Runtime: Approx. 13 minutes

Beethoven wrote only one opera during his storied career, and it isn’t terribly difficult to see why. The writing of Fidelio, which occupied about ten years of Beethoven’s life, was enough to make him swear off the genre for good. By the time of the final version’s premiere in 1814, the opera had gone through extensive rewrites, multiple editions of its libretto, two different titles, and no fewer than four overtures. Leonore Overture No. 3 is, unsurprisingly, the third such version and takes its name from Fidelio’s original, understandably replaced title, Leonore, or the Triumph of Marital Love.

The plot of Fidelio revolves around the themes of justice and triumph over tyranny, ideals that echoed Beethoven’s personal and political outlook during the Napoleonic years. The plot follows the heroine Leonore as she disguises herself as a man named “Fidelio” in order to rescue her husband Florestan from political imprisonment and execution.

Beethoven felt this iteration of the overture was too grand and overshadowed the opening music of the opera, so he removed it and repurposed it as a standalone work. While the fourth and final version of the overture to Fidelio contains no narrative or thematic connections to the opera proper, Leonore Overture No. 3 can be seen as a sort of micro-version of the full drama. The opening music sets the scene of Florestan’s prison cell, and much of the motivic material that follows is derived from his grand second-act aria. About half-way through, an offstage trumpet call sounds, signaling to Florestan that someone is coming to his rescue. A tender chorale is played by the woodwinds as Florestan realizes it was his beloved Leonore who came to his aid, and then the orchestra takes off in a gallant celebration of Florestan’s newfound freedom.