Beethoven - Fidelio / Benacková · Rolfe Johnson · Vogel · I. Raimondi · Ainsley · Wilson-Johnson · Sir Charles Mackerras

There are several good recordings of Beethoven's only opera--most notably, perhaps, those of Otto Klemperer and Wilhelm Furtwangler, both intensely dedicated--in their different ways--to bringing out the music's nobility and idealism. I would not want to be without either one, but they do not exhaust possible approaches to this masterpiece. Mackerras offers an exciting alternative from the crackling first chords of the overture: high energy, dramatic tension, and strong narrative flow in this story of a political prisoner, persecuted and condemned to death, whose wife disguises herself as a man to gain access to his dungeon. The singing and playing are first-class, and vivid recording heightens the excitement. --Joe McLellan