MEDIATHEK

"Beethoven in Love" is an innovative 50-minute work for 4 vocalists & piano (with optional string quartet).  The work is based on the libretto of Maxine Fisher, a former professor of English at Queens College (CUNY).  In 2013, she commissioned New York composer Sunny Knable to compose the opera which subsequently had several workshop performances through Queens College, The Church-in-the-Gardens in Forest Hills, NY, and Rhymes with Opera Salon in Brooklyn, NY.  The full semi-staged reading of the piece took place in April of 2017 at The National Opera Center.  The impact of this piece on audience members is not only emotionally potent, it is also historically accurate (with some artistic license).  The piece is based on well-researched historical letters from Beethoven's correspondence, and multiple biographies about his life and work during the turn of the 19th Century. This drama explores the story of Beethoven's "Immortal Beloved", which is mostly agreed on to be the wife of Franz Brentano, Antonie.  As history suggests, she became his muse for many pieces in that period, as well as perhaps, one of the great loves of his life whom he could not fully embrace. The music is based on Beethoven's work during this period as a foundation, and is translated through Knable's modern musical language.  The piece is a unique synthesis of historical drama and modern chamber opera with Sondheim-like chords and Beethovenian melodies. As the cast sings in the finale, it is "Perfect Joy!"