beethoven: Fidelio / Norman, Goldeberg, Moll, Coburn, Blochwitz, Wlaschiha, Schmidt; Haitink,Ludwig van Beethoven,Staatskapelle Dresden,Bernard Haitink,Jessye Norman,Reiner Goldberg,Kurt Moll,Pamela Coburn,Hans Peter Blochwitz,Ekkehard Wlaschiha,Polygram Records,Classical,Classical Music,German/Austrian Classical Period Opera,Opera,Opera / Operetta / Oratorio

Average customer rating:

A Good Recording of Beethoven's Only Opera
For Jessye's fans only
Glorious Singing from Miss Norman Once Again
Well Worth the Price!
Jessye Norman as the heroic Fidelio

Beethoven: Fidelio / Norman, Goldeberg, Moll, Coburn, Blochwitz, Wlaschiha, Schmidt; Haitink
Ludwig van Beethoven , Staatskapelle Dresden , Bernard Haitink , Jessye Norman , Reiner Goldberg , Kurt Moll , Pamela Coburn , Hans Peter Blochwitz , and Ekkehard Wlaschiha
Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Norman, Jessye | Divas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000412P
Release Date: 1991-02-08

Tracks:

Fidelio: Ouvert
Fidelio: Act 1: 'Jetzt, Schatzchen, jetzt sind wir allein' - (Jaquino, Marzelline)
Fidelio: Act 1: 'Der arme Jaquino dauert mich' - (Marzelline)
Fidelio: Act 1: 'O war ich schon mit dir vereint' - (Marzelline)
Fidelio: Act 1: 'Marzelline, ist Fidelio noch nicht zuruck?' - (Rocco, Marzelline, Leonore)
Fidelio: Act 1: 'Mir ist so wunderbar' - (Rocco, Marzelline, Leonore, Jaquino)
Fidelio: Act 1: 'Hore, Fidelio' - (Rocco, Marzelline)
Fidelio: Act 1: 'Hat man nicht auch Gold beineben' - (Rocco)
Fidelio: Act 1: 'Ihr konnt das leicht sagen, Meister Rocco' - (Leonore, Rocco, Marzelline)
Fidelio: Act 1: 'Gut, Sohnchen, gut' - (Rocco, Leonore, Marzelline)
Fidelio: Act 1: Nr. 6 Marsch
Fidelio: Act 1: 'Drei Schildwachen auf den Wall' - (Pizarro, Rocco)
Fidelio: Act 1: 'Ha! Welch ein Augenblick!' - (Pizarro)
Fidelio: Act 1: 'Hauptmann! Besteigen Sie mit einem Trompeter...' - (Pizarro, Rocco)
Fidelio: Act 1: 'Jetzt, Alter, jetzt hat es Eile!' - (Pizarro, Rocco)
Fidelio: Act 1: 'Abscheulicher! Wo eilst du hin?' - (Leonore)
Fidelio: Act 1: 'Meister, Rocco, Ihr verspracht mir so oft' - (Leonore, Rocco, Marzelline)
Fidelio: Act 1: 'O welche Lust, in freier Luft den Atem leicht zu heben!' - (Prisoners' Chorus)
Fidelio: Act 1: 'Nun sprecht, wie ging's?' - (Leonore, Rocco, Marzelline, Jaquino, Pizarro)
Fidelio: Act 1: 'Leb wohl, du warmes Sonnenlicht' - (Marzelline, Leonore, Jaquino, Pizarro, Rocco)

Tracks:

Fidelio: Act 2: 'Gott! Welch Dunkel hier!' - (Florestan)
Fidelio: Act 2: 'Wie kalt ist es in diesem unterirdischen Gewolbe' - (Rocco, Leonore)
Fidelio: Act 2: 'Er erwacht' - (Leonore, Rocco, Florestan)
Fidelio: Act 2: 'Euch werde Lohn in bessern Welten' - (Florestan, Rocco, Leonore)
Fidelio: Act 2: 'Alles ist bereit' - (Rocco, Leonore, Florestan, Pizarro)
Fidelio: Act 2: 'Er sterbe! Doch er soll erst wissen' - (Pizarro, Florestan, Leonore, Rocco, Jaquino)
Fidelio: Act 2: 'Meine Leonore, was hast du fur mich getan' - (Florestan, Leonore)
Fidelio: Act 2: 'O namenlose Freude' - (Leonore, Florestan)
Fidelio: Act 2: 'Heil sei dem Tag' - (Fernando, Rocco, Pizarro, Leonore, Marzelline, Jaquino)
Fidelio: Ouverteonore III) Op. 72a

Customer Reviews:

A Good Recording of Beethoven's Only Opera.......2006-01-07

I purchased this FIDELIO recording soon after it was released in the early 1990's and learned, only after reading reviews in some of the major classical music and opera magazines that I was listening to a recording I should not enjoy and should make me long for the far better recordings that are available. I discovered this, of course, after listening to it many times and enjoying it thoroughly. Since that time I have heard other recordings and have heard live performances broadcast from New York's Metropolitan Opera. While I will admit there are some better sets available, this is still a worthwhile set.

The best known performers on the set are Jessye Norman and Kurt Moll. It is safe to say that recording was made to showcase the diverse talents of Ms. Norman, and overall, she does do an adequate job though there are some moments where what is supposed to be dramatic intensity can sound almost like screeching. Moll's Rocco is generally strong but like Ms. Norman, not perfect. The role of Florestan, sung by tenor Reiner Goldberg does have expression. In his showpiece aria in Act II "Gott Welch Dunkel Heir" he does sound like a prisoner in chains (in a good sense: he is a prisoner after all), but he is not as strong a performer as the other principals. I was not surprised to enjoy the orchestra under the direction of Bernard Haitink, and the choral works are good on the recording, though the finale could probably be a bit more nuanced.

So do I recommend this set? As I mentioned it is the first FIDELIO I purchased and it is the FIDELIO by which I measure others. I still enjoy this set and know many others who do, but some of the other sets feature some of the greats of this repertoire: The Klemperer version with Christa Ludwig and John Vickers as Leonore and Florestan respectively or Decca's version under Bohm with James McCracken and Brigit Nilsson to name two, so there is some excellent competition. Still it is worthwhile and if you're not familiar with the opera, this set will help you fall in love with Beethoven's only opera.

For Jessye's fans only.......2005-09-24

I was extremely disappointed with this set. I had anticipated that Norman would be a great Leonore, and if you get past her stately approach to the role, for sheer vocal glory she is unmatched on records--only the young Flagstad would have surpassed her, but Flagstad didn't record the role until late in her career.

Sadly, nothing else is much good here. Haitink lapses into weak rhythms and a general sense of lassitude that perplexes me. That flaw alone wouldn't be enough to sink the production, but then there is the thin, nasal voice of Reiner Goldberg, who is nowhere close to being an adequate Florestan. He sounds like Norman's lapdog, despite his desperate efforts to beef up his tone when they sing togehter.

All in all, a major letdown and a grievously missed opportunity.

Glorious Singing from Miss Norman Once Again.......2003-05-23

After watching a Met production of Fidelio (with Mattila and Pape), I decided to give the opera another try. I hadn't liked it when I listened to the Ludwig-Vickers version a few years ago. What was wrong with me? Fidelio is a remarkable work of art, and the quartet "Mir Ist so Wunderbar" in Act I is among the most sublime music ever written. In this recording, Norman is clearly the star, yet the other soloists are quite fine too. Along with this recording, I'd also bought a version with Birgit Nilsson and must say Norman is far, far better in the role of Leonore; she reminds me more of Flagstad because the voice is more traditionally beautiful than Nilsson's. (Yet I have to say I have Nilsson's recordings of Un Ballo, Macbeth, and Aida, and she sounds as magnificent as those other two divine singers, so perhaps, I should just say that Nilsson isn't in best voice on the Fidelio recording.) Leonore and Rosina (in Nozze) are two of Norman's finest vocal achievements on record. It seems this cd set has gone out of print, so snatch it up when you have a chance; otherwise, it will be a sinful omission from your music library.

Well Worth the Price!.......1999-12-29

I have a number of recordings of Fidelio, and even two of its original version, Leonore. They all thrill me for one reason or other. Ludwig is wonderful, even if a bit pressed as Leonore, and who compares to John Vickers as Florestan. I bought this recording only because if was another Jessye Norman recording, and I must say, I got more than I bargained for.

Norman was compelling. The way she uses her voice, both very heavy and dark when needed or light and sweat when required. She blended well with the other singers. Her Leonore was a woman of soul, one intent on going through with her masquerade as a man inorder to find her husband. Norman adds a suitable darkness that could actually pass her off as a man better than any other I have heard, but when with her husband the womanly and wifely joys fill her sounds. Her voice is very grand, and I gather would remind one of when Flagstad sang the role at the Met. Since I was not born at that time, I cannot say for sure about that. However, few Leonores have been so full-voiced as Norman. The other singers were truly wonderful too. I was so impressed, and to think, even by a Florestan whose voice is by no means as huge a Vickers!

The real miracle of this opera is not so much the singing, which is a revelation, but the opera itself. Beethoven had been nearly deaf for a decade by the time he wrote it. He hearing left him at 28, and much later he wrote this opera, then year later revised it as the opera we know now. A man so tormented by his physical failings, so unlucky in his choice of loves, yet could represent true devotion, true dedication, and total commitment between a man and wife. And he did it all while deaf as a nail. This music, like so much that was to follow came from Beethoven's soul and not his intellect. This recording truly portrays the miracle the opera was, and the truth behind the sentiments it expresses.

Jessye Norman as the heroic Fidelio.......1999-09-18

This set, while not as hyped-up as many others, offers a listener's delight of a first rate. First and foremost, Haitink's choice for Leonore is the incredible and versatile Jessye Norman who can sound masculine being blessed with powerful and smooth lower register. That's why, really, her masking as a man works. Yet her "Wo eilst du hin?" and duet with Florestan is full of very feminine love and even a touch of vulnerability. With her superb musical intelligence, nothing is over-acted, but sang beautifully in fresh pure voice. Her Florestan, Reiner Goldberg, manages convincingly the portrayal of a man exhausted by prison and injustice. Quite a few tenors are known to practically scream this part, so one makes an assumption that the prison food could not be really that bad. Goldberg's portrayal is the most accurate. Kurt Moll seems to be over-cast as Rocco, but it's a pleasant treat to hear such a majestic bass in this role. Past examples show how important it is to actually over-cast a bass here, remember Gotlob Frick? Ekkehard Wlaschina comes through as subtle, even if not as much as Leiferkus or Fischer-Diescau, but darker, heavier, very evil Pizarro. Another surprise is the great choice for second tenor -- Andreas Schmidt as Don Fernando. Maestro Haitink stashes the Leonore III overture at the very end, and it provides a good conclusion to 2+ hours of Beethoven pleasure. Philips' crystal-clear digital recording and ideal balancing make it a preferred choice over old recordings, great as they might be. This recording, as many of the company's morsels, is rapidly disappearing from the US market, so get it while it lasts.

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