
The time Beethoven spent on Vestas Feuer was not entirely wasted, as two important numbers from Fidelio, Pizarro's "'Ha! Welch' ein Augenblick!" and the duet "O namenlose Freude" for Leonore and Florestan, both originated as music for Vestas Feuer. He spent about a month composing music for it, then abandoned it when the libretto for Fidelio came to his attention. Beethoven was to set a new libretto by Schikaneder, entitled Vestas Feuer however, this libretto was not to Beethoven's liking. The contract included free lodging for Beethoven in the apartment complex that was part of Schikaneder's large suburban theater, the Theater an der Wien. The distant origin of Fidelio dates from 1803, when the librettist and impresario Emanuel Schikaneder worked out a contract with Beethoven to write an opera. The work has a long and complicated history of composition: it went through three versions during Beethoven's career, and some of the music was first written as part of an earlier, never-completed opera. JSTOR ( November 2016) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message).Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This section needs additional citations for verification. The finale celebrates Leonore's bravery with alternating contributions of soloists and chorus. Notable moments in the opera include the "Prisoners' Chorus" ( O welche Lust-"O what a joy"), an ode to freedom sung by a chorus of political prisoners, Florestan's vision of Leonore come as an angel to rescue him, and the scene in which the rescue finally takes place. With its underlying struggle for liberty and justice mirroring contemporary political movements in Europe, such topics are typical of Beethoven's "middle period". Bouilly's scenario fits Beethoven's aesthetic and political outlook: a story of personal sacrifice, heroism, and eventual triumph. The libretto, with some spoken dialogue, tells how Leonore, disguised as a prison guard named "Fidelio", rescues her husband Florestan from death in a political prison.

By convention, both of the first two versions are referred to as Leonore. After further work on the libretto by Georg Friedrich Treitschke, a final version was performed at the Kärntnertortheater on. The following year, Stephan von Breuning helped shorten the work from three acts to two. The German libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, with the work premiering at Vienna's Theater an der Wien on 20 November 1805. 72, is Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera.


Final version at Kärntnertortheater, Viennaįidelio ( / f ɪ ˈ d eɪ l j oʊ/ German: ), originally titled Leonore, oder Der Triumph der ehelichen Liebe ( Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love), Op. First two premieres at Theater an der Wien, Vienna.
