Fidelio: The Problem of Beethoven and his Only Opera – Lesson 1 ~ THE MUSICIAN'S LOUNGE Lesson One: Composition and Disastrous Premiere(s) by Luke Howard It might seem strange that one of the most innovative and talented composers in the history of Western music, the man who single-handedly revolutionized the symphony, string quartet, and piano sonata in the early 19th century, should write only one opera. Music seemed to flow naturally from Beethoven. It’s true that, unlike Mozart, his music did not emerge with seemingly effortless facility; we know from his sketchbooks and letters something of the struggles he endured to compose. But it was almost always produced with supreme artistry and, yes, genius. Nobody questions Beethoven’s gift. So why only one opera? And why should he feel the need to revise it so frequently? Why are there four different overtures for the opera? Clearly, the gestation of Fidelio was a challenge that created more than the usual amount of trouble for the composer.

Joseph Sonnleithner and Jean-Nicolas Bouilly Beethoven started work on Fidelio in early 1804, but it was not premiered until 1805. It was revised the following year (and performed with almost exactly the same cast), and revised again in 1814. All three versions were published together as his Op. 72. The libretto Beethoven used in the 1805 version was by Joseph Sonnleithner, based on a French libretto by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly for the 1798 opera Léonore, ou L’amour conjugal composed by Pierre Gaveaux. (According to some sources, the original plot is based on a true story.) Bouilly’s libretto also served as the basis for the 1804 opera Leonora by Ferdinando Paer. At some point Beethoven procured a copy of Paer’s score for his own library, but no one is certain whether he had heard Paer’s opera yet or had access to the score while working on his own version.

Certainly, he had begun thinking about his own opera before Paer’s was produced in Dresden in October 1804. Pierre Gaveaux and Ferdinando Paer These various versions of the opera tell a roughly similar story. Leonore, disguised as a young (male) prison guard named Fidelio, manages to find her husband, Florestan, who has been kept as a political prisoner under the orders of a malevolent governor. She rescues him just as he is about to be murdered by the governor, and the couple are happily reunited. These kinds of “rescue” operas, very popular in post-revolutionary France, were enjoying a renewed vogue as Napoleon’s army swept across Europe in the first decade of the 19th century. Although the plot is primarily about Leonore’s courage and her love for Florestan, the political undercurrents—highlighted in Beethoven’s version, especially—added some historical depth to the story. Fidelio was premiered at the Theater an der Wien in November 1805, only days after Napoleon and his army had occupied Vienna.

With a popular storyline, contemporary political relevance, and nearly two years of effort by Europe’s leading composer of the day, Fidelio seemed to have all the ingredients for a success. But the performances were a disaster, attended by almost no one except for some of the composer’s friends and a handful of stray French soldiers. (Ironically, Beethoven’s Third Symphony, the “Eroica,” which expressed both admiration for and disappointment with Napoleon, had been premiered in the same theater several months earlier in 1805.) Problems with the libretto, and Beethoven’s inherent difficulty with producing convincing music for the stage, were the main issues. When he revised the opera the following year, it was performed by almost the same cast, and was slightly more successful. Beethoven had composed a new overture for the 1806 revision (now known as the “Leonore Overture No. 3”—the original 1805 overture is usually designated “Leonore Overture No. 2”), and tightened up the libretto, especially in the first half of the opera. It would have had a longer run had not Beethoven run into difficulties with the theater management.

For a planned 1808 revival in Prague, Beethoven wrote a third overture (“Leonore Overture No. 1”), but the production was cancelled. Then, with the help of Georg Freidrich Treitschke, Beethoven revised the opera yet again in 1814, including another new overture (the “Fidelio Overture”). This final version was, at last, a great success, even though (as Beethoven remarked to Treitschke) it had emerged with difficulty over a long period of time. The composer wrote: “I assure you, dear Treitschke, that this opera will win me a martyr’s crown. You have by your co-operation saved what is best from the shipwreck. For all this I shall be eternally grateful to you.” Lesson 2 of 3 will be posted on Friday, September 23rd. Stay tuned! This entry was posted in Utah Symphony . Bookmark the permalink . Fidelio - Beethoven Fidelio An Opera by Ludwig van Beethoven This was the only opera written by Beethoven, whose genius was symphonic rather than dramatic.

He had long been anxious to try his powers on an opera, and had even accepted engagements from managers, but these had all fallen through. He would not have a silly, commonplace libretto: he must have something of a noble kind. At last, having received a commission from the manager of the Theater An-der-Wien, he fixed upon a story of brave and unconquerable womanly devotion, and set to work on it with his whole heart and soul. He laboured at it incessantly, and identified himself so completely with its process that he seemed as much at home in it as he had ever been in sonata or symphony. The subject of the opera was derived from Bouillys "Leonore; or, Conjugal Love." It had already been used for a French opera comique, as well as for an opera, to Italian works, by Paer, a composer who accompanied Napoleon to Warsaw and Posen, and in 1807 was formally installed as his maitre de chapelle. Indeed, it was a performance of Paers work which suggested "Fidelio" to Beethoven, who had a German translation prepared.

The leading incident in the plot -- the rescue of an unjustly detained prisoner through the devotion of a friend whose life is risked but not lost -- corresponds with that of three operas by Cherubini, whom Beethoven called "the greatest of all living writers for the stage." It is a simple plot, but lofty in design and exhibiting a purity of motive not usually found in opera texts. Florestan (Günther Treptow) and Leonore (Karina Kutz) in Beethoven's opera, Fidelio. (Production of September 1945 at the Deutsche Oper, Berlin.) Pizarro, the governor of a State prison in Spain, entertaining a bitter enmity against the Don Florestan, a nobleman, seizes and confines him in a loathsome dungeon with the intention of starving him to death. Florestans faithful wife, Leonora, disguises herself in male attire, and under the name of Fidelio obtains admission to the prison as servant to Rocco, the head warder. Pizarro, having been informed of the approaching visit of the Minister Ferdinand, on a tour of inspection, tries to persuade Rocco to kill Florestan.

Rocco, while refusing, agrees to dig his grave if Pizarro will himself commit the murder. Leonora, partially overhearing their plans, takes advantage of the passion with which, as a boy, she had inspired the warders daughter, Marcelline (who is affianced to Jaquino the porter), and thinking that Florestans life may be the one intended to be sacrificed, persuades Rocco to let her accompany him to the dungeon as an assistant. On entering the cell, Leonora immediately knows her husband by his voice, but conceals her emotion and helps Rocco to prepare the grave. When all is ready, Pizarro descends to dungeon and attempts to stab his prisoner. But Leonora, declaring herself Florestans wife, resolutely throws herself between them. Pizarro, in defeated rage, is about to sacrifice both to his fury, when Leonora draws a pistol and defies him. At this moment the arrival of the Minister Ferdinand is heralded by a flourish of trumpets. Pizarro hurries away to receive his superior, and husband and wife rush into each others arms.

The deeply-laid plot is divulged to the Minister, who orders Pizarro to be deposed, and rewards the devotion of Leonora by bidding her with her own hands remove her husbands chains and restore him to liberty. Beethoven wrote "Fidelio" in the full maturity of his creative powers, and it stands alone among operas, with great and peculiar qualities of its own. Its general style is serious and lofty, and stongly dramatic. Like "The Magic Flute," it bears traces of the old German "Singspiele" (a sort of popular vaudeville copiously sprinkled with songs) in its snatches of spoken dialogue; but these, when rightly uttered, can easily be made to emphasise the emotions produced by the music. So far from suggesting any feeling of anti-climax, the sudden relapse into agitated speech often gives an effect more thrilling than any music could command," says Mr. Streathfeild. For the rest, one has to admit that the many well-known numbers in the opera seem to find more favour in the concert-room than on the stage.

"Fidelio" was first performed at the Kaerntnerthor Theatre, Vienna, on November 20, 1805. The rehearsals had been attended with extraordinary difficulties, especially in regard to the singers. They complained that portions of the work were unsingable, but Beethoven, with his usual obstinacy, declined to make any concessions. He had trouble also with the band. Writing only two days before the public performance, he says: "Pray try to persuade Seyfried to conduct my opera to-day, as I wish to see and hear it from a distance; in this way at least my patience will not be so severely tried by the rehearsal as when I am close enough to hear my music bungled." This was one advantage of his deafness! "I really do believe it is done on purpose," he continues. "All pp., cres., all decresc., and f., ff., may as well be struck out of my music, since not one of them is attended to.

I lose all desire to write anything more if my music is to be so played." To another friend he wrote that "the whole business of the opera is the most distressing thing in the world." The circumstances of the first performance were also unfavorable, for the French army had only seven days before invaded Vienna, and the chief nobility and other wealthy patrons of music had deserted the town. Three performances were given, and the opera was then withdrawn by the composer himself. It was given again in 1806, with extensive alterations and a new overture, but its success was still doubtful. There was a revival in 1814, with further alterations and a new Overture in E, the fourth which had been written for it. On this occasion its beauties were better appreciated, but never during Beethovens lifetime was "Fidelio" understood as it came to be later. Weber once brought it out at Prague, when, to his disgust, it was coldly received. "Punch and Judy would suit them better," he said.

It is to be regretted that we do not hear it more frequently now, especially as for its efficient representation there is only needed some half-dozen leading singers, a chorus, an ordinary orchestra, and a couple of scenes such as any provincial theatre could provide at a few hours notice. FIDELIO POSTER Biography: Beethoven's life - Ludwig van Beethoven's website Beethoven's music teachers In 1782, before the age of 12, Beethoven published his first work, 9 Variations in C Minor for piano on a march by Earnst Christoph Dressler (WoO 63). The following year, in 1783, Neefe wrote in the Magazine of Music, about his student. “If he continues like this, he will be, without a doubt, the new Mozart.” In June 1784, on Neefe’s recommendations Ludwig Van Beethoven was appointed organist of the court of Maximillian Franz, the Elector of Cologne. Beethoven was 14 years old. This post enabled him to frequent new social circles, other than those of his father and family.

Here he met people who were to remain his friends for the rest of his life: The Ries family, the Von Breuning family, and the charming Elenore, Karl Amenda—the violinist, Franz Gerhard Wegeler—a doctor, and a dear friend who also went to Vienna. At home, little by little, Ludwig replaced his father. First of all financially, because Johann, who was often under the influence of alcohol, was less and less capable of keeping up his role at the court. The young Beethoven felt responsible for his two younger brothers, an idea he kept for the rest of his life, sometimes to the extent of being excessive. Ludwig van Beethoven Music Prince Maximillian Franz was also aware of Beethoven's music and so he sent Beethoven to Vienna, in 1787, to meet Mozart and further his musical education. Vienna was, after all, the capital city in terms of culture and music. There exist only texts of disputable authenticity on the subject of this meeting between Mozart and Beethoven. Mozart is thought to have said “don’t forget his name – you will hear it spoken often!” A letter called Beethoven back to Bonn—his mother was dying.

The only person in his family with whom he had developed a strong and loving relationship with, passed away on July 17th 1787. Five years later, in 1792, Ludwig Van Beethoven went back to Vienna, benefiting from another grant, for two years, by the Prince Elector, again to pursue his musical education. He never went back to the town of his birth. His friend Waldstein, wrote to him, “you shall receive Mozart’s spirit from Haydn’s hands…” At Vienna, the young musician took lessons with Haydyn, then with Albrechtsberger and Salieri. He captured the attention of, and astonished Vienna with his virtuosity and his improvisations on piano. In 1794, Beethoven composed Opus 1, the Trios for Piano . The following year, Ludwig Van Beethoven made his first public performance at Vienna (an “Academy”) where each musician played his own work. Then followed a tour: Prague, Dresden, Leipzig, and Berlin, before leaving for a concert in Budapest. listen to on this site Beethoven's works Beethoven made numerous acquaintances at Vienna. Everybody in the musical and aristocratic world admired the young composer.

These music-lovers were Beethoven’s greatest supporters. He became angry regularly with one or another of them, often making honorable amends soon afterwards. His talent excused his excessive, impulsive behavior. In 1800, Beethoven organized a new concert at Vienna including, notably, the presentation of his first symphony. Although today we find this work classical, and close to the works of Mozart and Haydn, at the time certain listeners found the symphony strange, overly extravagant, and even risqué’. This genius, Beethoven, who was still a young, new composer, was already pushing the established boundaries of music. In 1801 Beethoven confessed to his friends at Bonn that he was afraid he was slowly going deaf. At Heiligenstadt in 1802 he wrote a famous text expressing his disgust at the unfairness of life: that he, a musician, could become deaf was something he did not want to live through. However, music made him carry on and he wrote that he knew that he still had many other musical domains to explore, discover, and to pass on. Beethoven did not commit suicide.

Knowing that his handicap was getting worse and worse, he threw himself into his greatest Beethoven music; Sonatas for Piano (notably The Storm, Opus 31), the second and the third symphonies – The Eroica and of course many more. find on this site Beethoven's deafness Beethoven wrote his third symphony in honor of a great man, Bonaparte. He was seen as the liberator of the people, opening a door to hope during the French Revolution. When the First Consul declared himself Emperor, Beethoven became enraged and scowled out Bonaparte’s name from the score. On April 7th, 1805, the Eroica symphony was played for the first time. Meanwhile, Beethoven had finally finished his opera, Leonore , the only opera he ever wrote. He wrote and re-wrote four different overtures. The name of the opera therefore, changed to Fidelio , against the wishes of the composer. November 20th 1805 was the date of the opening performance before a small audience of French officers. This was because Napoleon, head of the army, had captured Vienna for the first time.

This happened again in 1809. read and listen on this site the 4 overtures to this opera In the years that followed, the creative activity of the composer became intense. He composed many symphonies, amongst which were the Pastoral , the Coriolan Overture, and the famous Letter for Elise. He took on many students that he found young and attractive, and he therefore fell in love with several of them. The Archbishop, Rudolph, brother of the emperor, also became his student, his friend, and eventually one of his benefactors. In 1809, Beethoven wanted to leave Vienna, at the invitation of Jerome Bonaparte. His long-standing friend, the Countess Anna Marie Erdody, kept him at Vienna with the help of his wealthiest admirers: the Archbishop Rudolph, the Prince Lobkowitz, and the Prince Kinsky. These men gave Beethoven and annual grant of 4,000 florins, allowing him to live without financial constraint. The only condition was that Beethoven was not to leave Vienna. Beethoven accepted. This grant made him the world's first independent composer.

Before this contract musicians and composers alike (even Bach, Mozart, and Haydn), became servants in the houses of wealthy aristocratic families. They were thus part of the domestic staff, with no more rights than any other, but with the added task of composition and performance. Thus, for the musician of the day, Beethoven had outstanding circumstances and he was free to write what he wanted, when he wanted, under command or not, as he pleased. In 1812, Beethoven went for hydrotherapy at Teplitz, where he wrote his ardent letter to “The Immortal Beloved.” This letter was found in a secret drawer with the Heiligenstadt Testament, and has led to theories and speculation by researchers and biographers ever since. Numerous women amongst his students and friends have been proposed as the recipient of this letter. Unless a new document is discovered (perhaps within the possessions of a private collector) it is likely that the truth about this mysterious woman will remain unknown. See the movie about Beethoven's Immortal Beloved . find on this site the letter to the Immortal Beloved At the end of July 1812, Beethoven was introduced to Goethe by Bettina Brentano.

These two great men admired each other, but didn’t understand each other. The composer found the poet too servile, and the poet thought that Beethoven was “completely untamed.” Beethoven admired Goethe; he put music to several of his poems. There will always be regret that Beethoven was not better understood by Goethe. Then one of his benefactors, the Prince Lobkowitz, fell into financial difficulty and the Prince Kinski died from falling off his horse. Kinski’s descendant decided to put an end to the financial obligations towards Beethoven. This started one of the composer’s many attempts at saving his financial independence. The Czech, Johann Nepomuk Maelzel, contacted Beethoven. Genius inventor and probable inventor of the metronome, Maelzel had already met Beethoven and had created various devices to help Beethoven with his hearing: acoustic cornets, a listening system linking up to the piano, etc. In 1813, Beethoven composed “ The Victory of Wellington ,” a work written for a mechanical instrument made by Maelzel, the “pan harmonica” (or “pan harmonicon”).

But it was above all the metronome, which helped evolve music and Beethoven, who had taken interest straight away, noted scrupulously the markings on his scores, so that his music could be played how he wished. The academy of 1814 regrouped his work, as well as the seventh and eighth symphonies. This was also the time of the re-writing of Lenore as Fidelio, Beethoven’s only opera. This work eventually became successful with the public. Then the Congress of Vienna met, which brought together all the heads of state to decide the future of Europe after Napoleon. This was one of Beethoven’s moments of glory. He was invited to play many times, bringing him recognition and admiration which made him very proud. listen to Beethoven's symphonies Beethoven Bio – Dramatic Life Changes On November 15th 1815, Kaspar Karl, Beethoven’s brother, died. He left behind his wife, whom Ludwig referred to as “The queen of the night” due to her activities, as well as a 9 year old son, Karl. Here Beethoven’s life was to change dramatically.

His brother had written that he wished Karl’s guardianship to be exercised by both his wife and his brother, Ludwig. Beethoven took this role very seriously, but the 45 year-old celibate, who could no longer hear, found it difficult to live with and understand a child and then a young man. This cohabitation was the cause of a new trial against the mother of the child, a generation conflict and numerous troubles. In 1816, Carl Czerny (future teacher of Franz Liszt and once Beethoven’s student) became Karl’s music teacher, but didn’t find as much talent in the boy as Beethoven hoped he would possess. At this time he ended his cycle of lieder “To the distant loved one, and drafted the first theme for his ninth symphony. Two years later, the Archduke Rudolph became Cardinal and Beethoven began composing his mass in D. It was never ready for the intonation, but the work was rich beyond compare. Gioachino Rossini triumphed in Vienna in 1822, where he met Beethoven again. The language barrier and Beethoven’s deafness meant that they could only exchange brief words.

The Viennese composer tolerated Italian opera only in moderation—he found it lacked seriousness. The ninth symphony was practically finished in 1823, the same year as the Missa Solemnis. Liszt, who was 11, met Beethoven who came to his concerto on April 13th. He congratulated the young virtuoso heartily who, years later, transcribed the entirety of Beethoven’s symphonies for piano. listen to Liszt's transcriptions How many symphonies did Beethoven write? May 7th 1824 was the date of the first playing of the ninth symphony and despite the musical difficulties, and problems in the sung parts, it was a success. Unfortunately it was not financially rewarding. Financial problems constantly undermined the composer. He always had money saved, but he was keeping it for his nephew. Then began the period of the last quartets of Beethoven music, which are still difficult even for today’s audience, who knows how to interpret his other works. He started to compose his tenth symphony.

Biography of Beethoven – His Final Year In 1826, Beethoven caught a cold coming back from his brother’s place, with whom he had argued again. The illness complicated other health problems that Beethoven had suffered from all his life. He passed away surrounded by his closest friends on March 26th 1827, just as a storm broke out. The funeral rites took place at the church of the Holy Trinity. It is estimated that between 10,000 and 30,000 people attended. Franz Schubert, timid and a huge admirer of Beethoven, without ever having become close to him, was one of the coffin bearers, along with other musicians. Schubert died the next year and was buried next to Beethoven. The actor, Heinrich Anschutz, read the funeral prayer written by Franz Grillparzer, a great writer, in front of the doors of the Wahring cemetery, now Schubert Park. find on this site Beethoven Was Ludwig Joking? Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827) German composer, whom many consider the greatest composer in the Western tradition.

Beethoven was born on December 16, 1770, in Bonn, He was reared in stimulating, although unhappy, surroundings. His early signs of musical talent were subjected to the capricious discipline of his father, a singer in the court chapel. In 1789, because of his father's alcoholism, the young Beethoven began supporting his family as a court musician. His early compositions under the tutelage of the German composer Christian Gottlob Neefe, particularly the funeral cantata on the death (1790) of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II�signaled an important talent, and it was planned that Beethoven study in Vienna with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Although Mozart's death (1791) prevented this, Beethoven went to Vienna in 1792 and became a pupil of the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn. In Vienna, Beethoven dazzled the aristocracy with his piano improvisations; meanwhile, he entered into increasingly favorable arrangements with Viennese music publishers. In composition he steered a middle course between the stylistic extravagance of the German composer Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and what the public had perceived as the overrefinement of Mozart.

The broadening market for published music enabled him to succeed as a free-lance composer, a path that Mozart a decade earlier had found full of frustration. In the first decade of the 19th century Beethoven renounced the sectional, loosely constructed style of works such as the popular Septet op. 20, for strings and winds, and turned to a fresh expansion of the musical language bequeathed by Haydn and Mozart. Despite his exaggerated claim that �he had never learned anything from Haydn��he had gone so far as to seek additional instruction from the German composer Johann Georg Albrechtsberger�Beethoven soon revealed his complete assimilation of the Viennese classical style in every major instrumental genre: symphony, concerto, string quartet, and sonata. The majority of the works for which he is most readily remembered today were composed during the decade bounded by the Symphony no. 3 (Eroica, begun 1803; first performed, 1805) and the Symphony no. 8 (1812), a period known as his �heroic decade.

Beethoven's fame reached its zenith during these years, but the steadily worsening hearing impairment that he had first noted in 1798 led to an increasing sense of social isolation. Gradually Beethoven settled into a pattern of shifting residences, spending the summer in the Viennese suburbs�Heiligenstadt was a favorite choice�and moving back to the central city in the fall. In 1802, in his celebrated �Heiligenstadt Testament,� a quasi-legal letter to his two brothers, he expressed his agony over his growing deafness. After 1805 accounts of Beethoven's eccentricities multiply. He performed in public only rarely and made his last appearance in 1814. Although reports circulated among Beethoven's friends that he was constantly in love, he tended to choose unattainable women, aristocratic or married or both. In his letter to the �Immortal Beloved� (presumably never sent and now dated at 1812), he expressed his conflicting feelings for the woman who may have been the sole person ever to reciprocate his declarations.

The long-debated riddle of her identity was solved beyond reasonable doubt in 1977 by the American musicologist Maynard Solomon. She was Antonie Brentano, the wife of a Frankfurt merchant and a mother of four. Conceivably, Beethoven's sense of virtue and fear of marriage contributed to his flight from this relationship, with its deeply shattering conflicts. In 1815, on the death of his older brother, Casper Carl, Beethoven devoted his emotional energies to a costly legal struggle with his sister-in-law for custody of her nine-year-old son Karl. The mother received a temporarily favorable ruling, and only the intervention in 1820 of Beethoven's most powerful patron, the Archduke Rudolph, won the composer custody of his nephew. Beethoven was not an ideal parent and enormous friction developed between the two, contributing to Karl's attempted suicide in 1826. By 1818 Beethoven had become virtually deaf and relied on small �conversation books,� in which visitors wrote their remarks to him. He withdrew from all but a steadily shrinking circle of friends. Except for the premieres of his Symphony no.

9 and parts of the Missa solemnis in 1824, his music remained fashionable only among a small group of connoisseurs. His prestige was still such, however, that during his last illness he received huge outpourings of sympathy. He died in Vienna on March 26, 1827; tens of thousands witnessed his funeral procession. Musical Development Beethoven's major output consists of 9 symphonies, 7 concertos (5 for piano), 17 string quartets, 32 piano sonatas, 10 sonatas for violin and piano, 5 sonatas for cello and piano, an opera, 2 masses, several overtures, and numerous sets of piano variations. He has traditionally been referred to as the �bridge to romanticism,� and his output is simplistically divided into three roughly equal periods. Today most scholars view him as the last great representative of the Viennese classical style, a composer who at two important junctures in his life turned away from the aesthetic of the emerging romantic period in favor of renewed exploration of the legacy of Haydn and Mozart.

After arriving in Vienna Beethoven alternated between compositions based openly on classical models, such as the String Quartet in A Major op. 18 no. 5 (1800; patterned on Mozart's String Quartet K. 464) and those based on looser Italianate structures, such as the song �Adelaide� (1795). The �new manner� that Beethoven referred to in 1802 marks his first return to the Viennese classical tradition. Although his works of the decade 1802-12 project a heroic aura, musically they represent an expansion of the tighter forms of Haydn and Mozart. This is apparent both in works of unprecedented scope, such as the Eroica Symphony and the Piano Concerto no. 5 (Emperor, 1809), and in stylistically compressed works such as the Symphony no. 5 (1808) and the Piano Sonata op. 57 (Appassionata, 1805). In these works he proved that a style founded on unprecedented thematic integration and on the harmonic polarization achieved by manipulating opposing keys could produce works of remarkable expressive power. The completion of the Symphony no.

8 and the fading of hopes for a successful relationship with the �Immortal Beloved� left Beethoven in a sea of compositional uncertainty. The prodigious output of the previous decade ceased. The few works of the years after 1812�such as the op. 98 song cycle An die ferne Geliebte (To the Distant Beloved, 1816) and the Piano Sonata in A Major op. 101 (1817)�took on an experimental hue, reviving and expanding on the more relaxed musical structures Beethoven had employed in the 1790s. This handful of open-ended, cyclic works of this period exercised the most direct musical influence on the succeeding generation of romantic composers (apparent, for example, in the song cycles of the German composer Robert Schumann). In 1818 Beethoven inaugurated a second return to the tightly structured �heroic� style. The move was marked by the Piano Sonata in B-flat Major op. 106 (Hammerklavier), a work of unprecedented length and difficulty that left behind the accomplished amateur performer once and for all.

The works of Beethoven's last period, rather than being composed in sets or even in pairs, are each marked by an individuality that later composers could admire but scarcely emulate. In the Ninth Symphony and the Missa solemnis he gave expression to an all-embracing view of idealized humanity more rooted in the Enlightenment than in Roman Catholic doctrine, and more compelling than the equally lofty ideals portrayed a decade earlier in his only opera, Fidelio (1814). The dominant private dimension of Beethoven's late style gave rise to the five string quartets of 1824-26, the last two of which were written without commissions. In these works Beethoven achieved an ideal synthesis between popular and learned styles, between the humorous and the sublime. Judged inaccessible in their time, the string quartets have become�as has so much of his music�yardsticks against which all other musical achievements are measured.Beethoven's lifelong habit of sketching musical compositions as he worked them out became even more important as he grew older.

The more than 7000 pages of drafts entered outdoors on scraps of paper or in small notebooks, as well as the more extensive notebooks he filled up indoors, form one of Western music's most enduring monuments to musical creativity. Influence Beethoven towered over the 19th century, embodying the heroic ideal and the romantic image of the artist; yet his explicit musical influence was limited. For some composers�such as Johannes Brahms, who produced no symphony until his 40s�Beethoven's presence was paralyzing. The German composer Richard Wagner invoked Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, particularly its choral finale, as support for his own vision of the music drama. Not until the late romantic symphonies of the German composer Anton Bruckner and, especially, those of the Austrian composer Gustav Mahler was Beethoven's symphonic ideal carried to what many regard as its final stage of development. Today Beethoven's works form the backbone of orchestral and chamber music repertoires the world over. "Beethoven, Ludwig van," Microsoft (R) Encarta. Copyright (c) 1994 Microsoft Corporation. Copyright (c) 1994 Funk & Wagnall's Corporation.

When Beethoven passed away, he was buried in a churchyard. A couple days later, the town drunk was walking through the cemetery and heard some strange noise coming from the area where Beethoven was buried. Terrified, the drunk ran and got the priest to come and listen to it. The priest bent close to the grave and heard some faint, unrecognizable music coming from the grave. Frightened, the priest ran and got the town magistrate. When the magistrate arrived, he bent his ear to the grave, listened fora moment, and said, "Ah, yes, that's Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, being played backwards." He listened a while longer, and said, "There's the Eighth Symphony, and it's backwards, too. Most puzzling." So the magistrate kept listening; "There's the Seventh... the Sixth... the Fifth..." Suddenly the realization of what was happening dawned on the magistrate; he stood up and announced to the crowd that had gathered in the cemetery, "My fellow citizens, there's nothing to worry about. It's just Beethoven decomposing." On January 9, 1801, Ludwig finds his first Immortal beloved in bed with his old teacher Joseph.

That was the end of the friendship between Beethoven and Haydn. Ludwig never heard from Joseph anymore... Did Beethoven really know the name of his second Immortal Beloved? Hamburg, April 19, 1810, a few minutes before midnight..... Ludwig enters the bar at the corner of San Paoli and Grandstrass. He is soaked with a Spring shower. Sailors are loud, but Ludwig is at peace. He tries to talk. Nobody knows sign language. Beethoven's first -- and last -- opera Beethoven's first -- and last -- opera By Carrie Seidman , Herald-Tribune / Saturday, February 6, 2016 Beethoven was never a facile composer. He agonized over his work, constantly revising and frequently missing deadlines in his quest for perfection. And nothing in his career caused him as much as effort and heartbreak as the composition of his only opera, “Fidelio,” which underwent two major revisions, inspired four different overtures and absorbed his attention over nearly a decade of his life. No wonder he never wrote another.

Yet “Fidelio” “may be the best first opera anyone has ever written,” according to Sarasota Opera artistic director Victor DeRenzi, whose predilection for a certain Italian composer of a similar vintage inspired the company’s 28-year Verdi Cycle. Even DeRenzi is willing to admit that “Fidelio” is a far better opera than Giuseppe Verdi’s initial foray, “Oberto,” which the opera staged in 2001. Kara Shay Thomson in the title role of Beethoven's "Fidelio" at the Sarasota Opera --Photo by Rod Millington “There’s a torturedness about Beethoven that makes him great, one of the greatest composers of all time,” says DeRenzi. “It’s unfortunate we don’t have more operas from him.” In fact, the choice to include “Fidelio” in this final year of the cycle, was made intentionally to acknowledge Beethoven’s influence on the work of Verdi, says DeRenzi, who conducted “Fidelio” both times the company previously performed it, in 1985 and 1995.

The production opening this weekend has new sets and will be conducted by Eckhart Wycik, like Beethoven, a German. While Beethoven was already well established as a symphonic composer by the time he entered his early thirties at the turn of the century, opera was a road to greater prominence. When he was invited to write one for a theater in Vienna, he agreed, settling for a source on a work by French playwright J.N. Bouilly, “Leonore, ou L’amour conjugal.” Beethoven began “Leonore” – the name was later changed to differentiate it from two previously written operas of that name -- in 1804, at a dark time in his life, when he had begun to lose his hearing and was deeply depressed by the prospects for both his professional and personal life. It premiered as a three-act libretto the following year in Vienna. But it was not well received, primarily because the city was under French military occupation, and most of the audience members were French military officers, more accustomed to Italian opera.

The following year Beethoven revised it to two acts and wrote the second of the ultimately four overture he composed known as “Leonore.” (This second version, confusingly known as “Leonore 3,” is now traditionally played between the two acts, as it will be in the Sarasota Opera production.) But due to a conflict with the theater, Beethoven withdrew the score after just two performances. It did not resurface again until 1814, by which time the composer had reworked the entire score and written yet another overture (now known as the “Fidelio” overture and played today after the opera.) That is the version performed today. Over the decade of his work on “Fidelio,” Beethoven’s hearing continued to deteriorate, and with it his emotional composure. In fact, it is said he contemplated suicide, but was deterred by his belief in Age of Enlightenment ideals that honored each individual’s value and ability to propel change and create hope. “Fidelio’s” libretto mirrors that political movement.

Sean Anderson as Don Pizarro, Kara Shay Thompson as Fidelio and Michael Robert Hendrick at Florestan in the Sarasota Opera production of Beethoven's only opera, "Fidelio.:--Photo by Rod Millington Known as a “rescue opera” -- a popular genre in the late 18th and early 19th centuries which involves the rescue of a main character from danger and ends with a dramatic resolution where lofty humanistic ideals triumph over base motives – “Fidelio” tells a story of personal sacrifice and heroism, in which the ever faithful Leonore, disguised as a prison guard named Fidelio, rescues her husband, Florestan, from death in a political prison. “It’s about man’s inhumanity to man and of how we cannot lose hope in the face of these actions,” says Tom Diamond, a Canadian who directed last year’s production of “The Golden Cockrell” and who recently staged a contemporary version of “Fidelio” in North Carolina. “Because the values are so strong for human beings, there is a huge amount of visceral impact in this opera.” But as the stage director, Diamond says he looks for his cues not in the story but the score.

“Directors are like sculptors and there are two kinds,” he says. “One takes a rock and say, ‘I’m going to turn this into a bird,’ the other says ‘I’m going to chisel out this rock and find out what’s in it. I’m that kind. “My interest is in the value of the work as it sits on the page and the value of this opera is 100 percent in the music itself,” he adds. “Everything I need to know as a stage director is in the score. The music tells me how physical movements on the stage are supposed to be. It says what the emotional life is.” Yet, since Beethoven provided very little in the way of interpretational notation in the score, Wycik, who conducted “The Golden Cockerell” last year, says he in turn looks to the libretto for guidance.

Beethoven's "Fidelio" is, in the opinion of Sarasota Opera artistic director Victor DeRenzi "the best first opera ever written." --Photo by Rod Millington “It’s hard to conduct Beethoven, it doesn’t run by itself,” says Wycik, who estimates he has conducted “Fidelio” more than 20 times, mostly in Europe. “In contrast to other composers, he’s not very specific and often he doesn’t write the dynamics or articulation. So you have to use the idea behind the music. I become the defense lawyer for the composer. I try to depict the power behind the music.” Wycik admits that the first time he heard “Fidelio” – as a teenager growing up in Western Germany in a family where “everyone made music,” but none were professional musicians – he was unimpressed. “Everyone was making such a fuss about it so I said, ‘OK, I’ll listen,’” he recalls. “And I was totally disappointed because there were no nice ‘tunes.’ But I was just too young. I didn’t realize it was not about sheer beauty, but about a plan behind the music and, most important, the plot.

It’s a story of how powerful your soul and hope can be. Beethoven was mesmerized by these ideas, so much so that he worked almost a decade on this opera.” As a German, Wycik says the opera is particularly meaningful to him and his countrymen, representing as it does the ability of art to deliver a message that sometimes eludes the political world. “For us Germans, this opera means the victory of hope over hard times,” he says. “Almost every German opera house did this opera when reopening after World War II. Unlike when I was young, now I have seen the idea behind the music. There is no ‘greatest opera,’ but yes, this one is touching me very deeply. It is a gift my country has given to the world.” “Fidelio,” by Ludwig van Beethoven. Directed by Tom Diamond, conducted by Eckhart Wycik at the Sarasota Opera, 61 N. Pineapple Ave. Feb. 13-March 11. $19-$135. 328-1300; sarasotaopera.org. “Fidelio,” by Ludwig van Beethoven.

Directed by Tom Diamond, conducted by Eckhart Wycik at the Sarasota Opera, 61 N. Pineapple Ave. Feb. 13-March 11. $19-$135. 328-1300; sarasotaopera.org. Carrie Seidman Carrie Seidman has been a newspaper features writer, columnist and reviewer for 30 years...and a dancer for longer than that. She has a master's degree from Columbia University Journalism School and is a former competitive ballroom dancer. Contact her via email , or at (941) 361-4834. Make sure to " Like " Arts Sarasota on Facebook for news and reviews of the arts. Last modified: February 3, 2016 All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be published without permissions. Links are encouraged. SIMILAR STORIES

Question: What is the title of the only opera written by Beethoven?
Answer: Fidelio