Today is the last day! I'm sad; I've really enjoyed this challenge. Anyway, for the Grand Finale, we are going to discuss finales.
Best Finale: Fidelio Finale
Why? Because in terms of sheer joy and jubilation, Fidelio's finale cannot be beat. Musically, it's the sister of the Ninth Symphony and the Messa Solemnis, with its shift from jubilation to quiet contemplation and back to jubilation. From the beginning, when the newly freed prisoners sing their joy and praise; to the middle, when Rocco explains Florestan's plight; to Pizarro's rapid fall; to the final hymn of praise and love, this finale is so intensely emotional as to pale all the others by comparison. Florestan is so immensely proud of his wife and what she did for him that he simply cannot contain himself, crying out, "Deine Treu’ erhielt mein Leben...Wer ein holdes Weib errungen, stimm’ in unsern Jubel ein!": "Your love saved my life...Who holds a lovely wife join in [my] song of praise!" And Leonore, who has been to hell and back emotionally, sings an utterly ecstatic, "Florestan ist wieder mein!": "Florestan is mine again!" And although these two characters face a difficult future (Florestan, at least, is thisclose to death from starvation), you know that they are certain of each other, and that everything will be all right.
2 comments:
Thanks for all the entertainment over the past few weeks - specially loved your being Seiglinde and having Seigmund/JK's child in a round-a-bout way..........
I agree with you about Fidelio - it is very wonderful and a touching ideal of love, but a bit choral for me.
And thanks for posting that recording, which I didn't know.
How about the finale of Gounod's Faust - Marguerite's mad vision of angels and ascent into heaven is pretty stirring stuff. As it will be (inshallah...) at the Met in October with The Remarkable One. I saw Angela Georghiou in 2004 in London - she was fantastic (with Bryn), heaving her whole body into those ascending notes.
Did you see the Waldbuhne Fernsehen transmission on the 16th, with Netrebko, Schrott and JK? They rather hammed it up, but it was pretty good.
Nie wird es zu hoch gesungen! I'd say that "Contessa, perdono" etc. from Nozze might equal it in intense, profound emotion... but Fidelio is still my favorite. :)
Faust still feels like a somewhat singer-dependent opera to me... but with Kaufmann and Pape in the fall, I am pretty excited (ahem, understatement.) Fingers crossed re: Poplavskaya. One thing's for sure: the conclusion of the seduction scene will never have seemed more inevitable.
Congrats on completing the Opera Challenge, Christie! It's made for fun reading!
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