Happy Birthday to Beethoven! The venerable composer would’ve turned 245 today. Now, what better way to celebrate #beethovenbirthday than to revisit our summer performance of the South Philadelphia-based Atlantic Coast Opera Festival's free cameo matinee of Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio?

The free concert drew around 200 people and featured some superb voices, as well as a 24-piece orchestra that spilled out into the audience. Take a look:

Pizarro's Aria: "Ha! Welch Ein Augenblick" ("Ha! What a Look") excerpted from Fidelio's Act I, interpreted by bass-baritone Junhee Han

Marzelline's Aria: "O wär' ich schon mit dir vereint" ("O Were I Already Married to You") excerpted from Fidelio's Act I, interpreted by soprano Keesun Kwon

The Library holds these arias, as well as the entire opera, in a variety of formats: Get it from us on CD, on vinyl, in score (if you're an opera singer, ask a librarian if we have any Fidelio in any of our collections of arias), or in libretto, or stream it from Classical Music Database, one of our much-higher-quality-than-Youtube streaming services, with liner notes and extensive personnel lists.

Beethoven's Fidelio, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra:

Hungry for more free concerts? Our Mysterious Travelers Jazz Series continues this month, with Anthony DeCarlo performing on Monday, December 28.