Organization

Singer

Reinhard Mayr

No role specified

Matti Salminen

Christoph Strehl

Conductor

Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Stage director

Jürgen Flimm

Gudrun Hartmann

Set designer

Rolf Glittenberg

Costume designer

Marianne Glittenberg

Lighting designer

Jakob Schlossstein

Chorus master

Ernst Raffelsberger

Tenor

Jonas Kaufmann

Florestan

Soprano

Camilla Nylund

Leonore

Baritone

Alfred Muff

Don Pizzaro

Bass

László Polgár

Rocco

Jaquino

Elizabeth Magnuson

Marzelline

Boguslaw Bidzinski

First prisoner

Gabriel Bermúdez

Second prisoner

Günther Groissböck

Don Fernando

Opernhaus Zürich

Others

Chor der Oper Zürich

Orchestra

Philharmonia Zürich

German

Fidelio

Zurich

Switzerland

Opernhaus

Fidelio by Beethoven, from Zurich Opera, 2004. Directed by Jürgen Flimm, conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, starring Jonas Kaufmann, Alfred Muff, László Polgár, Christoph Strehl, Gabriel Bermúdez, Camillia Nylund, Elizabeth Rae Maguson and Boguslaw Bidzinski. Performed in German.

This stellar production of Beethoven's Fidelio—the sole opera by the universally beloved composer born 250 years ago—stands out from the pack. First, it features a young Jonas Kaufmann in 2004, near the beginning of his meteoric rise to superstardom thanks to the qualities already on full display here: a dark and stentorian tenor voice, remarkable acting capacities, and a seemingly effortless expressiveness that make him a perfect fit for the iconic roles he would go on to embody, not least of which is Florestan.

But even the greatest soloist cannot make an opera work on his own—and the unique alchemy here between Jürgen Flimm's minimalist staging and Nikolaus Harnoncourt's expert musical approach focuses the drama's power on the ineffable power of love, rather than just on philosophy or politics. Fidelio tells the story of Leonora (soprano Camilla Nylund, in one of the roles that launched her to international success like Kaufmann), who disguises herself as a man (Fidelio, "faithful one”), to rescue her husband (Florestan), unjustly imprisoned by his enemy Pizarro (here, a powerful Alfred Muff) and guarded by the warden Rocco (a worthy László Pólgár). Fittingly, the original title of the opera was Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love...

Fidelio by Beethoven, From (2004/2004), Directed by Jürgen Flimm, Gudrun Hartmann,, Conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Opernhaus, Zurich, Switzerland

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