▁welcome ; ▁his ▁bi ograph ers ▁describe ▁it ▁as ▁" un pre ced ented ly ▁fe ver ish ▁enthus ias m ", ▁" R oss ini ▁fe ver ", ▁and ▁" near ▁h yst eria ". ▁The ▁author itar ian ▁ch an cell or ▁of ▁the ▁Aust rian ▁Empire , ▁Met tern ich , ▁liked ▁Ross ini ' s ▁music , ▁and ▁thought ▁it ▁free ▁of ▁all ▁potential ▁revolution ary ▁or ▁republic an ▁associations . ▁He ▁was ▁therefore ▁happy ▁to ▁permit ▁the ▁San ▁Carlo ▁company ▁to ▁perform ▁the ▁composer ' s ▁oper as . ▁In ▁a ▁three - month ▁season ▁they ▁played ▁six ▁of ▁them , ▁to ▁aud ien ces ▁so ▁enthus i astic ▁that ▁Be eth oven ' s ▁assistant , ▁Anton ▁Sch ind ler , ▁described ▁it ▁as ▁" an ▁id ol atr ous ▁org y ". ▁ ▁While ▁in ▁Vienna ▁Ross ini ▁heard ▁Be eth oven ' s ▁E ro ica ▁sym phony , ▁and ▁was ▁so ▁moved ▁that ▁he ▁determined ▁to ▁meet ▁the ▁re clus ive ▁composer . ▁He ▁finally ▁managed ▁to ▁do ▁so , ▁and ▁later ▁described ▁the ▁encounter ▁to ▁many ▁people , ▁including ▁Edu ard ▁Hans lick ▁and ▁Richard ▁Wagner . ▁He ▁re called ▁that ▁although ▁conversation ▁was ▁ham per ed ▁by ▁Be eth oven ' s ▁de af ness ▁and ▁Ross ini ' s ▁ignor ance ▁of ▁German , ▁Be eth oven ▁made ▁it ▁plain ▁that ▁he ▁thought ▁Ross ini ' s ▁tal ents ▁were ▁not ▁for ▁serious ▁opera , ▁and ▁that ▁" above ▁all "