The overture is in itself a condensation of what is dramatic in an opera
that has commonplace, yes, bourgeois pages. Hearing the overture, one is
spared the sight of a bulbous and shrieking prima donna; of a tenor
whose throat had been seriously affected by a long confinement in a
“dem’d moist” dungeon; of the operetta young man and woman chatting with
a flatiron among the stage properties; of four persons, each with an
individual sentiment, singing the same tune in an approved scholastic
form.
It might be well to play in the same concert the three Leonore overtures
in the order in which they were probably written: Nos. 2, 3, 1. A
programme composed exclusively of piano sonatas by Beethoven is an
invention of the Adversary, and it deserves the attention of the police
as a deliberate act against public morals. Nor is an orchestral
programme devoted exclusively to the works of any composer to be
encouraged, except possibly when the Ninth symphony is given. But with
these overtures the case is different, for here is a revelation of
Beethoven’s processes of musical and dramatic thought when he was
mightily interested in the same subject.... How many composers, after
the achievement of a _Leonore No. 2_, would have the courage or the
ability to shape from it a _Leonore No. 3_? After the three were
attentively heard and thoughtfully considered, then _No. 3_ might be
reasonably reserved for concert use and the other two put away ready but
surely on the shelf.
* * *
In the year that saw the production of _Fidelio_ (November 20, 1805),
Napoleon’s army was hastening toward Vienna. There was an exodus from
the town of the nobility, merchants, and other residents. The vanguard
of the French army entered on November 13. Those of the Viennese who
would have appreciated the opera had fled the town. The theater was not
well filled. Many in the audience were or had been officers in
Napoleon’s army. The success of the opera was small. Only two
performances followed the first. At the first and at the second the
overture _Leonore No. 2_ was performed. Anna Pauline Milder, afterwards
Mme Hauptmann, was the heroine. “The opera was hastily put upon the
stage, and the inadequacy of the singers thus increased by the lack of
sufficient rehearsals.” Beethoven had received the text in 1804. He
worked on the music the following summer at Hetzendorf. On his return to
Vienna, rehearsals were begun. In later years _Fidelio_ was one of Anna
Milder’s great parts: “Judging from the contemporary criticism, it was
now [1805] somewhat defective, simply from lack of stage experience.”
_Leonore No. 2_ was the overture played at the first performance in
Vienna. The opera was withdrawn, revised, and produced again on March
29, 1806, when _Leonore No. 3_, a remodeled form of _No. 2_, was the
overture. There was talk of a performance at Prague in 1807. Beethoven
wrote for it a new overture, retaining the theme derived from
Florestan’s air, “In des Lebens Frülingstagen.” The other material in
_Nos. 2_ and _3_ was not used. The opera was not performed; the
autograph of the overture disappeared. _Fidelio_ was revived at Vienna
in 1814. For this performance Beethoven wrote the _Fidelio_ overture. We
know from his diary that he “rewrote and bettered” the opera by working
on it from March to May 15 of that year.
The dress rehearsal was on May 22, but the promised overture was not
ready. On the 20th or 21st, Beethoven was dining at a tavern with his
friend Bartolini. After the meal was over, Beethoven took a bill of
fare, drew lines on the back of it, and began to write. “Come, let us
go,” said Bartolini. “No, wait a while: I have the scheme of my
overture,” answered Beethoven, and he sat until he had finished his
sketches. Nor was he at the dress rehearsal. They waited for him a long
time, then went to his lodgings. He was fast asleep in bed. A cup of
wine and biscuits were near him, and sheets of the overture were on the
bed and the floor. The candle was burnt out. It was impossible to use
the new overture, which was not even finished. Schindler said a
_Leonore_ overture was played. According to Seyfried, the overture used
was that to _The Ruins of Athens_.
The order, then, of these overtures, according to the time of
composition, is now supposed to be _Leonore No. 2_, _Leonore No. 3_,
_Leonore No. 1_, _Fidelio_. It was said that _Leonore No. 2_ was
rewritten because certain passages given to the wood-wind troubled the
players. Others say it was too difficult for the strings and too long.
In _No. 2_, as well as in _No. 3_, the chief dramatic stroke is the
trumpet signal, which announces the arrival of the Minister of Justice,
confounds Pizarro, and saves Florestan and Leonore.
The _Fidelio_ overture is the one generally played before performances
of the opera in Germany, although Weingartner has tried earnestly to
restore _Leonore No. 2_ to that position. _Leonore No. 3_ is sometimes
played between the acts of the opera. The objection to this is that the
trumpet episode of the prison will then discount the dramatic ending of
the overture when it comes in the following act, nor does the joyous
ending of the overture prepare the hearer for the lugubrious scene with
the Florestan soliloquy. Bülow therefore performed the overture at the
end of the opera. Zumpe did likewise in Munich. They argued with Wagner
that this overture is the quintessence of the opera, “the complete and
definite synthesis of the drama that Beethoven had dreamed of writing.”
There has been a tradition that the overture should be played between
the scenes of the second act.
The key of the _Leonore Overture No. 3_ is C major. A short _fortissimo_
is struck. It is diminished by wood-wind and horns, then taken up,
_piano_, by the strings. From this G there is a descent down the scale
of C major to a mysterious F sharp. The key of B minor is reached,
finally A flat major, when the opening measures of Florenstan’s air, “In
des Lebens Frülingstagen” (Act II of the opera), is played. The theme of
the _allegro_, C major, begins _pianissimo_, first violins and
violoncellos, and waxes impetuously. The second theme has been described
as “woven out of sobs and pitying sighs.” The working out consists in
alternating a pathetic figure, taken from the second theme and played by
the wood-wind over a nervous string accompaniment, with furious
outbursts from the whole orchestra. Then comes the trumpet call off
stage. The twice-repeated call is answered in each instance by the short
song of thanksgiving from the same scene. Leonore’s words are: “_Ach! du
bist gerettet! Grosser Gott!_” A gradual transition leads from this to
the return of the first theme at the beginning of the third part (flute
solo). The third part is developed in general as the first part and
leads to a wildly jubilant _coda_.