Kinderhook, N.Y. — For the inaugural performance of its 14th season, Concerts in the Village (CITV) will present Beethoven’s only opera, “Fidelio,” on Sunday, November 19, at Kinderhook Reformed Church. CITV’s Broad Street Orchestra and Chorale will give the opera’s first known performance in New York’s Capital Region, its New York City premiere having occurred nearly a century ago. CITV Artistic Director David Smith will conduct this inaugural concert of the company’s 14th season.
Beethoven’s opera, based on a story about personal sacrifice, heroism, and triumph, is known for its powerful themes of love, freedom, and the triumph of good over evil.
CITV’s lineup of soloists for this production is impressive and includes at least one fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center:
- Soprano Caroline Dunigan
- Tenor Eric Finbarr Carey
- Soprano Jardena Gertler-Jaffe
- Tenor Maximillian Jansen
- Baritone Kevin Douglas Jasaitis
- Baritone Jonathan Lawlor
- Bass-baritone Charles Martin
- Speaker Wheelock Whitney
We wish Beethoven’s opera were not relevant in the 21st century, that its plot and characters bore no resemblance to contemporary events and personalities. But they do, because political oppression and tyranny never go out of style. At the opera’s premiere performance, Vienna was under French military occupation, and Beethoven was on hand to witness the atrocities. Legend has it that he took refuge in his brother’s basement to protect his hearing from the noise of cannon fire.
Writing after World War II and the fall of Nazism, Conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler noted: “Now that political events in Germany have restored to the concepts of human dignity and liberty their original significance, this is the opera which, thanks to the music of Beethoven, gives us comfort and courage …”
“Fidelio” is the story of a woman who risks life and liberty to save her imprisoned husband’s life. But it also deals more generally with the composer’s strongly held views on personal and political freedom, views that underpin much of his music.
Soprano Caroline Dunigan will sing the role of the opera’s heroine Leonore. Tenor Eric Finbarr Carey will portray Leonore’s imprisoned husband, Florestan. Canadian-American soprano Jardena Gertler-Jaffe will take the role of Marzelline.
The role of Rocco, the jailor, is taken by Kevin Douglas Jasaitis, who performed memorably at Tanglewood last summer as a fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center. Bard College and New England Conservatory graduate Jonathan Lawlor will assume the role of Don Pizarro, the governor of the jail, and bass-baritone Charles Martin will sing the role of Don Fernando. Wheelock Whitney gives the narration. In addition to speaking roles (e.g., 2023 Tannery Pond Concerts), Whitney has performed regionally as a baritone.
CITV under Artistic Director David Smith has been earning kudos for some years. Writing for Columbia-Green Media in 2014, John Paul Keeler remarked, “A stunning all Handel concert at the Kinderhook Reformed Church on November 9 was one of the finest musical events of its kind in many seasons. Maestro Smith has brought his musical forces to heights of musical grandeur…This third Handel concert of the series reached heights of sustained musical beauty … In a short time ‘Concerts in the Village’ has taken on a major musical role in the Upper Hudson Valley.”
Hear the Broad Street Orchestra and Chorale perform Beethoven’s “Fidelio” on Sunday, November 19, 2:30 p.m., at Kinderhook Reformed Church, 21 Broad Street (US Route 9), Kinderhook, NY 12106. Suggested contribution is $25. For assured seating, email concertsinthevillage@gmail.com or call (518) 944-3882.
