Episode 30 – Fidelio

For episode 30, John features some of the most remarkable pieces from Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio, telling the story of how it came to be, and how Beethoven feared he was finally out of his depth as a composer. He explains how it took Beethoven four attempts to arrive at a completed overture, why the opera was initially banned by the censor and then shut down after three nights, and what made Beethoven decide to meet with his patron and rewrite it; piece by piece, and line by line in order for the work to finally find its audience. All the Beethoven pieces featured in this podcast are taken from the 90-disc Naxos box set, the Complete Beethoven Edition. You can buy yours by heading to Presto Classical and Europadisc.