Opera in German The years following the French Revolution of 1789 had been some of the most turbulent in European history. In "Fidelio", Beethoven wanted to express the ideals of that Revolution: liberty, equality and fraternity. He was also inspired by contemporary French works, particularly the "rescue operas" of Luigi Cherubini. Beethoven was arguably not a natural composer of opera and, although "Fidelio" was premiered in 1805, it was not until 1814 that he produced its final version. Nevertheless, Fidelio is widely regarded as a masterpiece and is one of the key works in the German repertoire. In the early years of the
The Nightingale and the Rose (opera) The Nightingale and the Rose (opera) The Nightingale and the Rose (Russian: "Соловей и роза" – "Solovey i roza") is a chamber opera in one act (five scenes) by Russian composer Elena Firsova (Op. 46, 1990–1991) written to her own English libretto after Oscar Wilde’s story of the same name together with poetry by Christina Rossetti. The opera was written at the request of Paul Esterházy, the director of the Ulm Theatre in Germany. Firsova created the libretto combining the text from Oscar Wilde's fairy-tale, taken from the collection "The Happy Prince and Other Stories" (1888), with four poems by