Libretto by Sonnleithner
Music by Beethoven
(sung in German) (spoken by Manfred Steffen) (spoken by Gisela Peltzer )(spoken by ) (spoken by )(spoken by Chorus and Symphony Orchestra of N.W.D.R., Hamburg
(Chorus-Master, Max Thurn)
Conductor, Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt
Produced by GUnther Rennert
The action takes place at a prison outside Madrid in the eighteenth century
Sc. 1: A room In the gaoler's house
Sc. 2: Inner courtyard of the prison (Recording made available by courtesy of Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk)
The story of Beethoven's only opera Fidelio was based on an actual happening in France during the Reign of Terror. J. N. Bouilly , who first used it for an opera libretto, transferred the scene to Spain to prevent the characters from being identified. Since it expressed a hatred of tyranny and a passionate admiration for wifely devotion it appealed with especial force to Beethoven, who was repelled by stories such as those of Figaro and Don Giovanni. The text he set was the work of Josef von Sonnleithner, secretary of the Court Theatre in Vienna.
Harold Rutland