The vocal score of Beethoven's Fidelio is based on the scholarly-critical edition of the full score prepared by Helga Lühning (Beethoven-Haus, Bonn) and the late Robert Didion (†). lt is the first one to make use of all the major sources. The opera's extremely long gestation and complex genesis, with its three versions between 1804 and 1814 and its four overtures, shed light on the huge amount of editorial work required for this volume. The vocal score is accompanied by a complete historical-critical edition of the performance material. With this publication another towering masterpiece has been purged of nineteenth-century editorial emendations - with surprising timbral results. / Choeur et ensemble vocal / Barenreiter
