Sunday and Monday, April 13 and 14, Lakeside Little Theatre (LLT) will present a filmed version of Ludwig Van Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio.
Fidelio tells the dramatic tale of Leonore–played by internationally acclaimed soprano Lise Davidsen–who, disguised as a prison guard named “Fidelio,” rescues her husband Florestan from death in a political prison.
Beethoven scholar Winton Dean described Fidelio as one of the “heroic” operas of the early 1800s. He explained how such works included “the background of domestic realism tinged with comedy, the superposition of a heroic or patriotic story involving violence and often a spectacular catastrophe, a happy end produced not by a deus ex machina [an unexpected, outside power] but by an act of superhuman courage, a strong ethical content tending to divide the characters into sheep and goats: this was the pattern of rescue opera ... Beethoven adopted it lock, stock, and barrel.”
Met Live praised the work: “Fidelio’s unusual structure, glorious score, and life-affirming aura make it a unique experience. It has been called a hymn to freedom and human dignity.”
This production of Fidelio was filmed live at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, and will be shown with LLT’s state of the art projection and sound systems with English subtitles. All shows begin at 4 p.m. Tickets, 350 pesos, are available at lakesidelittletheatre.com and before the shows at the box office. Anyone showing a Mexican INE at the box office will receive a 100-peso discount.