Dramatic, Magic And Tragic

Personal sacrifice, heroism, eventual triumph: the struggle for liberty and justice is eternal. In Beethoven’s only opera Fidelio, the main character, Leonore, the wife of politically imprisoned Florestan, poses as boy named Fidelio, and enters the prison where her husband is kept, attempting to ingratiate herself with the gaoler and free Florestan. Beethoven himself struggled to find the most appropriate music for the opening, finally settling o...