I say yes to both!
To Luca, I say yes regarding a "christological" Fidelio. When I wrote a long time ago about Fidelio, I said that the Christ of the oratorio "Christ on the Mount of Olives," composed by Beethoven just before immersing himself in the adventure of Leonora-Fidelio, seemed more like a Florestan than a Christ; but today, perhaps I should write the opposite in light of these new scenarios opening up to me: it is the Florestan of Fidelio who is a Christ. All this confirms what we have told each other many times: in Beethoven everything is blurred, sacred and profane included, to the point that you never know where one begins and the other ends.
To Claudio, I say yes on the fact that there is no doubt that the direction must modernize the opera. My opposition to that gunshot is absolutely not intended to call this into question. In reality, as for the La Scala Fidelio, from my point of view, up until that gunshot, everything seemed perfect and it would have remained so afterwards.
Barenboim's conducting and his interpretation of Beethovenian music were also very moving for me. I have read reviews suggesting that he did not know how to—or would say, did not want to—highlight the Mozartian debt of the first act and looked only at the Romanticism knocking at the doors. I think it is fine this way!
