Live Performance Review: Opera de Lyon performing Fidelio (Edinburgh International Festival (E.I.F.) 2013), Saturday 10.08.2012 19:15 The Festival Theatre, Edinburgh 

When I was thinking of what to try to see in this years international festival, I knew I was keen to widen the net. I knew I was keen to see more music performances though thought I would steer clear of Opera, thinking that would be a step too far at this point. Then in the brochure I spot Dido & Aeneas (still to come) which I knew I wanted to see though was not aware that it is considered an Opera. With Fidelio, it was the picture used to advertise it in the brochure that drew me to it (quite often what I first go on), then the clincher was noticing that the music is by Ludwig Van Beethoven, and I had not noticed it was an Opera until after I had bought my ticket.

I was relieved to find out that both Fidelio and Dido & Aeneas are viewed as fairly restrained Operas, I was not going to be met by a stage cluttered with people all doing differing things.

As with the performance of Alexander Nevsky, I don't feel qualified to review this as really have no knowledge in this area. I know I have been to one Opera previously, though was not there for purposes of seeing the Opera and remember nothing of it.

This performance of Fidelio is interstellar, the rationale for which I am not clear on. This has a knock-on for the staging/costumes/lighting which combine elements of sci-fi, two-tone palate, minimalism and a sense of dystopia. The performers mobilised around the stage on segways which gave a futuristic fluidity to the proceedings. There was also great use of screens and projected images which contributed to senses of control, claustrophobia, discovery and innovation. The use of digital imagery can also suggest both the present and the future.

I know I enjoyed the performance, though find it difficult to say why, beyond the fact that this was not an overly bombastic display and I know that I like what I know of Beethoven. My tackling of the medium of Opera, to overcome my apprehension of it, may have begun earlier than I would have anticipated, though it is of to a good start.

Rating: 09/10.