When people think of Beethoven, they don’t typically think of opera, but when they think of “Fidelio,” they inevitably think of Beethoven. That’s because it was the composer’s one and only opera, and it is, as one might expect, fraught with all the explosive emotion for which he is known.
Friday, Opera Omaha delivered a production filled with all the power typical of 19th-century Romanticism while presenting it with a contemporary twist, courtesy of sets and costumes designed by Jun Kaneko.
Originally performed in 1805, the opera focuses on Leonore, a woman who disguises herself as the titular Fidelio to free her husband, Florestan, who is secretly being held as a political prisoner. It is a story of extreme bravery, sacrifice and love as well as a political commentary on some of the events unfolding in Europe during Beethoven’s lifetime, but one that nevertheless resonates today.
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Wendy Bryn Harmer was superb as the courageous Leonore, and from beginning to end she set the tone for the entire production. The soprano has a big, strong, glorious voice, complex and perfect for the determined heroine. She was particularly heartbreaking when obeying the order to dig Florestan’s grave and again while ministering to him when she believes he is close to death.
Bryan Register as Florestan gave a moving performance, one filled with emotional and physical anguish that he expressed movingly with his rich, resonant tenor. He doesn’t appear until the second act, but he was commanding throughout. He has a powerful, gut-wrenching dynamism to his voice, the kind that keeps viewers transfixed.
Baritone Mark Walters played his foil Don Pizarro, the nobleman who has imprisoned Florestan, with mustache-twirling glee. His low growling voice was full of venom, his every movement sinister and foreboding. Bass-baritone Kevin Short provided the occasional comic relief as the decent but spineless prison guard Rocco, and when he sang the “Gravedigging Duet” with Fidelio, he perfectly underscored her bold courage contrasted against his own inaction.
A good number of people came not so much to see “Fidelio” as they did Kaneko’s designs. This is the second of three operas he’s designed, one that came between “Madama Butterfly” and “The Magic Flute.”
What was perhaps the artist’s most striking achievement was the set of “Fidelio.” Composed of a bifurcated black-and-white grid, it was visually compelling and replete with symbolism. It represented darkness versus light and evil versus good. It’s an obvious dichotomy, to be sure, but one that wasn’t heavy-handed, thanks to the spareness of the designs.
The costumes, on the other hand, proved less conceptually successful and distracted me at times from the opera itself. While the sets immersed me in the story, the costumes pulled me back out. For example, the prison uniforms recalled comic Italian Harlequins from the 16th century whereas the prison guard uniforms reminded me of 21st-century Disney minions.
As Opera Omaha’s season comes to a close, it seems fitting that it does so with a production featuring Kaneko’s designs. He has helped catapult Opera Omaha’s reputation internationally and paved the way for the company to stage increasingly daring and creatively innovative productions.