Rating: 
Summary: Amazing Mattila
Review: Another amazing thing about Karita Mattila is that she is so immersed in her character. After her Act 1 aria, there was an ecstatic uproar of applause. But she didn't even bat an eyelid - zero response. She just continued being Leonore and totally ignored the audience. It was as if the audience was 'sealed' off by a huge glass panel.
Rating: 
Summary: Charged with excitement and emotion
Review: but....hear me now and believe me later: KARITA MATTILA IS NO DRAMATIC SOPRANO!!!!!! Just like Hildegard Behrens, who was somehow convinced (wrongly) that she had a dramatic voice, Mattila is shifting her career towards the more dramatic repertoire, with mixed success. Her natural talent for acting and for conveying emotion with her vocal instrument works well for her in the lyric roles and gains her some sympathy in the dramatic roles. However, whenever presented with the true tests in the dramatic roles, she always falls short. Cases in point in this Fidelio: a) In her centerpiece of the first act, "Abscheulicher," Mattila's singing is so lovely and moving despite the stupid things she has to do with her hands. Even in the closing section "Ich folg dem innern Triebe," she moves along wonderfully. But then comes the clincher: In "Gattinliebe," the last word of the aria, she shrieks out the high B like a banshee, ruining the entire effect. Granted, hardly anyone can negotiate this note with power AND grace (Gwyneth Jones in the Karl Boehm film is the only singer I've ever heard do it perfectly) but Mattila's overextension is so obvious you want to convince her to go back to Rusalka; b) She sounds coarse in the demanding ensemble number that brings the first act to a close; c) In the second act, in the recognition scene, "Toet erst sein Weib" we have the same banshee howl (this time under pitch) on "Weib" that seems to define or be a calling card for her vocal limitations.
So, if Leonore had been written as a lyric role, Mattila would be astounding. She looks good in her chimney sweeper outfit, and fakes gay marriage really well. But, although she is slightly better than Soederstroem in the role, she falls woefully short in light of her great predecessors (Nilsson, Flagstad, Ludwig, and especially G. Jones). As is usually the case these days, we just have to settle.
Heppner is above average in what is basically a one-aria role. The sweetness of his voice and his ability to sustain the lyric phrases of the "In des Lebens Fruehlingstagen" are admirable. He gets somewhat carried away by emotion and falls out of step with Levine toward the climax of this second-act opener, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's a live thing.
Of the remaining cast, Rene Pape is the most satisfying, playing a curiously dissheveled and disoriented Rocco. He is vocally perfect for the role. Matthew Polenzani is the main casualty of the director's character re-thinking....he's bitter, petty, and aggressive, making you wonder why Marzelline would ever want him in the first place. Nice singing, though. Jennifer Welch-Babidge sounds a little fluttery, but her penetrating voice cuts through the ensembles even more than Mattila's (especially in the finale) and adds some much-needed treble. Falk Struckmann's is just a character voice, which falls short in delivering the required level of malice. Anyone from the chorus could have done as well. Robert Lloyd sounds like Kurt Moll with the flu.
It's obvious this staging has a German production team, for nearly all German Fidelios are unrelentingly gray and drab. The costumes in the finale are so haphazard and ugly that if the sound was off I wouldn't know if I was watching 'NYPD Blue' or 'Treemonisha.' (There are some REALLY lame attempts at jubilant dancing as well.) Luckily Levine and the Met orchestra and chorus provide such fine aural support throughout that the distastefulness of the sets and direction can be cheerily dismissed as one of those ubiquitous eurotrash concept stagings we're all required as modern operagoers to endure.
Rating:
Summary: Maravillosa funcion
Review: Con la llegada de este 'Fidelio' en dvd, esta opera de Beethoven vee la que es la mejor de sus versiones visuales con diferencia. El cast esta encabezado por una KARITA MATTILA impresionante por medios vocales (¡como canta su aria del acto I!) y por adecuacion escenica al personaje de Fidelio-Leonore. Sobresaliente para ella. El segundo sobresaliente se lo lleva el Don Pizarro de FALK STRUCKMAN, adecuadisimo a su personaje en lo fisico y en lo vocal. Fantástico. El tercer sobresaliente se lo lleva la soprano JENNIFER WELCH-BABIDGE, que consigue una Marzelline soberbia en lo vocal y coqueta en lo escenico. Bravisima. Notable para el Rocco de RENE PAPE, quiza algo joven de mas para hacer creible el papel en lo fisico, pero con muy interesantes medios en lo vocal. Otro notable para ROBERT LLOYD, un autentico lujo para Ferrando. Bien el Florestan de BEN HEPPNER (que mejora un poco tras un aria de entrada bastante discreta) y suficiente para la pequeña voz de MATHEW POLENZANI como Jaquino.
A buen nivel los cuerpos estables del Met, bajo la batuta de un JAMES LEVINE que impone tempos mas bien rapidos.
Muy interesante, inteligente y lograda la puesta en escena de JURGEN FLIMM, cuya actualizacion ayuda a la historia a ganar credibilidad.
En resumen, uno de los mejores dvd de cuantos han aparecido recientemente en el mercado. De compra obligatoria.
Rating:
Summary: F-I-D-E-L-I-O
Review: Fidelio is not an opera. It is Beethoven. There is also a curious fact associated with Fidelio. And that's this - it is a very difficult opera to bring off - both on record and in the theatre. But ... when one does bring it off (so to speak), the result is always a towering monument to Beethoven's genius.There are very few outstanding recordings of Fidelio but the outstanding ones always blow you away with the music. Just listen to Otto Klemperer's Classic 1962 Fidelio. Now at long last, we have a DVD-Video that can complement Klemperer's legendary set. This 2000 Metropolitan Opera performance blows every single Fidelio video away. It is the best performance of Fidelio ever captured on DVD. Even if you just look at the audio alone, it is a performance that is on par with Klemperer's 1962 performance. We are a lucky generation. Whether you like opera, or just Beethoven, or just Fidelio, or just music, this set is indispensable!! You must have it in your collection. I am not surprised that the Metropolitan Opera chose this 2000 performance over its other performances as the first in a series of new DVD-Video releases with Deutsche Grammophon. By the way, the famous Metropolitan 1999 Tristan Und Isolde featuring Jane Eaglen and Ben Hppner is out!! Delivers on Mar 9. Search for it on Amazon and buy it up too!!
Rating:
Summary: Don't even consider not buying this
Review: I also saw the broadcast, and I would echo the previous reviews, and add a few points. First of all, Mattila. Lord. What amazed me most of all from this very committed performance is her singing at the END of the opera -- you would have no clue that this woman had just finished one of the most punishing roles in the repertoire. Re the comments on Heppner: You know, the singing IS the acting. It is the unique thrill and excitement of the human voice that brings these characters to life. There are many more opera singers throughout history who couldn't act half of what Heppner brought to his role, much less fit the supposed physical requirements. People! Hello! If physique were actually important, we would have to throw out as unimportant all the contributions of Pavarotti, Caballe, Eaglen, Voigt, not to mention the greats of other times like Caruso, Gigli ... the list is impossibly long. Enough said. Finally, the aforementioned hopefully upcoming DVD of Tristan from the Met would have to be shelved, because the combined weight of the two stars easily tops 600 pounds -- and who the hell cares? It was the most eagerly anticipated Tristan of a generation, because here were two singers that could really do justice to the demands of the roles. Bring on Eaglen and Heppner!
Rating:
Summary: Worthwhile even for non-Fidelio fans
Review: I can't recall the first time I ever heard this score, since after a single listen I didn't want to hear it again (my apologies to those who adore it). Perhaps I fell into the myth of "this is Beethoven's only opera and you can see why" that some promote. In any case, it was only years later that I happened to see this production on PBS, and completely fell in love with it. Jürgen Flimm's towering gray walls seem destined for controversy, despite being handsomely designed and admirably well-suited for the story. The set may be grim to some, but to my eyes it provides a neutral background against which Karita Mattila and the rest of the cast emerge in vivid colors. Mattila is splendid in the lead role, and just sings and acts up a storm. (I doubt anyone on the operatic stage has ever eaten a banana with more aplomb.) Ben Heppner is also terrific, as are René Pape, Robert Lloyd, Jennifer Welch-Babidge and Matthew Polenzani. Only Falk Struckmann, to me, disappoints slightly with some forced-sounding tone, but even he summons such stage presence that I didn't really mind. This is one of the best-acted operatic productions I've seen in quite awhile. James Levine gives a fleet performance of the score and draws magnificent playing out of the Met Orchestra, which has been praised to the skies and justifiably so. The Met Chorus, attired in Florence von Gerkan's atmospherically gray uniforms, also gives its heartfelt all, especially in the renowned "Prisoner's Chorus" that should stir even the most apathetic of viewers. The sound quality on the DVD is superb. The filming, by Brian Large, puts you right in the middle of the action when needed, but with plenty of long shots of the large group numbers, which are thrillingly staged. Highly recommended for many reasons.
Rating:
Summary: Worthwhile even for non-Fidelio fans
Review: I can't recall the first time I ever heard this score, since after a single listen I didn't want to hear it again (my apologies to those who adore it). Perhaps I fell into the myth of "this is Beethoven's only opera and you can see why" that some promote. In any case, it was only years later that I happened to see this production on PBS, and completely fell in love with it. Jürgen Flimm's towering gray walls seem destined for controversy, despite being handsomely designed and admirably well-suited for the story. The set may be grim to some, but to my eyes it provides a neutral background against which Karita Mattila and the rest of the cast emerge in vivid colors. Mattila is splendid in the lead role, and just sings and acts up a storm. (I doubt anyone on the operatic stage has ever eaten a banana with more aplomb.) Ben Heppner is also terrific, as are René Pape, Robert Lloyd, Jennifer Welch-Babidge and Matthew Polenzani. Only Falk Struckmann, to me, disappoints slightly with some forced-sounding tone, but even he summons such stage presence that I didn't really mind. This is one of the best-acted operatic productions I've seen in quite awhile. James Levine gives a fleet performance of the score and draws magnificent playing out of the Met Orchestra, which has been praised to the skies and justifiably so. The Met Chorus, attired in Florence von Gerkan's atmospherically gray uniforms, also gives its heartfelt all, especially in the renowned "Prisoner's Chorus" that should stir even the most apathetic of viewers. The sound quality on the DVD is superb. The filming, by Brian Large, puts you right in the middle of the action when needed, but with plenty of long shots of the large group numbers, which are thrillingly staged. Highly recommended for many reasons.
Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: I need not say anything more than this DVD is excellent.
Buy it without hesitation!
Rating:
Summary: Makes Fidelio meaningful
Review: I too saw this Metropolitan opera production on TV. It is further proof that the production can make all the difference. It also shows that anachronistic productions can make preeminent sense. My first experience of Fidelio was an older, traditional production on VHS, I believe from Glyndenbourne. It left wondering why Fidelio was in the repertoire.
This production helped me to understand. It is set somewhere between 1950 and 1970, judging by the dress and guns, in a unidentified fascist state.
The only weak spot in the casting is that Florestan (played by Heppner?) is not physically convincing as a starving prisoner. But his singing is fine. Other characterizations are superb. Pizarro (played by someone I don't recognize) is suitably evil. Mattila deserves all the praise in the top review.
Rating:
Summary: Let me join in the fun!!
Review: I'll join in the fun!! I must say I agree that Mattila is amazing at the end. Her singing is so fresh that if you walked into the opera house at the end, you would not have known that she had been singing some really taxing music for the past 1 hour or so. And I agree that if the singer can sing - WHO REALLY CARES about the physique! It helps if the singer is slim. I've heard Eaglen 'live'. Her voice is HUGE!! When she unleashes the full power of her voice, she can lift you off your seat!! I believe she has the most powerful dramatic soprano voice since Birgit Nilsson, only it is warmer than Nilsson. And yes, the 1999 Met Tristan Und Isolde IS coming out. The Deutsche Grammophon website says January 2004 but I think there may be a delay. This 2000 Met Fidelio was slated for Oct 2003 but finally released online only in Nov 2003. So GOOD NEWS for opera lovers, look out for the Met 1999 Tristan in Feb 2004 or Mar 2004. Yes, finally BOTH Tristan AND Isolde captured in their prime. (On record, Nilsson is always singing with a weak Tristan, and Vickers with a weak Isolde - when Nilsson & Vickers come together, teh engineers had to ruin things by producing a horrid sound quality. Varnay and Flagstad were legends but they never recorded it in stereo). So the upcoming Tristan Und Isolde is one of the most eagerly anticipated ever!!! One more good news. The 1995 Met Otello telecast featuring Placido Domingo as Otello and Renee Fleming as Desdemona is also coming out!!! It should come out Mar 2004. FINALLY, after years of many lousy recordings flooding the market, we have all these SUPERB performances coming out from the Met next to each other. One can only hope that they tape down Karita Mattila's Salome at the Met this year! Some people say it is the best since Ljuba Welitsch!! Oooops! I realized I should be reviewing Fidelio. Well, let me just confirm the positive comments of all the reviewers before me. And yes, if you like opera, DON'T even THINK about not getting this Fidelio.
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