Opera Scotland

Fidelio 1970Scottish Opera

Read more about the opera Fidelio

Scottish Opera celebrated the Beethoven bi-centenary by mounting its first production of Fidelio. Peter Ebert again collaborated with the designers of last year’s Trojans, and Fidelio suited them far better. Charles Bristow's lighting also made a great effect, highlights being the Prisoners' Chorus, as they crawled from the stygian gloom of their cells to cluster under the grille-pattern of light coming in from above, as well as the final scene, as the back wall disappeared and the audience was dazzled by the sudden brightness as the crowd rushed in.

Ronald Dowd, last year’s Aeneas, also returned as Florestan, repeating a role he had sung on tour with Sadler’s Wells in 1959. The great talking point of the production was the first stage performance of Leonore by Helga Dernesch, even before she sang it with Karajan. At this stage her performance was effortlessly thrilling. Donald McIntyre was an appropriately domineering and chilling Pizarro, and Bill McCue also made a great impression, with Rocco becoming one of his most important roles, to be repeated and deepened over a number of revivals.