Simply, Fidelio tells the story of a woman who disguises herself as a male prison guard in order to free her wrongly-imprisoned husband.
This performance features: 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
Photo: Supplied by APO
The setting is a prison a few miles out of Seville, in Spain, in the late eighteenth century. A liberal nobleman, Florestan, has disappeared and it’s rumoured that he is dead. But his wife Leonore refuses to give up on him and has tracked him down to a prison run by his old enemy, Don Pizarro, whose political corruption Florestan was going to expose. So Leonore disguises herself as a man, taking the name Fidelio, and she gets a job as prison guard in the very prison in which Florestan has been held and starved for the last two years.
The first act opens with Marzelline, the daughter of the jailer Rocco, squabbling with Jaquino who wishes to marry her. She has fallen for the new prison assistant, Fidelio. Leonore, as Fidelio, has to go along with Marzelline's attentions to a certain extent to maintain her disguise.
Rocco misinterprets Leonore's muted response to Marzelline as a sign of mutual attraction and tells the two of them that they can be married as soon as the governor Don Pizarro has left for Seville.
A March plays as Don Pizarro enters with the prison guards. Rocco informs him that the Minister Don Fernando will be making a surprise visit to investigate the accusations against Pizarro. Pizarro decides that Florestan must be killed immediately and he offers Rocco money to do it. Rocco refuses and Pizarro decides to do it himself, but Rocco must dig the grave.
Leonore overhears Don Pizarro's plot and is agitated but hopes to rescue her husband.
She encourages Rocco to allow the prisoners to come outside into the prison garden to feel the sun - an unprecedented privilege. Then she and Rocco prepare to descend to the deepest dungeon where Florestan is incarcerated to dig his grave.
The second act opens in Florestan's dungeon where he sings of his trust in God. He then sees a vision of his wife coming to save him. Exhausted, he falls asleep and Rocco and Leonore (in disguise as Fidelio) enter to dig his grave.
Florestan wakes up and Leonore recognises him but doesn't identify herself to him. He begs for a message to be sent to his wife but Rocco declines.
As ordered, Rocco sounds an alarm to alert Don Pizarro that the grave is ready.
Don Pizarro arrives and reveals himself to Florestan as his old enemy. He draws a dagger to kill Florestan but Leonore jumps from the shadows brandishing a gun to stop him.
A trumpet fanfare announces the arrival of the government minister Don Fernando. Pizarro's plot is foiled; Leonore reveals herself to her husband and they sing a joyful duet of victory.
In the final scene, the chorus sings to the day of justice and everything his wrapped up. Don Pizarro is led away in chains and Leonore unlocks Florestan's fetters.
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
