Ludwig van Beethoven’s only completed opera is Fidelio.
The opera premiered in Vienna on 20 November 1805 under the title Fidelio, oder die eheliche Liebe, meaning Fidelio, or Conjugal Love. Its German libretto, initially by Joseph Sonnleithner, was adapted from a French rescue-opera story by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly. The plot follows Leonore, who disguises herself as a prison worker named Fidelio to rescue her husband Florestan, a political prisoner.
Beethoven revised the work several times. The original version used three acts, while the commonly performed version has two. The opera also has three different overtures associated with it: Leonore No. 1, Leonore No. 2, Leonore No. 3, and the later Fidelio overture. Leonore No. 3 is frequently performed separately in concert, although it is not normally played during the opera itself.
Fidelio is often discussed as a work about marital devotion, political oppression, and liberation. Beethoven also wrote music for a separate stage work called Egmont, but Egmont is not an opera.