Fidelio, between torture and delight (Jonas Kaufmann is Florestan in Paris)

Fidelio, 28 November 2008 Palais Garnier Paris

UPDATE WITH VIDEO!

Unless otherwise specified all photos Agathe Poupeney @ http://www.fedephoto.com/.
for more photos see here

While this is Beethoven’s only opera it has some absolutely beautiful music, but it is famously ungrateful to singers. Also it has suffered numerous changes by the hand of the composer himself and therefore is subject again and again to additions and transformations with every new production. This was also the case in Paris where the usual overture was exchanged for Leonore I, which has some beautiful leitmotifs but is by far not as effective. I can’t say I am fully reconciled with this opera as such. None of the two versions I’ve seen really hit it home (one was the Zurich prodiction which is also available on DVD). I am hoping there will be a recording with Abbado or some other really good one where I can finally get a feel for what this opera should really sound like. What Cambreling did to it wasn’t very positive in my opinion. (Well, him and the guy who came up with the new dialogues.) The incredibly long 1 act only added to the imbalance this opera already had between 1 and 2 part. And the added trio is just useless as it really isn’t the best of Beethoven and under Cambreling it just dragged on pointlessly. And whenever he finally decided to kick it up a notch and there was finally some tension… the dialogue interrupted the flow and there we were again falling completely flat.

Cambreling and the director also made a misery out of the prisoners choir, the hope they felt and temporary alleviation of their sorrow was not only not audible but also not visble, as they were crapped in a corner behind bars and the stage could hard be described as lit by sunshine. And what was all the shouting in the end??? It should be powerful and the music in incredible, but to me it is supposed to be uplifting, full of hope not deafening! Having the entire chorus shout from the tip of the stage did not make for a joyful moment. Powerful, yes, idealistic, victorious, no really. And the contrast between the dragging tempi and the crazyness sometimes just made for a very imbalanced musical interpretation. The music never felt like a harmonious, congruent piece. It is not a perfect opera but Cambreling somehow only made the weaknesses stand out and tore it apart. That is something that in contrast I like very much about Pappano, even if his interpretation may not always be to everyone’s taste, the opera feels like a living breathing, whole organism with him. Not so in this case.


The original dialogues were replaced by the ones written by Martin Mosebach for this production. I don’t know what the French public got out of them, but I have rarely heard such forced text. This is not a cryptic piece by any means: a woman’s husband is unjustly imprisoned and tortured and she tries to gain access to the prison to free him. It really doesn’t need almost one hour worth of additional dialogue to explain that. Some of it might have been effective on its own, say in a staging that would have been much more symbolistic than it was. But here Johan Simons chose a very obvious setting, that could not have been mistaken for anything else than what it was. The production as such I felt was blunt, the images said at first sight and sometimes later on as well Guantanamo, George Orwell 1984, or a strange and sadistic psychiatric unit. The beige colour and bare walls perfectly suggested the oppression. As did the stark overpowering light-spot focused on Florestan in the second act and the metal weights on his foot and arm and the signs of torture all over his body.

But did the torture need to be so overemphasised by staging and dialogue? I would have thought the music and well acted characters to be enough in this respect, especially in the given surroundings. The idea doesn’t necessarily get better by repetition. I didn’t need a description of he various types of hand shells used or a description of the various types of cells where prisoners are tortured physically, with water, cold, etc. They did an exceptionally good job in presenting Florestan as the tortured prisoner: dried blood stains all over his body, bare feet, ripped overall, weights on hand and leg, bandage over burnt and obviously blinded eyes, strong light spot in a dark, bare cell. It was more than obvious what had happened to him the two years which he had spent in this cruel institution. And even the bits which were unrelated to torture, the machinery used to break prisoner’s wills, to “clean” the system, were strange. I found the dialogue between Florestan and Leonore about how she would have saved him out of place. It went something along these lines and happened immediately after she deters Pizzaro from killing him as the minister arrives:
How did you find me? - Easy, Florestan.
What would you have done, had the minister not come? - I don’t know, Florestan. What was your plan? - There was no plan, Florestan.
What have you done for me, Leonore! - Nothing, Florestan!
Huh???????
Ok, valid questions, but who care at this point!!! They haven’t seen each other for 2 years, would that be the conversation they would have???

UPDATE! Just want to clarify something about this particular dialogue. I do think that the last line is beatiful in that it wants to show the love and appreciation Florestan feels for what all his wife has donde and her nothing means rather that she has done all out of love therefore it came naturally. But in the context of the other lines, and said from one side to the other of the stage it lost a lot of its emotion. In this respect i would have preferred the original text ( outdated, yes, maybe, but far more romantic and appropriate for their reunion i feel):

FLORESTAN
Treues Weib ! Frau ohnegleichen!
Was hast du meinetwegen erdultet!

LEONORE
Nichts, mein Florestan!
Meine Seele war mit dir,
wie hätte der Körper
sich nicht stark gefühlt,
indem er für sein besseres
Selbst stritt?
O, namenlose Freude!
Mein Mann an meiner Brust!..etc etc


Then there is Marzelline’s monologue about hairy men with wine breath vs groomed men like Fidelio and Jaquino’s monologue about marriage being an enterprise, best to be agreed between men (him and his future father in law). Again, the effect is rather comic. I suspect the intention was to oppose these views to the fidelity and strong bond that unite Florestan and Leonore. But I don’t feel there is this need, as Fidelio’s actions speak for how strongly Leonore loves her husband and his last words when he thinks he will die, are for her and the regret he feels for never seeing her again.


There were however some nice things, like the play of light and shadow which I though had very good moments, especially in the 1st part with the shadows on the wall making Pizzaro appear as a giant in comparison to Rocco, vividly suggesting the power one holds over the other in this world of the prison (extremely effective without the need of any words added) and the office shadow actually depicting a guillotine. The sudden change from light to dark in he second part ( light with Florestan and dark when Pizzaro appears) is maybe less subtle, but still not a bad idea. The red bulb in Pizzaro’s office blinking in sync with the music during Jaquino’s aria is just silly. I liked the flash of flowery dresses at the end, emphasising the joy of the final chorus. But I found the scene where Leonore lies next to Florestan and comments on his appearance, recognising him, just weird… he is behind her? What is she doing on the floor? The bit of monologue however was beautiful, the way she described him, his posture and his strong character expressed through it, the best bit of the entire text by far!

All in all it was just as if there were a considerable bunch of good ideas there which impressed, but it didn’t quite tie together. Or they didn’t have enough time to complete and overwork the concept. Too blunt and with some nice ideas scattered about, which helped it from becoming boring. It didn’t shine for me, although I can’t say I completely disliked it either. It did come alive through the unusually good acting performances of all the singers. Alan Held makes a very convincing, frightening and totally unhinged Pizzaro with the type of voice to match the harshness of the character, very effective. Franz-Josef Selig’s Rocco looked way to young and healthy for the character, but his warm voice worked well in suggesting the human quality of the character and also in suggesting his greediness, his “das Geld, das Geld” was good indeed. He was still warming p when he started off but gave a respectable performance overall. Marzelline/Julia Kleiter has a beautiful voice, but as with Jaquino/Ales Briscein they suffered from the staleness of the characters and the slow tempi imposed by Cambreling in the act1. After having heard and seen Angela Denoke as Leonore I find that the reviews I have read have been altogether too harsh on her. Yes, her intonation is off the mark on several occasions and you can hear her tiring towards the end, however I think her portrail of Lenore definitely deserves credit. Her Leonore was just the right mixture of courage and angst, of love and determination and her tenderness and fearless defence of Florestan in the last cat was beautiful. The reunited duet in singing and expression “O, namenlose Freude!” was the most uplifting and touching I have ever lived it. Ok, it brought tears to me eyes, what can I say!

But you can easily guess what I am mostly taking away from the experience ;-)

I have to admit that reading the excellent reviews I was wondering how come they seemed to only now truly discover Jonas Kaufmann. I mean, he sang Traviata there just last year and then there was the recent Liederabend. He has been singing this ay for quite a while now, so what is all this fuss about?? Well, maybe not quite as good as this :-)

Fidelio turned out to be a surprise in more ways that one. I think I truly discovered the beauty of this piece, even hidden under that staging and those dialogues. It just needs to be the emotional experience it is meant to be and then all pieces kind of fall into place. Florestan’s characterisation was perfectly done, I imagine this was the choreographer’s work, but he couldn’t have sculpted a more willing and gifted material. I am hardly one to be impressed by death or physical suffering on an opera stage, it is hard to make any of that believable while singing your lungs out. But….

photo Bernd Uhlig
Small video here

And another video here:






Thanks to DessayBestSinger for uploading!

How can you not suffer when you see in front of you a human being in chains, tortured almost beyond recognition, with hands trembling at every breath? Who’s feet and arms can no longer support him and who is blinded and left there lying beneath a torturing strong and hot light, only to emphasise the darkness he feels surrounding him. Who can barely drag himself along the bars of the stairs that lead into his cell, who’s crushed body is stretched in a most unnatural and painful position. Who is so thirsty that he will collect the water he has blindly sloshed onto the floor with his fingertips from the ground. Who’s every squirming along the floor produces the chilling dragging of his metal chains along the boards. Who is violently pulled up by Pizzaro and literally catapulted with a loud thump into the wall. And who has to be supported by his friend and his wife in the end in order for his chains to be removed while he blindly touches Don Fernando’s shoulder and face in order to recognise him.

Not impressed??? Not touched? How about some divine singing while doing the above, which made me literally jump up and almost close my eyes in my seat?



The other day Jonas was full on!! His voice, his control, his ears and every single cell in his body were in harmony. There would have been nothing that could have deterred him from his absolute determination to do his very very best. I don’t know Fidelio as well as I might other operas and the only other time I have heard him sing the part was in Zurich, when he came for one short replacement. And I know he has sung the part quite a bit and it is also not a part which allows for interesting physiological development. And still, he managed to engage with the role in a way that gave me chills. He twisted his body in the most impossible positions, was blindfolded and couldn’t have seen much of his surrounding or been aware of what was going on around him. All the while singing with such control, emotional power as if he was sitting relaxed on his sofa at home, just enjoying the music. How can he do it? Most of “In des Lebens Frühlingstagen” was sung hunched, literally projecting towards the floor and still the voice filled the house in every note. Also incredible how rebellion, belief, acceptance, prayer and despair, love and hope were all convincingly displayed in that one aria. At the end of it he sounded as if bags of reserves were there to go on and on and on…. And then the incredible sweetness and tenderness in his duet with Leonore… One would be tempted to think that pushing the voice with such power in some passages, sweet could not longer be obtainable, no longer as tender and lyrical. But it was there, warm and smooth as usual.

And his acting can only be described as beyond realistic. I can still see myself, a ball of tension in the seat, my ears in paradise and my heart in shreds with all the pain, torture he displayed in every movement of his body. His every gesture torture, his every note delight! I was truly afraid in some moments he would hurt himself in one of those falls. I’ ve never felt anything quite like that. How can Jonas be at the same time in control of that instrument of his and every part of his body as well, beats me.

And come out at the end of it as if this was just another regular day at the office! :-)

And because I need to share this with all of you, here is courtesy of Marion’s page the amazing “In des Lebens Frühlingstagen” from the other night:




FLORESTAN

Gott,
welch Dunkel hier!
O grauenvolle Stille!
Öd ist es um mich her,
nichts,
nichts lebet außer mir,
o schwere Prüfung!
Doch gerecht ist Gottes Wille!
Ich murre nicht, das Maß
der Leiden steht bei dir!
In des Lebens Frühlingstagen
ist das Glück von mir geflohn.
Wahrheit wagt ich kühn zu sagen,
und die Ketten sind mein Lohn.
Willig duld' ich alle Schmerzen,
ende schmählich meine Bahn;
süßer, Trost in meinem Herzen,
meine Pflicht hab ich getan.
Und spür' ich nicht linde,
sanft säuselnde Luft,
und ist nicht mein Grab
mir erhellet?
Ich seh, wie ein Engel
im rosigen Duft sich
tröstend zur Seite,
zur Seite mir stellet,
ein Engel, Leonoren,
Leonoren, Leonoren,
der Gattin so gleich, der,
der führt mich zur Freiheit
ins himmlische Reich.



Of course there was applause after his aria and Bravo shouts and truth be told from the moment he was on stage the atmosphere change significantly, you could feel the tension and the public had grown considerably quieter.

. Applause was given to everyone in good measure and I was surprised by how enthusiastic the public reacted at the end of it in general. But there was no doubt about who was the star of the night.


After last night I am completely blown away by his performance (and I don’t think it is the fan talking out of me :-). I think I can still trust my ears and eyes and I know what I am hearing, he has indeed gotten better since I have first heard him live, a year and a half ago. And I am so looking forward o the future :-)



Beethoven: Fidelio Paris, Palais Garnier 28. November 2008
Direction musicale/Sylvain Cambreling
Mise en scène Johan Simons
Dialogues/Martin Mosebach
Leonore/Angela Denoke
Florestan/Jonas Kaufmann
Rocco/Franz-Josef Selig
Marzelline/Julia Kleiter
Jaquino/Ales Briscein
Don Pizarro/Alan Held
Don Fernando/Paul Gay