L.V. Beethoven: Leonore (1805)

This 1805 version of Beethoven's three-act opera Leonore was recorded during a concert performance in the Grand Hall of the Vienna Musikverein on 14 December 1970. Gwyneth Jones and James King starred respectively as Fidelio/Leonore and Florestan; they were incomparable in these roles at the time. The cast also includes other outstanding singers of the age, above all Theo Adam as Pizarro, Gerd Nienstedt as Rocco, Rotraud Hansmann as Marzelline, Werner Hollweg as Jaquino and Eberhard Waechter as Don Fernando. The performance opens with the Leonore Overture No. 2, thrillingly performed by the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra under Carl Melles.