Program Notes

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Overture Leonore No. 3 (1806)

Scored for pairs of flutes, oboes clarinets, and bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani and strings

Beethoven was not exaggerating when he said of his only opera, Fidelio, “Of all my children, this is the one that cost me the worst birth-pangs, the one that brought me the most sorrows.” Though Beethoven toiled at it for many years, it must be admitted that in his lifetime no truly successful production of the work had been given.

When Beethoven discovered the French libretto by J. N. Boiully that would eventually form the basis of the composition, it must have caused more than a few comments in Vienna that Beethoven was writing his first opera. No doubt expectations were high. The story was tailor made for him. A courageous woman who risks all to save her husband from prison and death in the aftermath of the French Revolution was the embodiment of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, the credo of the Age of Enlightenment. Beethoven wholeheartedly embraced these ideals, but their implementation through revolution and the present Napoleonic wars left a sour taste in the composer’s mouth.

Work on the opera began in 1804, and its first performance was given in November of 1805. Unfortunately Napoleon’s troops already occupied the Austrian capitol and attendance was understandably spare. Most of the aristocracy and many of Beethoven’s friends were forced to flee or go into hiding. The work was performed only five times, mostly to audiences made up of French officers. The overture to these performances was the one we now know as LeonoreNo. 2.

Some time later, a few of Beethoven’s friends convinced the great man to undertake revisions of the work for a revival in 1806. Beethoven cut several numbers, and reworked the three-act structure into two. For these performances beginning in March 1806, Beethoven composed another overture, the one known today as Leonore No. 3. This time it ran only two performances. Another overture to the work was written by Beethoven in 1807 for projected performances in Berlin and Prague, but these were never given. This overture is actually Leonore No. 1.

The 1814 revisions and performances fared considerably better. The opera, even against Beethoven’s objections, was definitively named Fidelio and boasted yet another brand new overture. However, Beethoven never really felt the work had completely lived up to its potential. He wrote to Treitschke, the librettist for the final version, ‘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.’

Fidelio is regularly, if not frequently performed today, but its overtures have gained considerable fame. Though all four have been heard in concert halls around the world, it is Leonore No. 3 that has become the favorite. The reasons for this are many, but the most obvious one is the fact that this work is less an overture than a highly charged dramatic tone poem for large orchestra. In its grand sonata structure it leads us confidently through the themes of oppression, resolve, hope, and redemption that define not only the opera, but Beethoven’s spirit.