BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Wednesday, March 21, 1821

Today’s Wiener Zeitung indicates the musical tastes of the day. On the third page (263), Thadé Weigl announces the publication by his firm of “The Complete Operas of Joachim Rossini, arranged for piano.” The announcement is nearly a full quarter-page of the newspaper. At the bottom of the ad, Weigl also notes that he has available similar arrangements of operas by Mozart, Spontini, Mehul, Dalayrac, Boieldieu etc., but no mention of Fidelio.

Beethoven’s publications are now seldom announced by music shops (who advertise regularly), and then almost only in passing. Of course, there have not been many new publications from Beethoven’s pen recently. In any event, the fawning attention given to Rossini (especially putting him in the same league as Mozart) had to have angered Beethoven when he saw this.