After the fall of Nazism, it was performed again. And this time it rang more clearly.

When it was performed by the Nazis, one commentator stated: "What amount of apathy was needed [by musicians and audiences] to listen to Fidelio in Himmler's Germany without covering their faces and rushing out of the hall!"

Fidelio. Beethoven's only #opera about a woman who dresses as a man to free her husband, a political prisoner. An opera that emphasizes the humanity of prisoners. In one powerful scene, not knowing that a prisoner is her husband, Lenore (Fidelio) vows to free him...

There is a full production on YouTube but unfortunately the video quality is lacking.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLyh...

I legitimately don't know how I feel about the staging! I tend to like more conservative staging, but it's so out-there and strange that I can't help but appreciate it? like what is happening here.

Would love to figure out the thought process for the design - kinda also gives me David Lynch's Dune.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgRa...

Like STEM, there is a chance I can link to a paper/theory/idea that has been refuted by the field, so if anyone wants to point that out, I'll be able to replace it with the more current scholarly work.

Mattiwilda Dobb is the first black woman to perform at La Scala, the first black woman to sing a lead role in the Met, and the first black woman to sing at the San Fransisco Opera House.

Enjoy Mattiwilda Dobb's performance of Caro Nome from Verdi's #opera RIgoletto:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Krl6...

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.2...

Link for the paper