Fidelio abandoned "Vestas Feuer" for "Fidelio", and was eventually freed from his obligations to Schikaneder when the latter was fired from his post as theater director in 1804. "Fidelio" itself, which Beethoven began in 1804 immediately after giving up on "Vestas Feuer", was first performed in 1805 and was extensively revised by the composer for subsequent performances in 1806 and 1814. Although Beethoven used the title ' ("Leonore, or The Triumph of Married Love"), the 1805 performances were billed as "Fidelio" at the theatre's insistence, to avoid confusion with the 1798 opera ' by Pierre Gaveaux, and the 1804 opera "Leonora"
Fidelio to be broadcast in the USA, over the NBC radio network, in December 1944, by the NBC Symphony Orchestra, featuring soloists from the Metropolitan Opera (though a shortwave broadcast of one act, conducted by Toscanini, had earlier been relayed from a 16 August 1936 performance at Salzburg.) Divided into two consecutive broadcasts, the 1944 performances were later issued by RCA Victor on LPs and CDs. "Fidelio" was the first opera performed in Berlin after the end of the World War II, with the Deutsche Oper staging it under the baton of Robert Heger at the only undamaged theatre, the Theater