November 20, On this Day; Fidelio!

[Joy]

November 20, 1805 - Ludwig van Beethoven conducted the first performance of his only opera, Fidelio, in Vienna. The audience was sparse, as the French army had entered the city the previous week. Beethoven began the sketches sometime in 1803. Beethoven had rejected many libretto before but this one was different. The ideal of conjugal love and the ideal of justice for mankind appealed to Beethoven. He had completed most of the sketches by the spring of 1805. The first performance took place November 20, 21, and 22nd, 1805. These performances were hardly successful. The Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung reported, with special reference to the overture, 'that this work hardly compared with Beethoven's earlier instrumental works'. It was revised and the second version presented on March 29, 1806, made a better impression. A third revision performed on May 23rd, 1814, is cosidered
to generally be the most satisfying version. But Beethoven was never completely satisfied with his efforts. He said bitterly, 'This buisness of the opera is the most tedious in the world'.

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'Truth and beauty joined'

[Gurn Blanston]

Yes, the fates even conspired against poor Louis in this premiere. He proved in the end that he could do it, and also that he couldn't live long enough to do it again. What a pity!


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Regards,
Gurn
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That's my opinion, I may be wrong.
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[Frohlich]

We watched a wonderful DVD recording from the Royal Opera Houses 1991 production of Fidelio,with Gabriela Benackova as Leonora/Fidelio. The singing was world class and was brilliantly accopmanied by Christoph von Dohnanyi. The release of the prisoners was a particular joy and very moving. The darkness to light motif is of course very typical of Beethoven, but the final chorus is so soaring, one makes the obvioius comparison with the 9th.
Near the beginning there is a beautiful quartet of singing by the four main characters, that struck me as very Mozartian.


[This message has been edited by Frohlich (edited November 21, 2003).]

[Rod]

Originally posted by Frohlich:

We watched a wonderful DVD recording from the Royal Opera Houses 1991 production of Fidelio,with Gabriela Benackova as Leonora/Fidelio. The singing was world class and was brilliantly accopmanied by Christoph von Dohnanyi. The release of the prisoners was a particular joy and very moving. The darkness to light motif is of course very typical of Beethoven, but the final chorus is so soaring, one makes the obvioius comparison with the 9th.
Near the beginning there is a beautiful quartet of singing by the four main characters, that struck me as very Mozartian.


[This message has been edited by Frohlich (edited November 21, 2003).]

I have this ROH DVD which is very good I think. The final chorus is a miracle this is true, but then for me Fidelio is unsurpassed in opera.


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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[This message has been edited by Rod (edited November 21, 2003).]

[melvyn]

Originally posted by Joy:
November 20, 1805 - Ludwig van Beethoven conducted the first performance of his only opera, Fidelio, in Vienna.

Sorry to be a pedant, but that opera was Leonore, not Fidelio. Fidelio was the name given to the last revision, in 1814. The two works are by no means the same.

You can hear both operas on DG's CBE Vol.4.

Even just before Fidelio's premiere in 1814, Beethoven told the librettist 'Treitschke' that he was still dissatisfied with most of it.

Beethoven is reported to have said weeks before his death "Of all my children, this is the one that cost me the worst birth-pangs, the one that brought me the most sorrows".

Melvyn.