The rewards during Beethoven's lifetime were
always slow. In its original form the opera was considered too long for
the patience of the average audience, and also in parts too abstruse,
which latter was probably its chief fault. The idea of revising it does
not seem to have occurred to Beethoven, even after it was withdrawn; it
required the utmost diplomacy on the part of his friends, Prince
Lichnowsky in particular, to bring this about.
Beethoven had taken extraordinary pains with it up to the time of its
representation. To make alterations now would be to acknowledge himself
in error. The opera, however, was the most ambitious work he had yet
attempted; to make it a success it was necessary that it be revised and
altered considerably. With this object in view, Beethoven was invited by
Prince Lichnowsky to meet some friends at his house to discuss the
opera. The singers, Roeke and Meyer, who appeared in the cast, were of
the party; also Stephen von Breuning and Sonnleithner. The score was
studied at the piano and freely criticised.
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