Was more than happy to have received this as I was never aware of its existanceAlthough you sent it to me under the name josephine ferri I am in fact josephine mcqueen who sang the role of marzelline. It was really a surprise to learn that this performance was available and it was something that my children can have in my memory . As we say in glasgow noo to bad 🥰

Dernesch is usually considered yet another of Karajan's Casualties, a singer of great potential who was lured into singing the wrong repertoire with strain and damage to the voice as a result. But that isn't fair to Dernesch or Karajan. She sang Fidelio, Isolde, and the Siegfried/Gotterdammerung Brunnhildes with him as well as a number of other roles without him. The top was always a bit steely and tight and it was no surprise when she switched to the mezzo repertoire in the late 70's. Her career flourished for another 25 years after that so she obviously didn't waste time feeling sorry for herself. As Leonore she is in good shape though the high B's, while certainly available, cost her some effort. Her dialogue is very convincing as is her overall characterization. She is surrounded here by mostly non-native German speakers, some of whom mangle their words charmingly. Dowd sings Florestan's part very well, but his dialogue is tentative and uncomfortable. Krenn (Dernesch's husband at the time) makes a positive impression as Jaquino as does McQueen as Marzelline. McIntyre sings a conniving Pizarro (he uncharacteristically jumps the beat in his aria, causing some brief misalignment with the orchestra). McCue sounds exactly like Rocco should sound. The chorus and orchestra are very good. Gibson leads a well-paced, effective performance. The sound is excellent barring one minor glitch as Pizarro renters in Act One. All Fidelio or Dernesch lovers should have this.

Like John, I also saw this impressive performance, in Aberdeen and before this broadcast, which comes from Scottish Opera’s golden era. For me, Gibson and the SNO are the heroes of this performance. Gibson’s conducting is full of warmth and detail but doesn’t neglect the heroic aspect of the work and generally favours fastish tempi, the effect being something like that of the famous Fricsay set with Rysanek and Haefliger. He jettisons Leonore 3 in favour of a dramatic transition from the dark into the brilliant light of the final scene, at least making sure the show was over before the bars shut- always something to bear in mind in Scotland. If Gibson is the hero, Dernesch is most certainly the heroine, her tone unfailingly rich and radiant. The concluding B flat of “Abscheulicher!”is a push for her, but “Tot’ erst sein Weib” is absolutely thrilling. Ronald Dowd was reportedly unwell at the time of the Glasgow performances. The conclusion of his scena taxes him severely and the tone is not as steady as one would like, but every word comes from the heart. He and Dernesch are magnificent in “O namenlose Freude!” Josephine McQueen is a likeable Marzelline, who treats her Jaquino better than most, but when he’s sung so beautifully and with such class by Werner Krenn, what else is a girl to do? I can’t remember if the chorus was at that time amateur or a pro-am mixture, but their contribution is first rate. The sound is consistently good and captures the voices well.

I saw this Peter Ebert production when it transferred to Edinburgh. In the small King's Theatre Helga Dernesch, then a star guest performer with a Scottish Opera, was at her youthful gleaming best, utterly convincing as the heroine with her height and heroism. I subsequently heard her in the same role at Covent Garden, where she did not match this performance. Too many heavy dramatic roles soon took their tollHer then husbandWerner Krenn was a very small voiced and dramatically inert Jacquino. At that time Gibson was establishing a company and singers like Bill McCue and Ronald Morrison had established popular careers on tv and in variety, and and you were as likely to hear them singing Burns Nights as Beethoven.The young chorus are enthusiastic and the orchestra of a good level, with not too much experience in an opera pit at that stage.