At 7 p.m. on May 7, 1824, Ludwig van Beethoven, then 53, strode onto the stage of the magnificent Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna to help conduct the world premiere of his Ninth Symphony, the last he would ever complete.
That performance, whose 200th anniversary is on Tuesday, was unforgettable in many ways.
Ted Albrecht, a professor emeritus of musicology at Kent State University in Ohio and author of a recent book on the Ninth Symphony, described the scene.
The movement began with loud kettledrums, and the crowd cheered wildly.
At that moment, a soloist grasped his sleeve and turned him around to see the raucous adulation he could not hear.
Persons:
Ludwig van Beethoven, strode, Ted Albrecht, Beethoven
Organizations:
Symphony, Kent State University, Ninth Symphony
Locations:
Vienna, Ohio