March 29, 1795!

[Joy]

March 29
1795 - Ludwig van Beethoven makes his first public appearance, performing his Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat at a concert in the Burgtheater, Vienna.

[lysander]

Originally posted by Joy:
March 29
1795 - Ludwig van Beethoven makes his first public appearance, performing his Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat at a concert in the Burgtheater, Vienna.

Beethoven was then 24 years of age.

Within a very short time of arriving in Vienna, Beethoven's Reputation as a pianist, for instance, was beginning to spread - as one fashionable player of the time, the Abbe Joseph Gelinek, had cause to know; 'I am asked to measure myself with a young pianist who is just arrived ; I'll work him over'. A few days later, rather less confidently; 'Ah, he no man; he is a devil. He will play me and all of us to death. And how he improvises!''.
Beethoven's tricks were soon being copied by everyone.


A quote form Haydn;
"Beethoven will in time fill the position of one of Europe's greatest composers"


As Joy already mentioned; Beethoven's formal Viennese debut took place as a 'Grand Musical Academy' held on 29th March 1795 for the benifit of orphans and widows of the Society for Musicians at the Burgtheater, one of the most prestigious platforms in Vienna. 'More than 150 participants' took part, and Beethoven played the original version of his New Piano Concerto in B flat, finished just hours before the rehearsal.


Thankyou for reminding us of that Joy!



[This message has been edited by lysander (edited March 30, 2003).]

[Joy]

Originally posted by lysander:
[B]

Thankyou for reminding us of that Joy!

B]

And thanks for adding the interesting information about that concert! Lucky people who saw that live performance!!

Joy

[lysander]

[quote]Originally posted by lysander:

Originally posted by Joy:
And thanks for adding the interesting information about that concert! Lucky people who saw that live performance!!

Joy

[/QUOT


That's exactly what I was thinking.

I am going to invent a time machine so that we can travel back in time to meet and hear Beethoven perform at a concert.
The concert I would choose would be the first perfomance of the 9th Symphony, also at that concert I think the Missa Solemnis was performed, I would love to have experienced the way Beethoven would have performed it, and the tumultous , ecstatic reception he recieved from the audience.
But of course I would like to hear The Choral Fantasia and a few other piano works.
And so much more.


But if we were to choose just one Concert,
which Concert would you like to hear?

[OboeKing]

I think it would have to be the concert on the 22nd of December 1808 (I think that's the correct year), where parts of the mass in C, the choral fantasia, the piano concerto in g, and symphonies 5 and 6 were performed. What an absolutely mammoth concert I'll bet it was an ubelievable experience!

[Joy]

Originally posted by lysander:

But if we were to choose just one Concert,
which Concert would you like to hear?

[/B]

Lysander, if I had a timemachine I would go back to the May 7th, 1824 concert at Kaerntner Theatre to watch the performance of the 9th Symphony. Not only to see Beethoven himself on stage 'conducting' but to be witness to how they turned him around at the end of the concert so he could see the audience applauding must have been some moment in time.

Joy

[Joy]

Originally posted by OboeKing:
I think it would have to be the concert on the 22nd of December 1808 (I think that's the correct year), where parts of the mass in C, the choral fantasia, the piano concerto in g, and symphonies 5 and 6 were performed. What an absolutely mammoth concert I'll bet it was an ubelievable experience!

That concert is sometimes referred to as the 'Monster Concert' because it was four hours long! In a very cold and drafty theatre in December. Some of the exhausted audience was heard saying after the concert 'We have truly experienced the old adage that you can get too much of a good thing'!

Joy

[Javax]

Quote: I am going to invent a time machine so that we can travel back in time to meet and hear Beethoven perform at a concert.


Too funny! I've often thought that myself. Often! But I always thought I would go to the premiere of the 3rd Symphony in Dresden. Beethoven conducted it himself. (No idea what year).

[This message has been edited by Javax (edited March 31, 2003).]

[Peter]

Originally posted by Javax:


But I always thought I would go to the premiere of the 3rd Symphony in Dresden. Beethoven conducted it himself. (No idea what year).

The 3rd Symphony received its first public performance on 7th April 1805 at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna (not Dresden) with Beethoven as the conductor.

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

[Javax]

Thanks for the info., Peter. Good thing I found that out before I hopped in the time machine!

But I wonder now if I heard Dick Cavett (on NPR) wrong, or if he was wrong???