How many Operas did Beethoven compose?
Beethoven composed only the one opera, probably because he lacked great talent in that area of music. He could not live up to the high standards that Mozart had set him only a few years before. His opera was first named ‘Leonore’ in 1804 and features a heroine who is trying to rescue her condemned lover from prisoner. The opera failed its first performance on the 20th of November, 1805. Beethoven edited it and the new version was performed on the 29th of March, 1806. It was withdrawn again, but this time by Beethoven himself due to a misunderstanding about payments and receipts with the theatre manager. Years later in 1814 Beethoven revived ‘Leonore’ once again except this time with a new libretto and new overture. He renamed it ‘Fidelio’ and it was performed on the 26th of November in front of congressmen. Finally it was a success and nowadays it is a very popular opera, having gone through many variations. It had had four different overtures!
