So, with this dizzying variety of relationships to choose from, which romantic opera duo do I select as my banner couple for lovers? I've spent most of this week considering amorous pairs and saying, "No, not quite..." And then it seemed perfectly obvious. So my unsubstantiated, entirely subjective choice is: Leonore and Florestan, from my beloved Beethoven's only opera. Separated for over two years before the story begins, and for over half the length of the opera, this husband-and-wife pair give the opera its subtitle--conjugal love--and fight crime with Enlightenment ideals. And I love their relationship. It's not musically and textually rhapsodic in the way that many operatic couples are; there are no "sun of the soul" "flower of my life" "dream I have always desired" effusions. But Florestan, when he is unable even to imagine earthly freedom, still remembers her, desires her, imagines the touch of her hand. And Leonore, for her part, looks back to the rhythms of their shared life as the highest possible delight.
All together now: Awwwww. And while they don't get flowery metaphors, they certainly do get ecstatic duets. Maybe it's just my German side coming out, but, with Beethoven's music, I find "O Namenlose Freude!" as moving as any poetic declaration out there. Not to mention the Act III moment where she sets him free. I always promise myself I won't get choked up... and it works about as well as when I promise myself that watching "Roman Holiday" for the millionth time. Without further ado, the duet when they are finally reunited properly.
You can buy the DVD from which the above excerpt is taken here. (Yes, the quality really is that fuzzy. I think it's still fabulous, but caveat emptor.) Or you can buy an also-exciting--and much better preserved--one, from Vienna with Kollo to Janowitz's Leonore under Bernstein, here
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