Michael Tanner

Power to inspire

Fidelio<br /> Garsington Parthenogenesis<br /> Linbury

issue 20 June 2009

Fidelio
Garsington

Parthenogenesis
Linbury

Beethoven’s Fidelio is one of the most moving operas in the repertoire, but I’ve usually been more moved by it in concert than on stage. The gaucheries of its plot, which include, really, hardly having any plot — we encounter, after the relatively light opening, the embodiment of noble feminine determination, then the embodiment of powerful male malevolence, and in Act II when one confronts the other the result is instant victory for the Good, thanks to the convenient intervention of an oft-invoked...

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