FIDELIO: Beethoven At His Best

 Why must it take me months to write a review of an opera I go to see? 

Beethoven wrote only one opera, Fidelio, or the Triumph of Married Love.  This opera was in Development Hell and gave Beethoven the most grief.
     Fidelio is tough to stage because the exact time is not given (this one set it in the late 18th Century).  It has been described as more of a secular oratorio with its themes of freedom and liberation.  Some productions have set it in the 20th Century (one of them being set in South Africa). 

I will only give a brief summary of the plot.  Leanore has disguised herself as young man, taking the name Fidelio.  She recently got herself a job a at the prison where her husband Florestan has been wrongfully incarcerated.  With the help of the jailer Rocco, Leanore infiltrates the prison and finds her husband in the lowest dungeon.  Pizarro, the man who had Florestan captured in the first place tires to kill him, but Leanore reveals her identity and brandishes her pistol.  In the end, Leanore and Florestan reunite, she cuts the chains from his hands, and Pizarro is arrested by the king's men.  

I loved soprano Alexandra LoBianco as Leanore.  She wowed us two seasons ago with her portrayal of Mrs. Renato Anckarström in Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera.  And she brought down the house again this yearas Leanore.  I love the fact that she kept her long hair under her hat in order to really fool those around her, and it made revealing her true identity all the more thrilling.  Tenor Clay Hilly was rather stout for Florestan (the character being on starvation rations), but then again, you need all that extra support for bravura singing.  There were two more familiar faces: Baritone Kelly Markgraf (who was our Don Giovanni in '13), was a menacing Don Pizarro.  And bass-baritone Matt Boehler (who was Giovanni's servant Leprello), also was splendid as the jailer Rocco.  

Highlights of the opera include the Prisoners Chorus, Florestan's lament, and the Act 2 love duet.

If this is being performed again, it is a must see.