Richard Coeur-de-lion (opera) performances by that company by 1910. Another 302 were given at the Théâtre Lyrique between 1856 and 1868. A translated semi-opera version of Sedaine's work "Richard Cœur de lion" was written by John Burgoyne with music by Thomas Linley the elder for the Drury Lane Theatre where it was very successful in 1788. "Richard Cœur-de-lion" played an important role in the development of "opéra comique" in its treatment of a serious, historical subject. It was also one of the first rescue operas. Significantly, one of the chief characters in the most famous rescue opera of all, Beethoven's "Fidelio", is called
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