FIDELIO

Celebrating the 20th wedding anniversary of one of my favourite married couples this weekend, I thought I’d share a few thoughts on how much they embody, for me, the Florestan-and-Leonore ideal of matrimony.

Of course, because I’m not a normal person, I have to lean on cultural analogies—and in this case, I’m referencing Beethoven’s masterpiece opera Fidelio, which treats the theme of marriage in the most noble and heroic way.

The story is straightforward enough: Florestan, a political prisoner, has been thrown into a deep, dark dungeon, and his wife Leonore disguises herself as a young man—“Fidelio”—to infiltrate the prison and rescue him.

Now, I’m not suggesting I ever expected my friend’s wife, Amy, to dress up as a man to prove her steadfast devotion to my great friend (and vice versa). That’s always been obvious to me without the need for any cross-dressing drama. But I do find a resonance between Beethoven’s tale—celebrating the triumph of love over all—with their own romantic tale.

Also, writing this short piece gives me the perfect excuse to play the great “O namenlose Freude!” duet from Act II of the opera—and reminds me that I still haven’t found a Leonore to help me escape from my metaphorical prison.

Anyway, enough about me. ^^

Congratulations, Roly and Amy!

With love,

Digital Renegade