Beethoven's deafness

[Peter]

Not quite so deaf as previously thought?

https://www.theguardian.com/music/20...s-musicologist

[Michael]

It is a well-known fact that Beethoven was never "stone" deaf. On good days, he could hear a little (which meant the person speaking to him had to shout.)
But if he couldn't hear the applause at the end of the Ninth Symphony - and had to be turned towards the audience by Caroline Unger - it seems very unlikely that he heard the music in a meaningful way.