The National Theatre of Max Franz--Beethoven’s Artistic
Associates--Practical Experience in the Orchestra--The
“Ritterballet”--The Operatic Repertory of Five Years.
OPERA UNDER ELECTOR MAX FRANZ
Early in the year 1788, the mind of the Elector, Max Franz, was
occupied with the project for forming a company of _Hofschauspieler;_
in short, with the founding of a National Theatre upon the plan adopted
by his predecessor in Bonn and by his brother Joseph in Vienna. His
finances were now in order, the administration of public affairs in
able hands and working smoothly, and there was nothing to hinder
him from placing both music and theatre upon a better and permanent
footing; which he now proceeded to do. The Klos troupe, which had left
Cologne in March, played for a space in Bonn, and on its dispersal
in the summer several of its better actors were engaged and added to
others who had already settled in Bonn. The only names which it is
necessary to mention here are those of significance in the history of
Beethoven. Joseph Reicha was director; Neefe, pianist and stage-manager
for opera; in the orchestra were Franz Ries and Andreas Romberg
(violin), Ludwig van Beethoven (viola), Bernard Romberg (violoncello),
Nicolaus Simrock (horn) and Anton Reicha (flute). A comparison of the
lists of the theatrical establishment with that of the court chapel as
printed in the Court Calendars for 1778 and the following years, shows
that the two institutions were kept distinct, though the names for the
greater part appear in both. Some of the singers in the chapel played
in the theatrical orchestra, while certain of the players in the chapel
sang upon the stage. Other names appear in but one of the lists.
As organist the name of Beethoven appears still in the Court Calendar,
but as viola player he had a place in both the orchestras. Thus,
for a period of full four years, he had the opportunity of studying
practically orchestral compositions in the best of all schools--the
orchestra itself. This body of thirty-one members, under the energetic
leadership of Reicha, many of them young and ambitious, some already
known as virtuosos and still keeping their places in musical history as
such, was a school for instrumental music such as Handel, Bach, Mozart
and Haydn had not enjoyed in their youth; that its advantages were
improved both by Beethoven and others of the younger men, all the world
knows.
One fact worthy of note in relation to this company is the youth of
most of the new members engaged. Maximilian seems to have sought
out young talent, and when it proved to be of true metal, gave it
a permanent place in his service, adopted wise measures for its
cultivation, and thus laid a foundation upon which, but for the
outbreak of the French Revolution, and the consequent dispersion of his
court, would in time have risen a musical establishment, one of the
very first in Germany.
This is equally true of the new members of his orchestra. Reicha
himself was still rather a young man, born in 1757. He was a virtuoso
on the violoncello and a composer of some note; but his usefulness was
sadly impaired by his sufferings from gout. The cousins Andreas and
Bernhard Romberg, Maximilian had found at Münster and brought to Bonn.
They had in their boyhood, as virtuosos upon their instruments--Andreas
violin, Bernhard ’cello--made a tour as far as Paris, and their
concerts were crowned with success. Andreas was born near Münster in
1767, and Ledebur (“Tonkünstler Berlins”) adopts the same year as the
date also of Bernhard’s birth. They were, therefore, three years older
than Beethoven and now just past 21. Both were already industrious and
well-known composers and must have been a valuable addition to the
circle of young men in which Beethoven moved. The decree appointing
them respectively Court Violinist and Court Violoncellist is dated
November 19, 1790.
Anton Reicha, a fatherless nephew of the concertmaster, born at Prague,
February 27, 1770, was brought by his uncle to Bonn. He had been
already for some years in that uncle’s care and under his instruction
had become a good player of the flute, violin and pianoforte. In Bonn,
Reicha became acquainted with Beethoven, who was then organist at
court. “We spent fourteen years together,” says Reicha, “united in a
bond like that of Orestes and Pylades, and were continually side by
side in our youth. After a separation of eight years we saw each other
again in Vienna, and exchanged confidences concerning our experiences.”
At the age of 17 composing orchestral and vocal music for the Electoral
Chapel, a year later flautist in the theatre, at nineteen both flautist
and violinist in the chapel and so intimate a friend of Beethoven, who
was less than a year his junior--were Reicha’s laurels no spur to the
ambition of the other?
The names of several of the performers upon wind-instruments were
new names in Bonn, and the thought suggests itself that the Elector
brought with him from Vienna some members of the _Harmoniemusik_ which
had won high praise from Reichardt, and it will hereafter appear that
such a band formed part of the musical establishment in Bonn--a fact
of importance in its bearing upon the questions of the origin and date
of various known works both of Beethoven and of Reicha, and of no less
weight in deciding where and how these men obtained their marvellous
knowledge of the powers and effects of this class of instruments.
The arrangements were all made in 1788, but not early enough to admit
of the opening of the theatre until after the Christmas holidays,
namely, on the evening of January 3, 1789. The theatre had been altered
and improved. An incendiary fire threatened its destruction the day
before, but did not postpone the opening. The opening piece was
“Der Baum der Diana” by Vincenzo Martin. It may be thought not very
complimentary to the taste of Maximilian that the first season of his
National Theatre was opened thus, instead of with one of Gluck’s or
Mozart’s masterpieces. It suffices to say that he, in his capacity of
Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, had spent a good part of the autumn
at Mergentheim and only reached Bonn on his return on the last day of
January. Hence he was not responsible for that selection.
The season which opened on January 3, 1789, closed on May 23. Within
this period the following operas were performed, Beethoven taking
part in the performances as a member of the orchestra: “Der Baum der
Diana” (_L’Arbore di Diana_), Martin; “Romeo und Julie,” Georg Benda;
“Ariadne” (duo-drama by Georg Benda); “Das Mädchen von Frascati” (_La
Frascatana_), Paisiello; “Julie,” Desaides; “Die drei Pächter” (_Les
trois Fermiers_), Desaides; “Die Entführung aus dem Serail,” Mozart;
“Nina,” Dalayrac; “Trofonio’s Zauberhöhle” (_La grotta di Trofonio_),
Salieri; “Der eifersüchtige Liebhaber” (_L’Amant jaloux_), Grétry; “Der
Schmaus” (_Il Convivo_), Cimarosa; “Der Alchymist,” Schuster; “Das
Blendwerk” (_La fausse Magie_), Grétry.
The second season began October 13, 1789, and continued until February
23, 1790. On the 24th of February news reached Bonn of the death of
Maximilian’s brother, the Emperor Joseph II, and the theatre was
closed. The repertory for the season comprised “Don Giovanni,” Mozart
(which was given three times); “Die Colonie” (_L’Isola d’Amore_),
Sacchini; “Der Barbier von Sevilla” (_Il Barbiere di Siviglia_),
Paisiello; “Romeo und Julie,” Georg Benda; “Die Hochzeit des Figaro”
(_Le Nozze di Figaro_), Mozart (given four times); “Nina,” Dalayrac;
“Die schöne Schusterin,” Umlauf; “Ariadne,” Georg Benda; “Die Pilgrimme
von Mecca,” Gluck; “Der König von Venedig” (_Il Re Teodoro_),
Paisiello; “Der Alchymist,” Schuster; “Das listige Bauernmädchen”
(_La finta Giardiniera_), Paisiello; “Der Doktor und Apotheker,”
Dittersdorf. A letter to the “Berliner Annalen des Theaters” mentions
three operas which are not in the list of the theatrical calendar
and indicates that the theatre was opened soon after receipt of the
intelligence of the death of Joseph, and several pieces performed,
among them _Il Marchese Tulipano_ by Paisiello. The writer also
mentions performances of Anfossi’s (or Sarti’s) _Avaro inamorato_,
Pergolese’s _Serva padrona_ and _La Villanella di spirito_, composer
unmentioned, by an Italian company headed by Madame Bianchi.
The third season began October 23, 1790, and closed on March 8, 1791.
Between the opening and November 27, performances of the following
musical-dramatic works are recorded: “König Theodor in Venedig” (_Il
Re Teodoro_), Paisiello; “Die Wilden” (_Azemia_), Dalayrac; “Der
Alchymist,” Schuster; “Kein Dienst bleibt unbelohnt,” (?); “Der Barbier
von Sevilla,” Paisiello; “Die schöne Schusterin,” Umlauf; “Lilla,”
Martini; “Die Geitzigen in der Falle,” Schuster; “Nina,” Dalayrac;
“Dr. Murner,” Schuster. On March 8, the season closed with a ballet by
Horschelt, “Pyramus und Thisbe.” The reporter in the “Theaterkalender”
says:
On Quinquagesima Sunday (March 6) the local nobility performed
in the Ridotto Room a characteristic ballet in old German
costume. The author, His Excellency Count Waldstein, to whom the
composition and music do honor, had shown in it consideration for
the chief proclivities of our ancestors for war, the chase, love
and drinking. On March 8, all the nobility attended the theatre in
their old German dress and the parade made a great, splendid and
respectable picture. It was also noticeable that the ladies would
lose none of their charms, were they to return to the costumes of
antiquity.
Before proceeding with this history a correction must be made in this
report: the music to the “Ritterballet,” which was the characteristic
ballet referred to, was not composed by Count Waldstein but by
Ludwig van Beethoven. We shall recur to it presently. Owing to a
long-continued absence of the Elector, the principal singers and the
greater part of the orchestra, the fourth season did not begin till
the 28th of December, 1791. Between that date and February 20, 1792,
the following musical works were performed: “Doktor und Apotheker,”
Dittersdorf; “Robert und Caliste,” Guglielmi; “Félix,” Monsigny; “Die
Dorfdeputirten,” Schubauer; “Im Trüben ist gut Fischen” (_Fra due
Litiganti, il Terzo gode_), Sarti; “Das rothe Käppchen,” Dittersdorf;
“Lilla,” Martini; “Der Barbier von Sevilla,” Paisiello; “Ende gut,
Alles gut,” music by the Electoral Captain d’Antoin; “Die Entführung
aus dem Serail,” Mozart; “Die beiden Savoyarden” (_Les deux petits
Savoyards_), Dalayrac.
OPERAS AT BONN IN 1792
The fifth season began in October, 1792. Of the nine operas given
before the departure of Maximilian and the company to Münster in
December, “Die Müllerin” by De la Borde, “König Axur in Ormus” by
Salieri, and “Hieronymus Knicker” by Dittersdorf, were the only ones
new to Bonn; and in only the first two of these could Beethoven have
taken part, unless at rehearsals; for at the beginning of November he
left Bonn--and, as it proved, forever. Probably Salieri’s masterpiece
was his last opera within the familiar walls of the Court Theatre of
the Elector of Cologne.
Beethoven’s eighteenth birthday came around during the rehearsals for
the first season, of this theatre; his twenty-second just after the
beginning of the fifth. During four years (1788-1792) he was adding
to his musical knowledge and experience in a direction wherein he has
usually been represented as deficient--as active member of an operatic
orchestra; and the catalogue of works performed shows that the best
schools of the day, save that of Berlin, must have been thoroughly
mastered by him in all their strength and weakness. Beethoven’s
titanic power and grandeur would have marked his compositions under
any circumstances; but it is very doubtful if, without the training of
those years in the Electoral “Toxal, Kammer und Theater” as member of
the orchestra, his works would have so abounded in melodies of such
profound depths of expression, of such heavenly serenity and repose and
of such divine beauty as they do, and which give him rank with the two
greatest of melodists, Handel and Mozart.