Fidelio Quartet

[Narkis Eatman]

Finallynear the end of the opera there is another lovely quartet in which the various principals reflect on what has happened: Florestan freed, reunited with Leonora, and justice done. It is a pool of quietness before the rousing closing number. It ends at about 1:56:30.

Catalan director Calixto Bieito has instead placed the events in a modern setting of steel and glass, the prisoners being so-to-speak trapped in offices where they spend most of their lives. The set by Rebecca Ringst, cleverly lit by Tim Mitchell, shows a curious rear movement during the quartet in the first scene of Act I, and at the start of Act II it tilts backwards by 90 turning the previously open structure into an underground labyrinth.

Fine conducting by Edward Gardner, and the singing was excellent. Emma Bell sang with outstanding beauty as Leonora/ Fidelio, and Stuart Skelton was a hugely powerful Florestan, producing a fabulous long note as he revived. The whole cast brought out the essential life in this opera, with James Cresswell superb as Rocco the gaoler, Sarah Tynan entirely convincing as his daughter Marzelline, and a small but perfect contribution from Ronald Nairn as Second Prisoner.

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Anger is everywhere. Here in Australia we have experienced a rise in populist politics with many sections of the community feeling angry and disenfranchised. There is much ringing of hands and soul searching. Our government is desperately trying to address this by creating jobs at great expense to the environment.

As a cellist in a quartet, that link is clear. The quartets of Beethoven articulate an infinite colour chart of emotions. When joy is expressed, our soul recognises that emotion and we source it from within. When Beethoven creates regret or yearning, we are consoled and we are healed a little. He allows us to safely investigate feelings of darkness with the knowledge that they are shared with people who have listened to him for hundreds of years. We sit in a concert hall surrounded by people who have come for similar solace. We also feel part of a community which is a common need to all.

I believe that the journey of the Beethoven quartet cycle is the ultimate musical experience. Beethoven composed string quartets throughout his life making these 16 works a sincere journal of his intimate truths.

It is well known that Beethoven suffered a lot. There is much written about the misery of his health, his stomach ailments, his deafness and his mental health. Could it be that he wrote music with an innate knowledge of how to heal himself and his audience because he lived with such constant anguish?

In May we performed Beethoven's gargantuan Opus 132 Quartet. It felt exciting to perform in this brilliant new online platform in the shabby-chic Athenaeum. It had taken courage to entrust our performance to the multi-skilled sound engineer/cameraman, but it gave us the possibility of a potentially infinite audience.

While the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra had only recently been stood down, there was still a sense of optimism as COVID-19 case numbers were plummeting. We were ecstatic to work on the infinitesimal details of this late Beethoven quartet.

The lead-up to Friday's performance felt completely different. We were bewildered by sky-rocketing COVID-19 numbers, the imminent threat of stage 4 restrictions and the fact that it seemed only Victoria was in danger.

It felt that Beethoven recognised our despair, but did not distract us with hollow or trite reassurances. This work is in the darkest of keys, C sharp minor. It begins with a sobering fugue and ventures through seven wildly contrasting movements, culminating in the apocalyptical finale. In addition to the work's ground-breaking structure, this Quartet acts as a salve on the weary and anxious soul. Beethoven, whose 250th birthday we celebrate this year, is aware of our pain and presents it back to us in a way that heals.

As performers, we felt unusually nervous during Friday's sound check. It was as if all our pandemic anxiety was channelled into the bows' contact point on the string or in the flight of our left hands' fingers. There is no room for the self-indulgent expression of fear with dearest colleagues as it is dangerously contagious. We talked animatedly and all made reassuring noises to mask our fear.

When the performance began our thoughts of foreboding evaporated and a veil of energised peace descended upon the theatre. Musicians are usually empowered by their live audience's bliss; all united by the love of great art, voyaging through Beethoven's work together.

Without an audience, though, the performers have to tap into another source. Our anxiety had become the fuel to feed our performance. We felt intoxicated by a heightened sense of expression and sincerity.

The silence in the auditorium felt dense and textured, almost tactile. We had a larger palette of piano, enabling us to play so quietly and with such tenderness that it felt we were just one unit more than silence.

Last night I studied the score of our next project, Beethoven's Opus 127 Quartet. The work's finale exhibits a sunny warmth and felicity. Is this the quartet for the end of a pandemic, or the discovery of a vaccine?

Leah Mercer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Standing behind a lectern with script in view, the audience views the narrator differently from the singers who are wholly immersed in the physical act of performing these songs. This divide creates a striking contrast in embodiment.

There are many highlights throughout the evening. The quartet in act one, between Leonore (disguised as the boy Fidelio) (Christiane Libor), Marzelline (Felicitas Fuchs), Jaquino (Andrew Goodwin) and Rocco (Jonathan Lemalu), starts as a delicate interplay between Marzelline expressing her love for Fidelio and Leonore her fear of exposure. It builds into a complex overlap as the other characters join.

The thrilling complexity of juggling four concurrent points of view makes this quartet an early turning point where all the diverse elements seem to come together. The form settles. Or perhaps I just settle into the form.

Reviewed by: Fidelio Steve York Ludwig von Beethoven. Fidelio. DVD. Opernhaus Zrich Chorus and Orchestra / Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Recorded live at the Opernhaus Zrich on 1502 2004. With Camilla Nylund, Jonas Kaufmann, Gnther Groissbck, Alfred Muff, Lzl Polgr, Elizabeth Rae Magnuson, Christoph Strehl. Ratingen, Germany: TDK, 2005. DVUS-OPFID. $29.99. Zrich Opera's performance of Beethoven's only opera is minimalist in terms of staging and sets, which leaves the listener/ viewer to enjoy a fine overall vocal and orchestral performance. The well-prepared video production enhances the performance by emphasizing dramatic moments through creative camera work and close-ups.

Some of the most interesting video work appears during the well-known overture. We see close-up views of orchestral playing on cue as individual solos and sectional soli occur, and a unique view of the conductor from the musicians' vantage point. The orchestra's outstanding performance continues throughout, and thankfully, Harnoncourt does not allow them to overpower the singers.

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