Fidelio

Beethoven’s only opera Fidelio is an explosion of ideas. Part family drama, part political treatise, it’s an ode to love and freedom, as moving today as it was when first performed over 200 years ago.

The plot sees our heroine, Leonore, attempt to rescue her husband, Florestan, from a harrowing political prison by going undercover as a guard, Fidelio. Playing our lovers are two ‘truly outstanding singers with major careers ahead of them’: Stanislas de Barbeyrac is set to be a fixture of opera house stages for years to come, praised for his ‘vocal weight, easy top notes and sweetness of tone’ (Guardian), while Sinead Campbell-Wallace is 'a remarkable Leonore' (Opera Magazine).

A ‘high-quality offering’ was how the Financial Times described Insula's 2019 performance of Der Freischütz here. Tonight will undoubtedly be the same. Alongside singing of the highest calibre, expect additional drama from movement, costumes and lighting, creating an interesting contrast to the period instrument ethos of Laurence Equilbey’s Insula orchestra.