Fidelio

Fidelio is the only opera Beethoven wrote.  We went to see it in Cologne last Friday.  The Cologne Opera House is undergoing renovations, so this was in a random warehouse-like building on the edge of town.  Our friends were able to get tickets in the third row center.  The orchestra wasn't in a pit, so you could see them well, and the action on stage was highly visible too.  There were also German super-titles (actually "side-titles", since they didn't have a place to put them above the stage).  With the help of those, I was able to understand the lyrics surprisingly well.

Since Beethoven wrote the music, the music/orchestra is really the star of the show, and this orchestra was up to it (even with the limited acoustics).  The primary roles were also very well-performed, with the "ingenue"  (the daughter of the jailkeeper, for those who know the story), being as good an actress, in that exaggerated way that opera people act, telegraphing every emotion, as she was a singer.  Despite being a bit sleep deprived, due to a hot hotel room the two nights before, we stayed awake through the entire performance (It doesn't hurt that unlike many other operas, this one has a happy ending).