Count Ferdinánd Pálffy de Erdőd (1 February 1774 – 4 February 1840) was a mining engineer and civil servant of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...

who is better remembered for his role in managing the

Theater an der Wien The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prima ...

, Vienna, in pursuit of which he lost his not inconsiderable fortune and retired from his creditors in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Life

Born in the Habsburg residence Vienna the son of Count Lipót Pálffy de Erdőd (1739–1799), he was a distant relative of the Imperial field marshal and Hungarian palatine

János Pálffy Johann Bernhard Stephan, Graf Pálffy de Erdőd ( hu, Pálffy V. János Bernard István, hr, Ivan Pálffy; 20 August 1664 – 24 March 1751) was a Hungarian noble, Imperial Field marshal and Palatine of Hungary. A troop commander at the time of ...

(1664–1751). He attended the mining institute at Schemnitz, Hungary (now Banská Štiavnica,

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

) from 1794 to 1796, where he remained in government service before returning to Vienna in 1806 to work in the

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

ministry of mines. TheateranDerWienJakobAlt

In 1807 Pálffy was among the association of court nobles that acquired the

, as well as the leases of the other two theatres patronised by the court, the Burgtheater and the

Theater am Kärntnertor or (Carinthian Gate Theatre) was a prestigious theatre in Vienna during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Its official title was (Imperial and Royal Court Theatre of Vienna). History The theatre was built in 1709 to designs by Anto ...

. By degrees he became solely responsible for the court theaters, and in 1813 he acquired outright the Theater an der Wien, inducing

Louis Spohr Louis Spohr (, 5 April 178422 October 1859), baptized Ludewig Spohr, later often in the modern German form of the name Ludwig, was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Highly regarded during his lifetime, Spohr composed ten symphonies, t ...

to come from his court appointment in

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the Gotha (district), district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine House of Wet ...

to conduct its orchestra. Count Pálffy was a dedicated patroniser of

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

, whom he reserved an honored place in his theatre—in close vicinity to the orchestra due to Beethoven's incipient deafness. According to Spohr, he nevertheless was vociferously accursed by the impetuous composer. Under Pálffy's directorship, the Theater an der Wien saw the premiere of

Helmina von Chézy Helmina von Chézy (26 January 178328 January 1856), née Wilhelmine Christiane von Klencke, was a German journalist, poet and playwright. She is known for writing the libretto for Carl Maria von Weber's opera ''Euryanthe'' (1823) and the play ' ...

's ''Rosamunda'', which sank without a trace, save for its incidental music by

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wo ...

, whose 1820 melodrama ''

Die Zauberharfe Franz Schubert's best-known music for the theatre is his incidental music for ''Rosamunde''. Less successful were his many opera and Singspiel projects. On the other hand, some of his most popular Lieder, like " Gretchen am Spinnrade," were base ...

'' found eight performances at the Theater, for which Schubert dedicated to Palffy his Grande Sonata in B-flat major ( D 617).Clive 1997. He found fault with Spohr's 1813 opera ''

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroa ...

'', so that

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas, ...

arranged its premiere at the Prague

Estates Theatre The Estates Theatre or Stavovské divadlo is a historic theater in Prague, Czech Republic. The Estates Theatre was annexed to the National Theatre in 1948 and currently draws on three artistic ensembles, opera, ballet, and drama, which perform a ...

in 1816. During the period of his proprietorship, which lasted until 1826, he offered

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

and

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

and, to appeal to a wider Viennese audience, popular

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

and variety acts, losing money in elaborate spectacles until he was forced to sell the theater at auction in 1826, and to disperse his library and collection of mineral specimens. Fearing arrest for his outstanding debts, he fled Vienna for Preßburg (Bratislava) where he remained for several years.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palffy Von Erdod, Count Ferdinand Impresarios 1774 births 1840 deaths