FIDELIO
Ludwig van Beethoven
Event details
27 June - 22 July 2025
Fidelio is a blazing musical protest against oppression that signals Beethoven’s implicit belief that humanity will eventually triumph over injustice and tyranny. John Cox’s iconic production of Beethoven’s only opera returns with Jamie Manton as revival director and Gary McCann’s striking design.
Based on real events, the opera deals with the highest ideals of truth and justice. Florestan has been wrongfully imprisoned and his wife, Leonore, determined against all the odds to rescue him, disguises herself as a man and finds work at the prison where she believes him to be confined. Her unflinching courage and fidelity in agonising circumstances inspired some of Beethoven’s greatest music.
Sung in German with English supertitles
27 June - 22 July 2025
27 June - 22 July 2025
Cast & Creative Team
Cast
Florestan
Robert Murray
Leonore
Sally Matthews
Don Pizarro
Musa Ngqungwana
Rocco
Jonathan Lemalu
Marzelline
Isabelle Peters
Jaquino
Oliver Johnston
Don Fernando
Richard Burkhard
First Prisoner
Alfred Mitchell
Second Prisoner
Wonsick Oh
Creative Team
Conductor
Douglas Boyd
Original Director
John Cox
Revival Director
Jamie Manton
Designer
Gary McCann
Lighting Designer
Ben Pickersgill
Garsington Opera Chorus
The English Concert
Reviews
★★★★★
“…an evening of ambitious staging, superb singing and fascinating playing”
Melanie Eskenazi, Music OMH, 28 June
★★★★★
“South African bass-baritone Musa Ngqungwana is an imposing Don Pizarro … and his “Ha! Welch ein Augenblick!” is a thunderous showcase for his talents”
Adrian York, LondonUnattached.com, 28 June
★★★★
“Douglas Boyd conducts The English Concert with urgency and spirit, and it’s always a pleasure to hear Beethoven played on period instruments”
Marc Berman, Playtosee.com, 1 July
“As Rocco, the jailor, a full-toned Jonathan Lemalu is as sensitive as he is strong-voiced, with an enviable ease that’s an object session in relaxed physical and vocal confidence”
David Benedict, The Stage, 30 June
“What Garsington’s excellent, unpretentious production – originally devised in 2009 by John Cox and directed in this revival by Jamie Manton – achieves is clarity of storytelling”
Simon Heffer, The Telegraph, 6 July
“Douglas Boyd exerted authority over both the score and the band of The English Concert from the opening bars of the Overture … Perfectly pitched horns in their perilously exposed duet inspired further confidence, and proved a harbinger of consistently first-class playing”
Peter Quantrill, Bachtrack, 1 July
“Always impressive, the formidable house chorus – directed by Jonathon Cole-Swinard – brought gravity and passion to this iconic scene”
Boyd Tonkin, The Arts Desk, 30 June
“As Don Pizarro, Musa Ngqungwana was imposing in presence and thoughtful in approach”
Richard Whitehouse, Arcana, 30 June