This album features new 192 kHz / 24 bit high definition transfers of the original Elite Recordings analogue master tapes.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Beethoven was deeply moved by the story of Leonore/Fidelio, particularly by the themes of heroic love and justice prevailing over injustice.
Performer Biography
Stanisław Skrowaczewski, the conductor on this album, began playing piano and violin at age four and composed his first symphonic work at seven.
Critical Reception
Press reviews from 1981 praised this recording, with one calling the performances 'nothing short of a revelation' and the Minnesota Orchestra 'one of the finest on the continent'.
Compositional Technique
The Leonore Overtures Nos. 2 and 3 are built on essentially the same musical materials, but No. 3 is more tightened and compressed, allowing for a substantial recapitulation not found in No. 2.
Composition History
Beethoven's opera, originally titled Leonore, went through three different versions and four overtures over a period of about a dozen years.
Composer Biography
Beethoven remarked that his opera, Leonore/Fidelio, caused him more 'birth-pangs' and 'suffering' than any of his other works.
