Revival of an aria for the well-being of a singer
Beethoven worked for many years on his only opera. We know of three versions: the one for the première in 1805, a revision for its revival in 1806 and another revision for the performance in 1814. Rocco's aria "Hat man nicht auch Gold beineben" ("If you haven't gold as well"), which you can see here in the corrected copy for the 1814 version of Fidelio, was already included in the 1805 Leonore version. The text was rewritten for the 1806 version, but then cut out. It was restored in the 1814 version of Fidelio, even though Friedrich Treitschke, who revised the text, suggested removing it because he thought it slowed down the plot too much. The aria was not, however, included for dramatic reasons. As the revival or rather the performance of Fidelio in 1814 was for the benefit of the singers Ignaz Saal, Johann Michael Vogl and Karl Friedrich Weinmüller at the court opera, it was only logical that the bass Weinmüller, who was singing the part of Rocco, should have an aria to sing (the gold aria is Rocco's only aria). (J.R.)
