are there other works by Beethoven of which in your opinion other versions should be played (alternative ending of symphony 8 1st mvt e.g.)?
I believe LEONORE (the original opera of 1806 which Beethoven later reworked as FIDELIO) is an enormously superior piece. It's much tighter dramatically, and more interesting - for example the pivotal role of Rocco is much more ambivalent in LEONORE... he disarms Leonore after the dungeon quartet, whereas in FIDELIO he is already firmly on her side by then. Plus, of course, you don't have "Abscheulicher!", and in its place there's a much more credible (in my view) spoken "melodrama" (ie text spoken over the music) purely about "hope". That way when the horn signal sounds the call to action, we're gripped by the change that has come over Leonore and her resolve to free her husband... the "FIDELIO" version has given the game away before the aria's started.
