This live recording, made at concerts in Berlin in 2003, came shortly after the staging of Fidelio that inaugurated Sir Simon Rattle's time as artistic director of the Salzburg Easter Festival. In Rattle's words: "Beethoven tells you exactly where you are in every sense - musically, spiritually, rhythmically, in terms of the imagination." September 2002 had brought his first concert as chief conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker: "There's a kind of energy and passion and fierceness in the way they play," he said. "For music like Beethoven's, which seems to ask more energy and intensity than anyone can give, they're a wonderful fit."

Cast:
- Leonore: Angela Denoke
- Florestan: Jon Villars
- Don Pizarro: Alan Held
- Rocco: László Polgár
- Marzelline: Juliane Banse
- Jaquino: Rainer Trost
- Don Fernando: Thomas Quasthoff