What is love without freedom? An imprisoned young revolutionary, the bravery of a wife who stops at nothing to save him, the injustice of a seemingly inevitable death sentence: this is what moved the romantic Beethoven to compose his only opera, here presented as a prelude to the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth in 2020 and with an exceptional international cast assembled by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Both entirely of its time and absolutely inimitable, this dramatic work expresses all the complexity of Beethoven’s personality.