...“Fidelio” stands or falls with its tenor. The part of Florestan, the deeply unhappy prisoner and a dreamer of freedom, may be as wearing psychologically as it is vocally. There is also the ghost of Jon Vickers’s fierce, half-mad portrayals of a generation ago to haunt anyone who has come along since. The Barbican’s Florestan is John Mac Master, like Mr. Vickers a Canadian.

Mr. Mac Master removes the role — rescues it, some might say — from Wagnerian thickness. The sound is clear, with the svelteness of a Verdi tenor but steadfast under pressure. As Beethoven’s second act builds from a great cry of “God, how dark it is” to the climactic call for freedom, Mr. Mac Master and Mr. Davis ride the music gloriously...

LSO Live - LSO0092