By early March tickets were beginning to appear for events that had originally sold out, as people became anxious about the risk of contagion. One such ticket was a good (and hence expensive) one for Fidelio at the Royal Opera House, which my husband snapped up for the end of a day when he had to visit London.
The main attraction in this case was the stellar cast with Jonas Kaufmann and Lise Davidsen. The latter is new on the scene but is the real deal vocally and can act convincingly. She was also the tallest person on stage, not so much of a problem here in what is largely a trouser role. Kaufmann is always worth hearing, although in fact his role is not so large. Georg Zeppenfeld made Rocco into a convincingly complex character. The singing was of a high standard throughout, and Pappano’s generally fast tempi worked.
The production however was rather odd. The period was uncertain though Tricolors were in evidence, perhaps left over from Andrea Chénier? In the second part Florestan was chained to a rock while the chorus sat around in semicircular rows of chairs, rather as in WNO’s Moses und Aron. More distracting was the projection behind of individual faces from the chorus. This sort of use of the backdrop is very much a current fashion in opera, but has to be handled carefully.
You can catch a broadcast for another month on BBC Sounds.