Libretto to Fidelio

[Fredrika]

In case someone needs a good libretto for Fidelio with English translation, here you go!

But be prepared, the German is actually pulled from the original one - they don't sing like that anymore It struck me in particular that in the scene where Florestan normally sighs "Meine Leonore, was hast du für mich getan?" meaning, "my Leonore, what have you done for me?" and Leonore answers "nichts, nichts mein Florestan" (nothing, nothing my F.), in the original version it is written like this (and I quote the English translation now):

"My ever-faithful Leonora! for me how much hast thou suffered?"

and Leonore replies the same humble "nothing, nothing" even though she's went to hell and back. I wonder why they changed it later. Did they wish to make Leonore more dynamic, not just a passive sufferer? To me, the original one grabbed my heart even more - it's not what someone does for someone but how much they suffer for the other person. Doing sth is actually easier than just suffering as you can't do anything - and Leonore did both.

See the libretto here: http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/2217

[Harvey]

Thanks for posting. I recall reading about that dialog between Florestan and Leonora.
Here is an 1851 libretto.
This one is supposed to be "The only correct and authorized edition".