Leonore Overture No. 3, Op. 72a

• Confusingly, despite being called “No. 3,” Op. 72a is actually Beethoven’s second “Leonore” overture written and premiered in 1806. The piece distills the plot of Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio.
  • Ultimately, the piece was replaced by an alternate version of the overture because it was deemed too strong and dramatic to serve as an introduction. It does, however, serve as a fantastic standalone piece for the concert hall.¹
• Beethoven wrote four separate overtures for Fidelio. The first three versions are called “Leonore Overture” because the composer wanted that to be the title of his opera. Producers later changed the name to Fidelio.²
  • The title “Leonore” is nowadays often used to distinguish the first three versions from the final, more familiar “Fidelio” one written in 1814.³
  • Read the opera’s synopsis
  • Short synopsis from the San Francisco Symphony:

A man called Florestan has been spirited away to prison by a right-wing politician named Don Pizarro. Florestan’s whereabouts are not known, and his wife, Leonore, sets out to find him. To make her quest possible, she assumes male disguise and takes the name of Fidelio. She finds her husband and gets a job as assistant to the jailer. Meanwhile, Pizarro gets word of an impending inspection of the prison by a minister from the capital. The presence of the unjustly held Florestan is compromising to Pizarro, who therefore decides to kill him. At the moment of crisis, Leonore reveals her identity and a trumpeter on the prison tower signals the sighting of the minister’s carriage.⁴

• Learn more about the four variations of Beethoven’s “Leonore” Overtures

1. Michael Steinberg, “Beethoven: Leonore Overture No. 3, Opus 72a,” San Francisco Symphony (2018), accessed July 6, 2023, https://www.sfsymphony.org/Data/Event-Data/Program-Notes/B/Beethoven-Leonore-Overture-No-3.
2. Charles Petzold, “Day 189,” The Complete Beethoven (2021), accessed July 6, 2023, https://www.completebeethoven.com/day189.html.
3. Douglas Johnson et al, “Beethoven, Ludwig van,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed July 6, 2023, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000040026.
4. Michael Steinberg, “Beethoven: Leonore Overture No. 3, Opus 72a,” San Francisco Symphony.