Beethoven: Fidelio
The German stage director Jürgen Flimm – and his design team of Robert Israel and Florence von Gerkan – have set the opera in the second half of the 20th century and have costumed the action decidedly on the American side of the Atlantic Ocean. Such an approach follows the line of Flimm’s other contemporary opera successes – for example his current Bayreuth Ring (premiered in 2000) or his 2001 Otello at the Berlin Staatsoper. Modernising the period does not become updating for its own sake. Rather, the actions and behaviour of the characters cunningly align contemporary manners with the existing prescriptions of a “period” libretto.
Karita Mattila · Ben Heppner · René Pape · Falk Struckmann Robert Lloyd · Matthew Polenzani · Jennifer Welch-Babidge
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus · James Levine
Production: Jürgen Flimm · Set Design: Robert Israel Costume Design: Florence von Gerkan