In this article we discover how Rossini met Beethoven, what were his impressions and what did they think about each other and their music. Who was Gioachino Rossini? Gioachino Antonio Rossini, (born February 29, 1792, Pesaro, Italy – died November 13, 1868, Passy, France) was an Italian composer, mostly famous for his operas in the comic genre (opera buffa). …
In our series, after the Schwarzspanierhaus, we cover another important and famous residence of Beethoven, the Pasqualati House. The history of the Pasqualati House Originally, the house was two different buildings and the first written document to list the place is from the 18th century. One building was owned by an imperial captain and engineer, Leander Anguissola. After him, in …
In February 1796 young Beethoven was in Prague. From here, he wrote to his brother about his plan to continue his tour and go to Berlin. This article will cover his stay in Berlin. For Berlin the household name Beethoven was not novel. If not by else, in October 1793 a notice was published in the Berliner Musik-Zeitung, placed by …
Beethoven was on the move. Always. He had dozens of residences during his lifetime, sometimes as a guest, sometimes his own rent. Among the many, probably the most famous is the one, where he passed away on March 26th, 1827. The house was called Schwarzspanierhaus, meaning black Spanish house. Today, the exact address is Schwarzspanierstraße 15, 1090 Vienna. Beethoven used …
Ludwig van Beethoven was the oldest surviving child in the family. Their mother, Maria Magdalena, gave birth to eight children, but only three of them lived through infancy. Ludwig, by his late teenage years, in the absence of a living mother and a dependable father, became the guardian of his siblings. This duty he carried on all his life and …
Oppersdorff, who commissioned two of Beethoven’s Symphonies, but ended up with only one dedication. A man, who probably saved Beethoven from jail. Who was this patron? Who was Franz von Oppersdorff? Count Franz von Oppersdorff (1778-1818) was a nobleman from Silesia, a historical region that lies mostly in Poland, partly in Czech Republic and Germany. The family estate was …