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
What Men Live By (opera) What Men Live By (opera) What Men Live By ("Čím člověk žije" in Czech) is an opera in one act by Bohuslav Martinů to an English libretto by the composer, based on "Where Love Is, There God Is Also" (1885) by Leo Tolstoy, though he chose to use the more universal title of a different Tolstoy story "What Men Live By" (1886). It was composed in 1951-1952 when the composer was living in the U.S.A, and described by him as a 'pastoral-opera'. The opera was premiered as a television broadcast in New York in May 1953. The first staged performance