Daniel Steibelt

His main works were composed in Paris and in London, and he died in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Steibelt was born in Berlin, and studied music with Johann Kirnberger before being forced by his father to join the Prussian Army.

After deserting, he began a nomadic career as a pianist before settling in 1790 in Paris, where he attained great popularity as a virtuoso as the result of a piano sonata called La Coquette, which he composed for Marie Antoinette.

[1] Also in Paris, his dramatic opera entitled Romeo et Juliette, which was later highly regarded by Hector Berlioz,[2] was produced at the Théâtre Feydeau in 1793.

Steibelt began to share his time between Paris and London, where his piano playing attracted great attention.

In the following year Steibelt started on a professional tour in Germany; and, after playing with some success in Hamburg, Berlin, Dresden, and Prague, he arrived at the end of March 1800 at Vienna, where he is reported to have challenged Beethoven to a trial of skill at the house of Count Moritz von Fries.

He then began improvising on the inversed themes for about 30 minutes, causing Steibelt to furiously storm out before Beethoven had finished.

Steibelt went again to Paris, where he organized the first performance of Joseph Haydn's oratorio The Creation, which took place on 24 December 1800 at the Opera House.

[7] In 1808 he was invited by Tsar Alexander I to Saint Petersburg, succeeding François-Adrien Boieldieu as director of the French Opera in 1811.

His playing was said to be brilliant, though lacking the higher qualities which characterized that of such contemporaries as Cramer and Muzio Clementi.