Hans Knappertsbusch’s Fidelio had the misfortune (or good fortune, depending on your point of view) to appear about the same time as Klemperer’s superior EMI rival. Still, this one’s admirable qualities cannot be discounted. The chorus, for one, sings with the utmost clarity and beauty of tone. As Florestan, Jan Peerce sounds even more youthful, expressive, and responsive than his younger counterpart in the famous 1944 Toscanini broadcast. Compare the ringing beauty and pathos of his Act 2 opening aria with Jon Vickers in the Klemperer set, and you’ll swear that Peerce was the younger singer rather than Vickers’ senior by 23 years! On the other hand, Sena Jurinac’s voice doesn’t command Leonore’s taxing Abscheulicher as effortlessly as she did the less difficult role of Marzelline in the 1953 Furtwängler EMI recording, but her involvement and authority still leap out at you. Dezsö Ernster’s competent, well-sung Rocco doesn’t match Gottlob Frick’s more three-dimensional portrayal of the jailer for Klemperer, but if you envision the evil Don Pizarro as a precursor to Wagner’s Alberich, Gustav Neidlinger’s venomous assumption fits the bill.
You can listen through the good but not quite outstanding orchestra to enjoy the singing, but don’t look for “granitic splendor”, “conceptual breadth”, or “grand architecture” in Knappertsbusch’s conducting: it ain’t there! Instead, you’ll encounter dutiful timebeating, little of Klemperer’s characterful phrase pointing and linear organization, and tempos that aren’t just slower than quicksand, but dogged, draggy, and dull as dustbunnies. How Maria Stader copes with, or even agreed to Kna’s schlumpy pace for Marzelline’s aria is anyone’s guess, although she certainly sings it well enough. Even stranger is the Act 2 Florestan and Leonore duet O namenlose Freude. Now if this really and truly represents Beethoven’s Allegro vivace directive, then I’m a mongoose! Then again, conductor and orchestra totally come alive for Abscheulicher. Go figure. Unless you have a particular interest in one or more of the above singers, your reference Fidelios still remain Klemperer or Bernstein.
