Fidelio in Full Score

By Ludwig van Beethoven

Book Overview

Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio is a unique, enduring masterpiece of loyalty, unselfish love, and the human spirit -- the story of the faithful Leonora who risks everything to free her husband, Florestan, from unjust imprisonment. Though the plot line and the form of the libretto are far from unique, Beethoven -- after a decade of unceasing revision -- was able to rise above the limitations of the material and infuse it with transcendent nobility.
"Of all my children," the composer said, "this is the one that cost me with worst birth pangs . . . and for that reason it is the one most dear to me." Audiences and musicians have long shared Beethoven's sentiments, making Fidelio one of the most performed, most studied, most recorded operas of all time.
This reliable edition from Dover reproduces the full orchestral and vocal score, with ample space in the margins for analytical notation. In one sturdily bound, inexpensive volume, here is Beethoven's genius for orchestration combined with the drama of the human voice in choruses, duets, emotion-filled arias, and an intense finale.
More than anything else, the idealistic themes of the opera -- justice, freedom, heroism, love -- inspired Beethoven to transcend the libretto and forge a musical structure that far surpasses the literary foundation on which it is built. Whether in a humorous aria, such as "Hat man auch nicht Geld beineben," or a glorious four-part canon, such as "Mir ist so wunderbar," the music carries the words to a plane far beyond themselves.
Reprinted in its entirety from the authoritative C. F. Peters edition, this faithful edition of the well-loved Fidelio will delight music lovers, opera enthusiasts, Beethoven devotees, teachers, and students -- not least of all for its remarkably affordable price.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486247406
• ISBN13: 9780486247403
• Release Date: November 1984
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.67 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.9" x 12.0"

Customer Reviews

This is what you want

This is the real thing. Full orchestral score and complete. No translation from the German, unfortunately, but a translation of the libretto is not hard to find.

Beethoven's only Opera

The history of Fidelio's composition is one of the great comic Operas in the annals of music theatre. Beethoven wrote the opera's first version, Leonore. He liked it, but didn't like the overture. He wrote a second overture, didn't like it, then wrote a third. He liked the new overture, but decided he didn't like the opera. So he re-wrote the Opera and re-titled it Fidelio. After finishing the new score, he decided that, you guessed it, he hated the overture. After composing two full length operas and four 15-minute overtures, he finally had the piece he wanted to compose. With sweat pouring off his brow, he triumphantly exclaimed, "man, I ain't doing that again!" Dover reprinted an early Breitkopf & Hartel edition of Fidelio, using as it's resource B & H's gesamtlichtwerke (I believe that's "complete works"). Dover chose Fidelio, not Leonore, for the simple reason that Fidelio is the version most often performed today. Maybe the idea that Dover could've publish two versions simply underlines the assertion that Dover should begin publishing Complete Works of some of Western Classical music's great masters, such as Beethoven (sold separately, or in a set, of course). The scholarship in this B & H Fidelio is, of course, highly reliable, and the book itself is easy to read and nearly indestructable. The print is large enough that this score could be used on the podium.