FidelioIngela Brimberg as Leonore
Ludwig van Beethoven · First performed Vienna, 1805 (final version 1814)
Beethoven's only opera: a wife disguises herself as a man to rescue her husband from a political prison.
The opera
Florestan has been secretly imprisoned by his enemy Don Pizarro, the governor of a state prison. His wife Leonore disguises herself as a young man, Fidelio, and takes work as an assistant to the jailer Rocco to find him.
When Pizarro learns that the minister is coming to inspect the prison, he decides to kill Florestan, and Leonore goes down with Rocco to dig the grave. At the last moment she reveals who she is and holds Pizarro back with a pistol until a trumpet announces the minister's arrival. The prisoners are freed and the couple are reunited.
Ingela Brimberg as Leonore
Ingela Brimberg sang Leonore's great aria at the Verbier Festival with Marc Minkowski in 2014, released on CD by Erato, and the complete role in David Hermann's new production at the Deutsche Oper Berlin under Donald Runnicles in 2022.
Reviews
“… gestaltete auch die schwedische Sopranistin Ingela Brimberg ihre Rolle mit vielen einfühlsamen Momenten mit warmer manchmal rauer Stimme sicher und sensibel.”… the Swedish soprano Ingela Brimberg shaped her role with many sensitive moments, in a warm, sometimes rough voice, securely and sensitively.