Berwald started his opera Estrella di Soria around 1838 but, busy with traveling and other musical projects, he only completed the work in 1841 in Vienna. A private performance of the opera took place that year, but it didn't receive its first public hearing until April 9, 1862, when Stockholm's Royal Opera presented it to great acclaim. It has been revived on occasion—particularly in Sweden—in the twentieth century, including for the 150th anniversary of Berwald's birth in 1946.

The opera's overture, sometimes referred to as a tragic overture, has become one of Berwald's best-known compositions. The portentous slow introduction leads into a stormy Allegro. The slower, graceful second theme quotes Estrella's main aria from the opera's first act. A third folksy theme also makes an appearance. After the three themes are repeated and worked over a bit, a new idea in the clarinet leads into the peaceful coda. Normally this would lead into the opera's first act, but several different concert endings have been created to allow for separate performance of the overture.

© All Music Guide