Fidelio some spoken dialogue, tells how Leonore, disguised as a prison guard named "Fidelio", rescues her husband Florestan from death in a political prison. Bouilly's scenario fits Beethoven's aesthetic and political outlook: a story of personal sacrifice, heroism, and eventual triumph. With its underlying struggle for liberty and justice mirroring contemporary political movements in Europe, such topics are typical of Beethoven's "middle period". Notable moments in the opera include the "Prisoners' Chorus" ("O welche Lust"—"O what a joy"), an ode to freedom sung by a chorus of political prisoners, Florestan's vision of Leonore come as an angel to rescue him, and
Fidelio F. Finke Fidelio F. Finke Fidelio Friedrich "Fritz" Finke (22 October 1891 in Josefsthal, Austria-Hungary (now Josefův Důl, Czech Republic) – 12 June 1968 in Dresden, East Germany) was a Bohemian-German composer. Finke was born the son of a teacher in 1891 in the north-Bohemian village of Josefstal (modern-day Josefův Důl, Czech Republic). From 1906 to 1908, he attended a teacher's seminar in Reichenberg (now Liberec). He received organ, piano and violin lessons, and from 1908 to 1911, studied at the Prague Conservatory, where he studied piano and composition. From 1911 onward, he worked as a private music teacher and from 1915