Beethoven and the Heroic Part 3: Leonore’s Aria: A study in finding one’s courage. Notes by Fred Haight Leonore’s Aria An aria in opera, is like a soliloquy in a play. The actor shares his or her struggle with their innermost self, directly with you, the audience. Leonore gains great courage in this aria. To […]
Beethoven and the Heroic ; Part 2: Leonore Notes by Fred Haight Part 2: Leonore No-one ever portrayed a woman more heroically then Beethoven. His only opera, Fidelio, is about a woman named Leonore, who courageously disguises herself as a boy, goes into prison, risking her life, in order to rescue her husband, Florestan, who […]
Part 1: The Eroica Symphony Notes by Fred Haight Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55 “Eroica”: 1st mvt (Furtwängler) Beethoven lived in a time of great hope and optimism. The world was changing, and the future looked bright. The poet Friedrich Schiller, expressed this in “The Artists”: “How beautifully, O man, with your […]
December 16, 2020 marks the 250th birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven. As part of the international celebrations this year and next year, in honor of Beethoven, the Schiller Institute is happy to inaugurate a new feature on our website. We will regularly post selections of Beethoven’s music with short discussions of the pieces. Friedrich Schiller’s beautiful […]