Boris Giltburg Beethoven never learned multiplication, only addition and subtraction. To the end of his days, if he had to multiply 50 by 62, he would write 62 50 times over, and then add them up. Jan Swafford mentions it in his biography. It seems utterly irrelevant in any substantial discussion about Beethoven, but it’s still so surprising.
Steven Osborne My favourite story about Beethoven is that when someone was supposed to meet Beethoven at a restaurant, they arrived to find him angrily storming out of the place, shouting at the top of his voice. Later, they caught up with him, and Beethoven said ‘I’m sorry I didn’t stay to meet you, but I’d ordered the veal, and they’d run out.’ That was all. For me, it captures the extreme…