Fidelio Is April 1, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: The April 1, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is Fidelio, a music drama that rates as Ludwig van Beethoven’s only opera.

Adrianne Pieczonka appears as Leonore, who disguises herself as errand boy Fidelio in order to rescue her imprisoned husband, in the 2016-2017 Met Opera season's production of Beethoven's Fidelio: Adrianne Pieczonka @pieczonka_a, via Twitter March 9, 2017

Fidelio, a two-act German music drama representing the only opera by German composer and pianist Ludwig van Beethoven (bapt. Dec. 17, 1770-March 26, 1827), is the April 1, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast.

Beethoven’s two-act opera exemplifies a form of German music drama known as Singspiel (“sing-play”), pluralized as Singspiele. As with the French tradition of operas comiques (“comic operas”), Singspiele mingle spoken dialogue with instrumental and vocal music.

Austrian librettist Joseph Ferdinand Sonnleithner (March 3, 1766-Dec. 25, 1835) wrote the German libretto for Beethoven’s only opera. The libretto’s literary source is a French libretto, Léonore, ou L’Amour Conjugal, by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly (Jan. 24, 1763-April 14, 1842). Bouilly retired from his career as a French Revolution-era (May 5, 1789-Nov. 9, 1799) administrator and politician to concentrate on librettos and plays.

Bouilly’s libretto inspired a two-act opera by French operatic tenor and composer Pierre Gaveaux (Oct. 9, 1761-Feb. 5, 1825). Gaveaux’s opera premiered Feb. 19, 1798 at the now-defunct, neoclassical-styled Théâtre Feydeau in Paris’s second arrondissement (2e arrondissement de Paris).

Beethoven’s score, with Sonnleithner’s libretto, premiered Nov. 20, 1805, as a three-act opera entitled Leonore, oder Der Triumph der ehelichen Liebe ("Leonore, or The Triumph of Married Love"). The venue was the Empire-styled Theater an der Wien (“Theatre on the Banks of the Wien River”) in Vienna, northeastern Austria.

Theater an der Wien billed the opera as Fidelio to distinguish Beethoven’s version from Gaveaux’s opera as well as from Leonora ossia L’Amore Coniugale (“Leonora or Conjugal Love”) by Italian opera and oratorio composer Ferdinando Paer (July 1, 1771-May 3, 1839). Italian librettist Giovanni Schmidt (ca. 1775-ca. after 1839) based his two-act, Italian libretto upon Bouilly’s French libretto. Paer’s Leonora premiered Oct. 3, 1804, at the Kleines Kurfürstliches Theater in Dresden, Saxony, east central Germany.

Beethoven’s opera underwent two major revisions. In 1806, Beethoven shortened the title of the published libretto to Leonore and, in collaboration with German librettist Stephan von Breuning (Aug. 17, 1774-June 4, 1827), shortened the libretto to two acts. In 1814, German librettist Georg Friedrich Treitschke (Aug. 29, 1776-June 4, 1842) finessed the libretto.

Theater an der Wien has persisted as the title of Beethoven’s unique opera. Current convention recognizes both the 1805 three-act original and the 1806 two-act revision as Leonore. Fidelio distinguishes the final 1814 revision.

Fidelio’s setting is the late 18th century. The drama unfolds at a Spanish state prison a few miles from Seville in southern Spain. This season’s Metropolitan Opera production places Fidelio in an unspecified contemporary setting.

The Saturday matinee broadcast of Fidelio begins at 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (5 p.m. Coordinated Universal Time). The estimated run time for the performance is about 2 hours 33 minutes.

The opera, sung in the original German, comprises two acts and one intermission.

Act I is timed for 73 minutes. A 33-minute intermission succeeds Act I.

Act II is timed for 47 minutes. The opera ends with Act II’s final notes.

Sebastian Weigle conducts all of the Metropolitan Opera’s performances of Fidelio. His birthplace is Berlin, northeastern Germany. The German conductor debuted in the Metropolitan Opera’s 2000 production of Die Zauberflöte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791). This season Sebastian Weigle also conducts Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Georg Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sept. 8, 1949).

Adrianne Pieczonka appears as Leonore, who disguises herself as errand boy Fidelio to access her husband Florestan. She was born in Burlington, southern Ontario, east central Canada. The Canadian soprano debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2004 as Lisa in The Queen of Spades by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (May 7, 1840-Nov. 6, 1893).

Klaus Florian Vogt appears as Florestan, Leonore’s politically imprisoned husband. His birthplace is Heide, Schleswig-Holstein, northernmost Germany. The German operatic tenor debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2006 in the title role of Lohengrin by Wilhelm Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883).

Falk Struckmann appears as the jailer, Rocco. He was born in Heilbronn, northern Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. The German operatic bass-baritone debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1997 in the title role of Wozzeck by Austrian composer Alban Berg (Feb. 9, 1885-Dec. 24, 1935).

Hanna-Elisabeth Müller debuts at the Metropolitan Opera this season as Rocco’s daughter, Marzelline, who is infatuated with Leonore in her guise as Fidelio. The German soprano’s birthplace is Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany.

David Portillo appears as Rocco’s assistant, Jaquino, who is in love with the jailer’s daughter. The American tenor was born in San Antonio, Texas.

Greer Grimsley appears as Don Pizarro, governor of the prison in which he has secretly imprisoned his enemy, Florestan. His birthplace is New Orleans, southeastern Louisiana. The American bass-baritone debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1994 as Captain Balstrode in Peter Grimes by Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (Nov. 22, 1913-Dec. 4, 1976). This season Greer Grimsley also appears as Jochanaan in Richard Strauss’s Salome.

Günther Groissböck appears as Don Fernando, the King’s minister who frees Florestan and imprisons Don Pizarro. He was born in Waidhofen an der Ybbs, Lower Austria, northeastern Austria. The Austrian bass debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2010 as Colline in La Bohème by Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924). This season Günther Groissböck also appears as Baron Ochs in Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier.

Günther Groissböck shares the role of Don Fernando with American bass-baritone opera singer James Morris this season. Born in Baltimore, north central Maryland, James Morris debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1971 as the King in Aida by Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901). This season James Morris also appears as Ramfis in Aida.

Operabase, an online database, finds that, in the five seasons from 2011/2012 to 2015/16, Ludwig van Beethoven, composer of one single opera, placed 27th in a ranking of 1,281 most popular composers. Beethoven’s single opera, Fidelio, places at 37, with 560 performances worldwide, in the list of 2,658 most popular operas.

The takeaway for Fidelio as the April 1, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is the musical and thematic appeal of Ludwig van Beethoven’s solitary contribution to the opera repertoire.

Leonore (Adrianne Pieczonka) and her politically imprisoned husband, Florestan (Klaus Florian Vogt) in Beethoven's Fidelio: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Twitter March 20, 2017

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Adrianne Pieczonka appears as Leonore, who disguises herself as errand boy Fidelio in order to rescue her imprisoned husband, in the 2016-2017 Met Opera season's production of Beethoven's Fidelio: Adrianne Pieczonka @pieczonka_a, via Twitter March 9, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/pieczonka_a/status/839886270914572288

Leonore (Adrianne Pieczonka) and her politically imprisoned husband, Florestan (Klaus Florian Vogt) in Beethoven's Fidelio: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Twitter March 20, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/843846676813176832

For further information:

Adrianne Pieczonka @pieczonka_a. "Having fun as Leonore in rehearsal for Fidelio @MetOpera. Wonderful cast and crew in sunny NY!" Twitter. March 9, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/pieczonka_a/status/839886270914572288

Bouilly, Jean-Nicolas. Léonore, ou L’Amour Conjugal, Fait Historique, en Deux Actes et en Prose Melée de Chants. Paroles de J.N. Bouilly, Musique de P. Gaveaux, Représentée Pour la Première Fois à Paris, sur le Théâtre Feydeau, le Ier Ventôse, an 6e de la République Française. Paris, France: Barba, An Septième (1798).
Available via Gallica -- The BnF (Bibliothèque nationale de France) Digital Library @ http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k849780.pdf
Available via Project Gutenberg @ http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24546/24546-h/24546-h.htm

"Composers: Composers Ranked by the Number of Performances of Their Operas Over the Five Seasons 2011/2012 to 2015/16." Operabase > Opera Statistics.
Available @ http://operabase.com/top.cgi?lang=en

“Debut: Greer Grimsley.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 318860 Peter Grimes {56} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/23/1994.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=318860

Metropolitan Opera. "The 2016-17 Live in HD Season." YouTube. July 11, 2016.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEUgcdapvKg

Metropolitan Opera. “Fidelio: ‘Gott! Welch’ Dunkel hier!’” YouTube. March 15, 2017. Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S8KiFOwyUs

Metropolitan Opera. “Fidelio: ‘Ich folg’ dem innern Triebe.’” YouTube. March 16, 2017. Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI8dL_duzo0

Metropolitan Opera. “Fidelio: ‘Nur hurtig fort, nur frisch gegraben.’” YouTube. March 15, 2017. Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA89ZZRzc0M

Metropolitan Opera. “Fidelio: ‘O namenlose Freude!’” YouTube. March 15, 2017. Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV_kFB7LtDE

Metropolitan Opera. “Fidelio: ‘O namenlose Freude!’ (Part 2).” YouTube. March 15, 2017. Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNUqJt5oROc

Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "'Spruce and Taut, the Met Opera’s ‘Fidelio’ Looks Good at 17' http://nyti.ms/2ns2VFj #Fidelio is on stage tonight, 3/20." Twitter. March 20, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/843846676813176832

“Noble Woman.” The Metropolitan Opera > Discover > Articles > Interviews. Feb. 23, 2017.
Available @ http://www.metopera.org/Discover/Articles/Interviews/noble-woman/