Exhibited: The Beethovens on the Rhine (2020). Exhibition text: Although several German musicians gave benefit concerts to help raise funds for the monument, the proceeds were meager until Liszt stepped in. Shocked by the apathetic response (especially that French musicians who pledged only 424 francs), Liszt announced to the committee that he would give a series of concerts in 1839 to raise money. In addition to these proceeds, he donated 10,000 francs for the monument itself and offered to make up any shortfall. For the festival, he paid for the construction of the hall where the concerts would be held and covered many other expenses, including tickets and hotel rooms for the press. Hector Berlioz, who wrote an extended article on the festival for the Journal des débats, called Liszt “the soul of the festival” and a local newspaper dubbed him “Protector of Beethoven.”
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