BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Friday, August 23, 1822 (very approximately)
Sometime after July of 1822, Beethoven gets word of a planned revival of his opera Fidelio, which he has repeatedly complained never gets performed in Vienna (the last previous time being in 1819). As you may recall from the July 10, 1822 entry, in the wake of the Rossini Festival the next season of the Vienna opera was intended to promote German opera. Fidelio was not, however, on the list of operas planned to be performed at that time. It’s not clear to us when Fidelio was added to the planned program, but obviously preparations soon need to begin being made for the performances, the first of which will take place at the Kärnthnertor Theater in early November. Beethoven plans to conduct the opera himself, which will prove challenging with his ever-worsening hearing.