Ferdinand Graf von Palffy von Erdöd (1774-1840) - Fotografie einer wohl von Josef Lanzedelly d.Ä. stammenden Lithographie

Count Ferdinand Palffy von Erdöd came from an old and widely ramified Hungarian noble family. Since 1806 he, Princes Lobkowitz, Schwarzenberg and Esterhazy belonged to a group of influential noblemen who were entrusted with the direction of the Vienna Hoftheater. Four years later Count Palffy became the sole director of the Burgtheater and from 1811 on, he and Prince Lobkowitz managed the Kärtnertortheater and the Theater an der Wien. After a number of personal changes and when Prince Lobkowitz went bankrupt, Palffy became the sole director of the court theatres.

Over all these years, Count Palffy and Beethoven were in contact. However, their relationship was not especially good. Although Beethoven revised his opera "Fidelio", op. 27, in 1814 for a performance at the Kärtnertortheater and the piece was very successful, the relationship between the theatre director and the composer remained rather taut.(S.B.)