This is a really well sung, nicely conceived, Classical reading of Beethoven’s great Fidelio. Lying somewhere between all of Furtwängler’s recordings and Klemperer’s monumental, darkly hued, dramatic-voiced (the dusky-toned Vickers and Ludwig) reading and Harnoncourt’s chamberish interpretation (with the lighter-voiced Peter Seiffert and Charlotte Margiono), Michael Halász leads a brisk performance with what seems to be a not-quite full-sized orchestra and emphasizes the humanity of our hero and heroine – a pair of regular types who rise heroically to the occasion. Both Nielsen and Winbergh are Scandinavian, and the typically bright northern sounds they make are most welcome, particularly since they sing every note, pay attention to the words and seem geniunely involved. Their sounds qua sound may not be heroic, but their singing of their individual arias and the notoriously thorny “O namenlose Freude” certainly is. Alan Titus’s big voice almost solves the problems in Pizarro’s clumsily composed music (does anyone sound comfortable in this role?) and Kurt Moll’s luxurious bass is almost too golden for Rocco, though he plays the bumpkin well. Pecoraro and Lienbacher are a nice Jaquino and Marzelline, but the singer who tries to get his frayed voice around Don Fernando’s music is so bad that it could be seen as a political statement. The chorus is concerned and intense when needed, and the same might be said for the orchestra. Perhaps not a Fidelio to stun one’s senses, but I’ll be happy to return to it again and again, particularly for our leading man and lady.
