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 Saracen (opera) 1899. The Saracen (opera) The Saracen ("Сарацин" in Cyrillic, "Saracin" in transliteration), is an opera by César Cui composed during 1896-1898. The libretto was written by Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov and the composer, based on a play by Alexandre Dumas (père) entitled "Charles VII chez ses grands vassaux". The opera was premiered on 2 November 1899 (Old Style), in Saint Petersburg at the Mariinsky Theatre, with Eduard Nápravník as conductor. It was staged also in 1902 by the Moscow Private Opera at the Solodovnikov Theatre, but never became part of the standard operatic repertoire. "The Saracen" can be understood to some