Infidelio: A Mystery on an Operatic Scale: 6 (Mysteries on an Operatic Scale)

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We’re in the 17th century. A Fortress has been converted into a prison where Don Pizarro keeps political prisoners.

In December 1945 it was the first Opera to perform in Berlin in the only theater still standing after the war, Theater des Westens. So the plan is as follows. Rocco is going to dig a grave. Then Pizarro will enter in disguise, kill Florestan with one blow, and throw him into the tomb.

The BBC programme inspired us to take a fresh look at her career, life and colourful, unconventional personality. We’re fortunate to have been able to talk to three of her children — Rose and Tess who live in London and Conrad who is based in Melbourne. They were kind enough to relay their unique, personal recollections of their mother, who was often known as Liz or Betty. And we spoke to one of her former pupils Robert Saxton, now Fellow and Tutor in Music at Worcester College, Oxford University, who remembers her fondly. ‘Liz was my teacher for four years — most lessons lasting at least five hours! — then we remained friends,’ he says. ‘I proofread for her and she, my parents and then my wife, Teresa, all got on very well. she is often thought of, and admired, as the first 20-Century British composer to use serial technique. Thirty years after her death, a clearer perspective reveals that she employed the principles of 12-note composition at the service of a highly individual vision, technique being invariably the servant of her often burning inspiration.’ I don’t want to downplay it, because somehow he managed to create a true masterpiece. The simple but dramatic storyline is masterly outlined with exceptionally painted characters and dramatic music. Fidelio is an awesome opera, no doubt about that… I still wouldn’t suggest the arias of Florestan or Fidelio to a student… They are too difficult. We also learn that Florestan knows Pizarro very well. He’s illegally been thrown in jail because he was telling the truth about the Governor, and Pizarro has officially proclaimed him dead. A circumstance that in no way improves his possibilities to survive.

Of all my creatures, Fidelio is the one whose birth has cost me the most bitter pains…This is why it is also the dearest to me. Above all my other works, I consider it worthy of being preserved.” Rocco and Fidelio enter. Florestan has fallen asleep/gone into a coma so he doesn’t recognize anybody. Fidelio on the other hand tries to see who it really is, lying there on the floor. a b c d e Dalton, James. "Lutyens, (Agnes) Elisabeth (1906–1983), composer", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved 8 September 2020 (subscription or UK public library membership required) Exemplary … Lise Davidsen as Leonore/Fidelio and Georg Zeppenfeld as Rocco. Photograph: Tristram Kenton/the GuardianThe grave is dug, and Rocco goes away to give the signal for Pizarro. Fidelio whispers to Florestan Don Fernando sings Des besten Königs Wink und Wille! (On behalf of our King I come to you… ). He has a list of all the prisoners who shall be freed. But Florestan is not on it, because he’s supposed to be dead. Elisabeth set her sights on becoming a composer, aged nine. In 1922, she studied at the École Normale de Musique de Paris, finding 1920s Paris exciting and inspiring, then at the Royal College of Music in London under Harold Darke. While still at college, she had a setting of Keats’s poem To Sleep performed. Elisabeth disapproved of the ‘overblown sound’ of Gustav Mahler and similar composers, preferring to work with sparse textures. she was also fond of Claude Debussy. she first used a 12-note series (originally invented by Arnold Schoenberg) in Chamber Concert No 1 (1939). But she didn’t always limit herself to it and sometimes used a self-created, 14-note technique.