Overture no. 3 for the Opera “Leonore” (1806) – Beethoven

For his only opera Leonore/Fidelio, Beethoven wrote four overtures in total. Chronologically, the so-called Leonore Overture no. 3 is the second of the series and perhaps the most performed of all Beethoven’s overtures. During hisown lifetime, it was heard not only in the theatre, but also in concert, thereby establishing with the Coriolan and Egmont overtures the new genre of the concert overture. Recognized around the middle of the nineteenth century asa masterpiece, it went on to become the declared favorite of all orchestras, as Beethoven biographer Anton Schindler testifies. It now appears as a study score based on the musical text of the Beethoven Complete Edition, with itsown specially prepared foreword.