Meanwhile, the French army, with Napoleon at its head, was advancing on Vienna and almost at the time that the opera was ready for presentation, took possession of the city.  This was on November 13, 1805.  The imperial family, the members of the nobility and every one else who could do so, had left the city on the approach of the French forces, but this did not discourage Beethoven.  The opera was ready and must be presented.  He could not have expected much of an audience as the very people who were interested in the subject had left the city.  It was actually put on the stage on November 20, the audience consisting, it appears, mainly of French officers.  It is not to be supposed that such a work would appeal to them, as there was no ballet, and the melodrama, instead of containing good jokes and risque anecdotes, was simply the tale of a wife’s devotion.  No doubt the intendant of the theatre, as well as Beethoven and the whole company were anathematized freely.  It was continued for three nights and then withdrawn.

The work involved was enormous, both in the composition and in getting it ready for the stage.  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  The idea of revising it does not seem to have occurred to Beethoven, even after it was withdrawn; it required the utmost diplomacy on the part of his friends, Prince Lichnowsky in particular, to bring this about.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.  When one of the singers plainly stated that several pieces should be omitted entire and other portions shortened, Beethoven’s rage knew no bounds.  The conflict lasted well into the night, Beethoven at bay, with all his friends pitted against him.  He defended every attack on this child of his brain, the latest product of his genius, and at first refused any compromise, but better counsels finally prevailed, aided probably by the Princess Lichnowsky, who so often assumed the part of peacemaker.  Beethoven consented to some important excisions, and an entire revision of the opera.  Stephen von Breuning, who was somewhat of a poet, and had considerable literary ability, was commissioned to make the desired changes in the libretto, cutting it down to two acts from three.  The conference lasted until one in the morning, when, the point being gained, the Prince ordered supper to be brought in.  Being Germans and musicians, they finished the night in the utmost good humor, Beethoven being the best natured of all, once his consent to the revision had been gained.