Beethoven鈥檚 drive to refine and perfect his work is well documented and is exemplified by the amendments he often chose to make to pieces most of us would be hard pressed to fault. He revised his only opera, Fidelio (Leonore), three times and made four versions of its overture. The first three iterations, known as the Leonore overtures, are so-called because this is the name Beethoven originally intended for his opera. All three of the Leonore overtures are technically masterful and beguiling in their own ways and today we hear Leonore Overture No.1. Composed between 1806 and 1807, this version is actually the third Beethoven completed, and it was intended for a performance of the opera which never actually took place. The overture was not performed in Beethoven鈥檚 lifetime.
We also hear Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major. Written in 1806, it did not meet with immediate success following its premiere, but more than 200 years on, this Concerto is regarded as one of the greatest pieces ever written for the violin. We hear it today with accomplished German violinist Tobias Feldmann, conducted by Music Director of the Salzburg Landestheater, Leslie Suganandarajah.