Music of the Night

The grand season finale places an emphasis on various ways in which music is a powerful partner in dramatic storytelling. Beethoven wrote just one opera, Fidelio (1805) but was dissatisfied with his first three attempts at the overture, the so-called “Leonore” overtures. The final version we hear on this program was written in 1814, and at just six minutes in length, is a tour de force of energetic lyricism that helps set the stage. For Elgar’s s...