Fidelio
Listening to Fidelio feels at times like looking through a glass bottom boat at a world where everyone wears a sign aroudn their neck telling you what they're like. It's fascinating for none of the right reasons. The music is great but Beethoven didn't seem to realize an opera also lives and dies on its story. They can be trashy and stupid but they need to be engaging.
Fidelio is as engaging as being stuck in a car with a man who has chronic flatulence. Beethoven was pointed to as the successor to Mozart and this is the one time I felt he was trying to fit into that mold. Mozart could tinker with the liberetto, but Mozart had theatrical instincts. He knew what would work and what would fail.
Beethoven has a message he wants to give. Did you know tyranny is bad? Thanks B, wouldn't have guessed.
The opera is a strange work, with great moments stapled onto a pretty terrible story. I don't feel Beethoven ever got it the way he wanted it. But with the constant fiddling I don't think anyone could have. He kept mixing and mixing until he was left with a lovely shade of mud.