BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Tuesday, May 25, 1824

Beethoven most likely starts making preparations for his move to Penzing for the first part of the summer. He continues to stew about the embarrassing failure of the second Akademie concert on Sunday afternoon.

Most likely about mid-day, Nephew Karl comes to visit to talk about what happened in the row last night. Ludwig seems to have complained that the comedy they saw was immoral and the decorations ugly. Karl counters that both unpaid assistant Anton Schindler and Brother Johann thought that the decorations were beautiful, and that the play, The Visit to the Country by August Wilhelm Iffland, contained a great deal of morality.

Karl was willing to leave early, as his uncle had wanted. But in the street in front of the Theater an der Wien, Uncle Ludwig began to shout suddenly, making others standing there gawk at them. Karl told him not to make a stir, but Uncle Ludwig started in again. “I couldn’t allow that to go on in the street, though. Therefore, I told you that if you shouted so, I would have to go home.” What Karl considered a well-intentioned warning, Uncle Ludwig took as insolence and he started to rage at Karl too. He had no choice but to lead the group (Uncles Ludwig and Johann, plus Schindler) away from the crowd still standing there. “You ran after me, and when you called to me, I stopped immediately, because I saw that you were calmer. That is the whole true story. You also made some remarks about a conspiracy. Where is that supposed to lead?”

Ludwig complains about Schindler. Karl defends him somewhat, saying he doesn’t mean badly. Schindler was quite upset that Uncle Ludwig misunderstood him, and he only walked with Karl as far as the Karlskirche. [While it is not spelled out what Schindler said that Ludwig took exception to, from later context it may well have been referencing the payments to Schuppanzigh for acting as concertmaster and Piringer for managing the dilettantes, hinting that Schindler would like payment for his services in connection with the two concerts as well. These requests to be paid for his time had already twice contributed to a break between Beethoven and Schindler.]

Why was the Redoutensaal so empty? Ludwig wants an explanation, again suspecting a conspiracy against him. Karl assures him that it’s because of a combination of circumstances. “It was not full, primarily because many people are already out in the country. The high price of the galleries may also have frightened many off; therefore these were quite empty. One part did not come, because it is known that you would not receive the income. [Beethoven had agreed to accept a fixed 500 florins C.M., rather than a share of the income.] Another part remained away because the Rossini aria [Di tanti palpiti] roused them to indignation, as it also did to me.”

Uncle Ludwig demands to know how Karl knows these things. He explains, “I was in the hall, in part also to hear opinions. Everyone was irritated by the aria.” Abbé Stadler had a little crowd around him, who waxed enthusiastic about the issue of the inclusion of the Rossini aria. Ludwig feels humiliated by Rossini making his way into his own benefit concert. “It cannot harm you,” Karl assures him. “Only insofar as people would get worked up that your compositions are being placed in a category with Rossini’s doodlings, and therefore will be profaned.”

Ludwig is also furious that the posters for the event made it sound like the aria was by him, only for people to show up and hear a Rossini aria instead. “That should not have happened,” Karl agrees. Ludwig wants to know why it occurred. Karl notes that on the first poster [seen in our May 21 update] it did say “Di tanti Palpiti.” Everyone knows who wrote that, so it was less of an issue, but by the first evening that had already been torn down. The last poster said “The newest works of H. L. v. B. – No. 4: Aria, sung by David.” That made it seem as if the aria was one of Beethoven’s newest works. Karl suddenly realizes that Rossini will inevitably hear about it, and wonders what he will think. “He can also be proud that you are giving an aria by him in your Akademie,” Karl tries to reassure his uncle.

In any event, because the turnout was so poor, it was a good thing Uncle Ludwig took the 500 florins C.M. fixed fee. The expenses and only one-third of the income would not have amounted to as much. Theater manager Louis Antoine Duport made nothing on the concert. All of the choristers and orchestra members had to be paid, since they are exclusively with Duport but had no obligation to perform at the Redoutensaal.

Uncle Ludwig asks what he should have done differently. Karl tells him (much as Johann Schickh and Tobias Haslinger had advised) that it should have been held in the fall, in the large Redoutensaal, but in the evening. Also, if people had been told it was for Beethoven’s benefit, more people would have come.

Later this afternoon, Beethoven makes a note that book dealer Philipp Schalbacher stocks the best works of foreign writers. Schalbacher is offering a subscription to a French-German dictionary by Mozin, which Karl was interested in getting.

Brother Johann visits Ludwig mid-afternoon. The two of them need to go to the Kärntnertor Theater by 4:30 today to collect the funds from Duport and to speak with him. Ludwig doesn’t want to include Schindler. Johann agrees they don’t need him. Ludwig tells him that he has had enough and is going to tell Schindler not to visit any more. That’s fine with Johann. The issue of money appears to come up, because Johann mentions that “He absolutely never has money.”

The two of them proceed to collect the funds from Duport. Duport does not write in the conversation book, so he may not have been available and the 500 florins were likely just collected from his secretary.

Conversation Book 69, 7r-8v, 4r-4v, 9r. The pages for today’s entries appear to have been bound out of order. On 9v, Schindler added some musical forgeries after Beethoven’s death. This concludes Conversation Book 69, and Conversation Book 70 will pick up with entries tomorrow.