Dec. 22, 1808!

[Joy]

On this day in 1808, in a poorly attended, four-hour, all-Beethoven concert in the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, Ludwig van Beethoven conducts the premiere of his Symphonies No. 5 and No. 6 and his Choral Fantasia, and performs as soloist in his Piano Concerto No. 4. I bet it wouldn't be poorly attended if that performance was taking place today, especially with beethoven himself performing as the pianist.
Wasn't this the last time he performed in public?

Joy

[Peter]

Truly a major event in the history of music, though I doubt many present were aware of it. This account of the concert is by Ferdinand Ries

"Beethoven gave a large concert in the Theater an der Wien at which were performed for the first time the 5th and 6th Symphonies as well as his Fantasia for Piano/orchestra and chorus. In this last work, at the place where the last theme already appears in a varied form, the clarinet player made, by mistake, a repeat of 8 bars. Since only a few instruments were playing, this error was all the more evident to the ear. Beethoven leapt up in a fury, turned round and abused the orchestra players in the coarsest terms and so loudly that he could be heard throughout the auditorium. Finally he shouted 'From the beginning!'. The concert was a great success, but afterwards the artists remembering only too well the honourable title which Beethoven had bestowed on them in public swore never to play for Beethoven again - this went on until Beethoven composed something new and their curiosity got the better of them."



------------------
'Man know thyself'

[Chaszz]

Originally posted by Joy:
On this day in 1808, in a poorly attended, four-hour, all-Beethoven concert in the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, Ludwig van Beethoven conducts the premiere of his Symphonies No. 5 and No. 6 and his Choral Fantasia, and performs as soloist in his Piano Concerto No. 4. I bet it wouldn't be poorly attended if that performance was taking place today, especially with beethoven himself performing as the pianist.
Wasn't this the last time he performed in public?

Joy

Can you imagine all those works on one night? I think I remember reading that it was cold and drafty there, also.

[Joy]

Originally posted by Peter:
Truly a major event in the history of music, though I doubt many present were aware of it. This account of the concert is by Ferdinand Ries
In this last work, at the place where the last theme already appears in a varied form, the clarinet player made, by mistake, a repeat of 8 bars. Since only a few instruments were playing, this error was all the more evident to the ear. Beethoven leapt up in a fury, turned round and abused the orchestra players in the coarsest terms and so loudly that he could be heard throughout the auditorium. Finally he shouted 'From the beginning!'

Can you imagine something like this happening in concerts that are performed now?
Either we practise more or we have gotten more sophisticated.
Was this the last concert in which Beethoven performed himself?

Joy

[Joy]

Originally posted by Chaszz:
Can you imagine all those works on one night? I think I remember reading that it was cold and drafty there, also.

No I can't imagine that, Chaszz. Sometimes I can't take a 2 hour concert, although if it was Beethoven I surely would. I wonder why some concerts were so long back then?
It was cold and drafty at the concert hall and I think everyone was miserable. Not a good time to have such a long concert, should have waited until the summer!!

Joy

[Peter]

Originally posted by Joy:
Was this the last concert in which Beethoven performed himself?

Joy

No, he performed the Archduke trio in 1814 I think.

------------------
'Man know thyself'