I still like it...and it's exhilarating when sung by the likes of Jones and King. The revised version is a more compact, stage worthy, opera. There are stretches of music in Fidelio where there is not much stage action - nor does it "fix" that situation when directors have the singers tromp back and forth across the stage. Leonore has even more of those stand and sing moments. That's fine with me, and concert versions like this one make sense. Although the revised Fidelio has more difficult and taxing music for Forestan, the revised music for Leonore, while still still taxing, does not have those sustained high C's in the second act. The slightly lower range undoubtedly makes it possible for excellent Lenore's like Martha Mödl, Christa Ludwig, Regine Crespin and the post WWll Kirsten Flagstad to take up the role - and for that I am grateful.The sound is very good on these discs; there are a few commercial recordings of the 1805 version that include librettos, should that be important to you.Meanwhile, this offering is an excellent introduction to this fascinating precursor to the 1814 Fidelio.

I complained of skipping in Disc 2, track 10. Andy sent me another copy and there were no problems.

A friend of mine hates Beethoven's early version of Fidelio, Leonore. "It's a terrible opera!" he insists. As I've said elsewhere here on Opera Depot some of the arias and ensembles go on for too long and the vocal demands are more strenuous without a satisfying payoff. Nevertheless given a cast who believes in the piece Beethoven's first thoughts on his only opera are fascinating and rewarding in their own right. This is such a performance. Jones is tireless as Leonore really making something of her duet with Florestan in the second act which, in this version, is higher and more florid than the version we're used to hearing (it twice goes to a sustained C). King doesn't get the aria he gets in the revised version, but Beethoven does give him some very dramatic recitatives not in Fidelio and King sings them very convincingly. All the other singers are great too. I particularly enjoyed Hausmann's lovely Marzelline. She gets an extra duet with Leonore that Beethoven cut from Fidelio. Melles conducts very well and his chorus and orchestra are also excellent. This performance was done as a concert without the spoken dialogue between the musical numbers (although Jones and Nienstedt do speak their lines in the Act Two melodrama).The sound is very good. Andy mentions skipping in the Pizarro/Rocco duet, but my copy played fine there. I did have trouble with recurrent skipping in track 10 of disc 2. Hopefully it was just my copy.Certainly worth hearing with this cast!

Liked it!

Fascinating to hear Beethoven's early thoughts on his only opera. The dream team of Gwyneth Jones and James King deliver some high-octane stuff here, Jones in particular always a generous performer.

I have to agree with Beethovens cecisions as to what to cut to form Fidelio out of Leonore. The only thing that i would have left might be the extended version of Oh Welch Lust In Leonore. It would slow the Action a bit but I love that rich male chorus sound. That Coment out of the way.BUY THIS RECORDING WITHOUT DELAY! The singing in this performance is GODLIKE. This version has some of the most beautiful and DIFFICULT that Beethoven ever Wrote. You are listening along to stratispheric singing for the Soprano and Tenor thinking “When is he going to give them a rest?” and then they REPEAT IT ALL AGAIN! Dame Gweneth and James King are stellar never leting down for a moment the level of singing and the rest of the cast is equally as stellar. Theo Adam holds his own with the best and Gerd Nienstedt is excellent as well.This is the WAGNERIAN OPERA that Wagner always wanted to write but couldn’t. If you are a fan of GREAT SINGING buy this. It is a true JOY to the ears.