Ludgwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), born in Bonn and living in Vienna from 1792 onwards, wrote only one opera,

, though he had begun drafting

for Shikaneder, librettist for Mozart's

, and had taken lessons in setting Italian texts from the Gluck-inspired opera-composer Antonio Salieri (1750-1825).

exists in three versions, of 2 November 1805, 29 March 1806 and 23 May 1814. Other occasions where Beethoven moved towards writing opera were his

overture for Heinrich von Collin's play (1808), sketches for a

with Collin in a translation by Schiller, before Collin died in 1811, incidental music in 1810 for Goethe's

and discussions with Franz Grillparzer between 1823-26 for a

, eventually set by Konradin Kreutzer in 1833.

2022 words

Citation: Tambling, Jeremy. "Fidelio". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 July 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5150, accessed 26 November 2024.]