Opera in German The years following the French Revolution of 1789 had been some of the most turbulent in European history. In "Fidelio", Beethoven wanted to express the ideals of that Revolution: liberty, equality and fraternity. He was also inspired by contemporary French works, particularly the "rescue operas" of Luigi Cherubini. Beethoven was arguably not a natural composer of opera and, although "Fidelio" was premiered in 1805, it was not until 1814 that he produced its final version. Nevertheless, Fidelio is widely regarded as a masterpiece and is one of the key works in the German repertoire. In the early years of the
Lolita (opera) Lolita (opera) Lolita () is an opera in two acts by composer Rodion Shchedrin. Composed in 1992, it uses a Russian language libretto by the composer which is based on Vladimir Nabokov's 1955 novel of the same name, written in English. The opera premiered in 1994 at the Royal Swedish Opera, Stockholm, using a Swedish language translation of the original libretto. "Lolita" is Shchedrin's fourth work for the stage based on literary works by Russian writers. He had already been his own librettist in composing a film score and a ballet based on Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" (1972), an opera based