Beethoven - König Stephan op. 117 - Paris Cité de la Musique

Conductor - Laurence Equilbey Nuria Rial, Marianne Crebassa, Benjamin Hulett, Johannes Weisser The music for the festival play King Stephen (op. 117) is an occasional work by Ludwig van Beethoven . The work was performed as a prelude together with the festival play The Ruins of Athens (op. 113) for the opening of the new German Theater in Pest (now part of Budapest ). Construction of this theater in the Hungarian city began in 1808, according to plans by the architect Mihály Pollack . The builder was Franz Joseph Karl , the Archduke of Austria , who wanted to honor Hungary’s loyalty to the Austrian monarchy. Beethoven accepted the commission, which was arranged by his friend Franz von Brunsvick . The premiere took place on February 9, 1812. The text was written by August von Kotzebue and refers to the founding of the Hungarian Empire by its first king, Stephen I. The title character was played by an actor whose speeches were set to music by Beethoven as a melodrama . Today, the overture is only occasionally heard as an independent concert piece in orchestral concerts.