From the Heart to the Heart
Beethoven in one of his many comments about his works pertinently claimed that of all his children FIDELIO was born with the greatest labour. It took him three versions, (one of which is occasionally performed as Leonora) four overtures, nine years, numerous sketch books and the help of three librettists before this masterpiece was concluded to his satisfaction.
The opera, after a powerful overture, opens in a room in a prison where two young people, Marzelline and Jaquino, are quarrelling- very quickly we have spoken dialogue and appear to be witnessing a traditional Germanic singspiel with no indication of the grandeur to come. The purpose of these opening scenes is to ground the opera in a realistic situation so as we can more readily embrace the fact that Leonora is disguised as a man, Fidelio, and has aroused the affections of Marzelline.
Then with hushed harmonies on violas and cellos we are introduced to the remarkable canon, which introduces, only temporarily, a completely new dimension into the opera. I know of no other quartet like it and it reveals the essential solitariness of Leonora set against the other three characters who themselves are seeking answers.
I am not going to reveal all the details of the plot but will draw attention to a few important scenes in the opera. Firstly, Leonora’s great aria where the music and her voice superbly united and moving from measured andante to an amazing allegro, almost enact the superhuman task facing her. Yet at the same time the superb obbligato of the horns give us hope that she will succeed- you will hear the word hofnung (hope) often in the opera and particularly in this aria. Prior to this we are introduced to the villain Pizarro who sings his mock Handelian aria almost entirely on middle D – quite terrifying but also suggesting some fragility. Then at the end of the Act we have the Prisoners’ chorus when they sing of their suffering , their momentary joy of experiencing light after darkness, and their hope for freedom. ( freiheit –we shall hear this frequently as the opera progresses). Here we have Beethoven at his greatest.
We meet Florestan, Leonora’s husband, at the beginning of the second act- you Kaufmann lovers will have a long wait. His extended aria sung in a deep dungeon mirrors that of Leonora’s in that it moves from a melancholy andante preluded by a mournful oboe to a dramatic allegro as he remembers his love for Leonora. Then in the following scene note how speech and music superbly interact until we hear the great trumpet call signaling freedom. This is followed by what can only be called a tipsy duet as the lovers celebrate their reunion, leading finally to a joyous celebration of freedom and the strongly criticized praise of wifely devotion- and why not indeed after what Leonora has endured.? Beethoven here possibly draws on Geothe’s famous passage in Faust.- das ewig weibliche- the eternal feminine leads us on. Very much celebrated at the time but surely not as some suggests peculiar to that period.
There are many other points to raise, in particular the way we oscillate between the symbolic- Leonora the rescuer who like Alceste has experienced a kind of hell to find her beloved -and Leonora the solitary human figure searching for her husband amongst the prisoners. Above all, however, allow your heart to receive this great romantic work- Beethoven wrote on the score from the heart to the heart-and hopefully if only for a while share the celebration of freedom, married love, and belief in the power of hope that permeates this work.
John Steane in one of his many works on opera wrote Fidelio may be the greatest of all operas but you can only listen to it twice in a lifetime. I know what he is implying but I am looking forward to seeing it for the twentieth time and hope you will come and join me.
Michael Lovitt