Biamonti 423 – Sketches for Fidelio, Opus 72

The sketches for the opera are preserved in two notebooks, which Nottebohm (pages 457 and following) described in considerable detail, albeit somewhat summarily. The first, which we have named the “Eroica Notebook” because it predominantly contains sketches for that symphony, pertains to the first five numbers of the opera. The second, which we have designated the “Fidelio Notebook” due to its near-exclusive dedication to the opera, relates to the final numbers of the first act and the entirety of the second.