Fidelio Vienna was under French military occupation, and most of the audience were French military officers. After this premiere, Beethoven was pressured by friends to revise and shorten the opera into just two acts, and he did so with the help of Stephan von Breuning. The composer also wrote a new overture (now known as "Leonore No. 3"; see below). In this form the opera was first performed on 29 March and 10 April 1806, with greater success. Further performances were prevented by a dispute between Beethoven and the theatre management. In 1814 Beethoven revised his opera yet again, with additional
The Handmaid's Tale (opera) Danish title was "Tjenerindens fortælling". The Danish Royal Opera who commissioned the work wanted the opera performed in Danish, but performances outside Denmark have all been sung in English. The Handmaid's Tale (opera) The Handmaid's Tale is an opera composed by the Danish composer Poul Ruders in 2000, to a libretto by Paul Bentley based on the novel of the same name written by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. Prologue In AD 2195, the 12th Symposium on the Republic of Gilead is meeting via videoconference. The Republic was formed after Christian fundamentalists assassinated the President and most of the Congress in