BEETHOVEN 200 YEARS AGO TODAY: Wednesday October 2, 1822 (approximately)

Anton Schindler recounts an event at the dress rehearsal for the premiere of The Consecration of the House (Constance S. Jolly translation, pp. 235-236): “During a duet between soprano and tenor the young soprano, through nervousness, had dragged considerably. Beethoven noticed the trouble at once and called the singer to him, showed her the places where she should pick up the tempo, spoke to her encouragingly, and recommended that she listen closely to the tenor, who was competent and sure of the music. Then he had them do the duet again and when it was finished expressed his satisfaction in these words: ‘This time it was very good, Fräulein Heckermann!’ The tenor in this duet was the present director of the City Theatre in Aaschen, Michael Greiner, a man whose acquaintance our master had already made in the Baden theatre. As for Beethoven’s ability to hear on this occasion, I should point out that here he had only to judge the performance of two voices, not of the whole ensemble. All those who watched the master through the rest of the rehearsal and the performance had to admit with the greatest sorrow that he was no longer capable under any conditions of conducting large groups.”