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Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra: Opera in Concert - Fidelio

Auckland Philharmonia Orchesta, Opera in Concert - Fidelio

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Photo: Supplied by APO

Programme:

BEETHOVEN: Fidelio

Kirstin Sharpin (Leonore), Simon O'Neill (Florestan), Phillip Rhodes (Don Pizarro), Paul Whelan (Rocco), Natasha Wilson (Marzelline), Oliver Sewell (Jaquino), James Ioelu (Don Fernando), Freemasons New Zealand Opera Chorus, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Giordano Bellincampi

The liberal nobleman Florestan has disappeared. The rumour is that he is dead. His wife Leonore refuses to give up on him and has tracked him down to a prison run by his old enemy, Don Pizarro. How can she save him? By getting inside the walls – disguised as a young man called Fidelio.

Beethoven’s central belief was his faith in humanity. His only opera celebrates the power of love, personified by Leonore’s courage and self-sacrifice. And it celebrates the triumph of freedom over oppression, encapsulated in the unforgettable Prisoners’ Chorus, where the men emerge in chains from darkness into the light.

Giordano Bellincampi conducts an all-star cast, led by New Zealand sensations Kirstin Sharpin and Simon O’Neill, in a work where political and ethical concerns are as true and as urgent for us today as they were for Beethoven.

In this semi-staged production directed by Jacqueline Coats, the original spoken dialogs are replaced by a linking narration from the jailer Rocco (Paul Whelan), in the form of a witness statement given after the events have taken place.

Libretto of Fidelio in German and English (pdf)

Recorded by RNZ Concert in Auckland Town Hall, 8 May 2021
Sound Engineer: Adrian Hollay
Producer: Tim Dodd