Type: Book

Ludwig van Beethoven

FIDELIO

in Full Score

"Of all my children," the composer said, "this is the one that cost me the 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.

Now, 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.

First produced in Vienna on November 20, 1805, the opera was withdrawn, altered and restaged the following year-only to be withdrawn again, after a few performances. The final score and libretto, here reproduced complete with all spoken German dialogue, did not reach the public until May 23, 1814.

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.

Unabridged republication of the work as published by C. F. Peters, Leipzig, n. d. Dramatis Personae and Contents translated from German. ii + 269pp. 9 x 12. Paperbound.

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