Mozart: A Life in Letters: A Life in Letters (54 page)

Now for something disagreeable: – although I’ve not had the
honour of meeting the hero dal Prato, it seems from the description I’ve been given of him that Ceccarelli is almost to be preferred: – he often runs out of breath in the middle of an aria and – would you believe it? – he’s never appeared on stage – also, Raaff is like a statue – – so you can imagine their scene in the opening act.
³
–

But now for something good. Madame Dorothea Wendling is
arcicontentissima
with her
scena
– she wanted to hear it 3 times in succession.
⁴
The Grand Master of the Teutonic Order
⁵
arrived yesterday –
Essex
⁶
was given at the electoral court theatre – with a magnificent ballet. The theatre was all lit up; – they began with an overture by Cannabich, which I didn’t know as it’s one of his latest. – – – I assure you that if you’d heard it, you’d have liked it and been as moved by it as I was! – And if you’d not previously known it, you’d certainly never have thought it was by Cannabich – come soon and hear and admire the orchestra. I don’t think there’s anything else to report. There’s a big concert this evening. Mara
⁷
will be singing 3 arias – is it snowing in Salzburg as much as here? –

Best wishes to Herr Schikaneder, I’m sorry I can’t yet send him the aria,
⁸
as I haven’t quite finished it –

I kiss your hands a thousand times and embrace my sister with all my heart. I am,
Mon très cher Père
,

Your most obedient son,

Wolf. Amadè Mozart

A thousand good wishes from Cannabich and Wendl., they hope they’ll soon have the pleasure of getting to know you both.
Adieu
.

[
On the envelope
]

Il vostro Figlio Giovane Beckio fa i suoi Comp. con suo sigillo
⁹

Your letter or, rather, the whole packet, has arrived safely. Many thanks for the bill of exchange – so far I’ve not had lunch at home – and so I’ve no expenses except for the hairdresser, barber and laundress – and breakfast. –

The aria
¹
is excellent as it is; – but there’s now a further change, for which Raaff is to blame – but he’s right; – and even if he weren’t, one would still have to do something to acknowledge his grey hairs. – He was here yesterday – I ran through his first aria
²
with him and he was very pleased with it; – well – the man is old; in an aria like the one in the second act, ‘
fuor del mar ho un mare in seno
’ etc., he can no longer show off his abilities – and so, because he has no aria in the third act and because his aria in the first act can’t be cantabile enough for him as a result of the expression of the words, he wanted to replace the quartet with a nice aria following his final speech: ‘
O Creta fortunata! o me felice
’. In this way another useless number will be cut here – and the third act will now be far more effective. – Now – in the final scene of act two – Idomeneo has an aria or, rather, a kind of cavatina between the choruses – it’ll be better to have just a recitative here,
³
with the instruments working hard beneath it – for in this scene, which – because of the action and the grouping, which
we’ve recently agreed on with Le Grand
⁴
– will be the finest in the whole opera, there’ll be so much noise and confusion on stage that an aria would cut a poor figure – also, there’s the thunderstorm, which I don’t suppose will stop for Herr Raaff’s aria, will it? – And the effect of a recitative between the choruses is incomparably better. – Lisel Wendling has already sung through her two arias
⁵
half a dozen times – she’s very pleased. I have it from a third party that the 2 Wendlings have praised their arias very highly. Raaff is in any case my best and dearest friend! –

But I have to go through the whole opera with my
molto amato
castrato dal Prato. He’s incapable of singing a meaningful cadenza in an aria, and his voice is uneven! – He’s been engaged for only a year, and as soon as this period is over, which will be next September, Count Seeau will take on someone else. Ceccarelli could then try his luck.
Sérieusement
–

I almost forgot the best piece of news of all, last Sunday after the service Count Seeau introduced me
en passant
to His Highness the Elector, who was very gracious to me. He said:
I’m delighted to see you here again
. And when I said that I’d strive to retain His Highness’s approval, he clapped me on the shoulder and said:
Oh, I’ve no doubt at all that all will go well
.–
à piano piano, si va lontano
.
⁶

Please don’t forget to answer all the points relating to the opera, including, for example, what I said about the translator in my last letter. – – I’m supposed to sign a contract. –

What the devil! – I’ve again been prevented from writing what I’d like to write. Raaff has just this minute been to see me. He sends his best wishes, as does the whole of the Cannabich household and both the Wendling households.

Ramm, too. Now farewell, I kiss your hands a thousand times, the driver is just leaving – adieu, I embrace my sister.

I remain ever your most obedient son

Wolf Am. Mozart

My sister mustn’t be lazy but should practise hard. – People are already looking forward to hearing her play. –

My lodgings are with Monsieur Fiat in the Burggasse – but you don’t need to include the address as they know me at the post office – and they also know where I’m staying.
Adieu
.

Eck and his son
⁷
and Becke send their best wishes.

Mon très cher Père
,

I’ve received the final aria
¹
for Raaff (who sends you his best wishes), together with the 2 trumpet mutes, your last letter of the 15th and the pair of socks. – The last rehearsal, like the first, turned out very well – the orchestra and the whole audience discovered to their delight that they’d been wrong in thinking that the 2nd act couldn’t possibly be more powerful than the first in terms of its expression and originality – both acts will be rehearsed again next Saturday. But in a large hall at court, which I’ve long been wanting, as it’s far too small at Count Seeau’s – the elector will listen – incognito – from an adjoining room – we’ll have to rehearse for all we’re worth, Cannabich said to me – at the last rehearsal he was dripping with sweat – by the way, talking of sweat reminds me that I think that in the play both remedies must have worked at the same time – has my sister passed on my good wishes? – –

Herr Esser,
²
too, attended the rehearsal – he should’ve lunched at Cannabich’s on Sunday but had found a way of getting to Augsburg, so he’d left.
Bon voyage!
– He came to say goodbye, or so the other
people in the house tell me, but I wasn’t at home, I was with Countess Paumgarten
³

Herr Director Cannabich, whose name day it is today and who has just this minute left and who sends you his most friendly greetings, told me off for not wanting to finish my letter – which is why he left again straightaway. –

As for Madame Duschek, it is of course impossible at present
⁴
– but once the opera is finished, I’ll do so with pleasure – meanwhile please write and give her my best wishes; – as for the debt, we agreed to settle it when she next came to Salzburg. – What would give me pleasure would be to have a couple of courtiers like old Czernin
⁵
– it would be a little help each year – but not less than 100 florins a year. – It could then be any type of music they liked. –

I hope that, praise and thanks be to God, you’re now well again? – Yes, if you have yourself rubbed down by someone like Theresia Barisani, it can hardly be otherwise. – That I’m well – and contented –

you’ll have noticed from my letters. – After all, who wouldn’t be happy to be finally rid of such a great and laborious task – and to be rid, moreover, with honour and fame – for I’ve nearly finished; – all that’s still missing are 3 arias and the final chorus from act three – the overture – and the ballet – and then
adieu partie
!–

As for the arias for Heckmann that have no words, there are only 2 that you don’t know. – The rest are by me – one, or rather two, from
Ascanio in Alba
– and the one for Frau Duschek
⁶
– you can send this one to me without the words as I already have them here and can write them in myself – there’s also one by Anfossi
⁷
and another by Salieri
⁸
with oboe solo – both of these belong to Frau
Haydn – I forgot to copy out the text as I didn’t think I’d be leaving in such a hurry. I don’t know the words by heart –

By the way – the most important thing of all, as I’m in a hurry – I hope that by the next mail coach I’ll receive at least the first act, including the translation. – The scene between father and son in act one – and the first scene in act two between Idomeneo and Arbace – are both too long – they’re bound to bore the audience – especially because in the first scene both singers are poor actors – and in the 2nd scene one of them is – and their entire content consists of retelling what the spectators have already seen with their own eyes – these scenes are being printed as they are –

I’d now like the Abbate
⁹
to indicate how they can be shortened – and, indeed, made as short as possible – otherwise I’ll have to do it myself – for these 2 scenes can’t be left as they are – when set to music, that is. –

I’ve just received your letter which, as my sister began it, is undated – 1000 good wishes to Tresel, my future under-and senior nursemaid. I can well believe that Katherl would like to come to Munich – if (apart from the journey) you were to let her take my place at table –
eh bien
, I’ll see what I can do – she can share a room with my sister. By the way, please let me know at least eight days in advance when you’ll be arriving, so that I can have a stove installed in the other room. Adieu.

What beautiful handwriting! I kiss your hands 100 times and embrace my sister with all my heart. I remain ever your most obedient son

Wolf. Amde. Mzt

Mes compliments à tous nos amis et amies
.

My next letter will be longer and less messy.

Mon très cher Fils
,

Forgive my haste, but the mail coach leaves early tomorrow morning, that is, a day earlier than usual. Here are the
pills
.
¹
Take 5 in the morning
a day after the moon begins to wane
, then, if you like, you can have breakfast
an hour and a half later
. Another
5
in the evening before going to bed. Continue in this way until the moon has finished waning. It’s extremely inconvenient, of course, that for women
there are times
when they have to postpone this treatment or break it off completely.

Here are the 3 acts copied out for the printer. Space has been left for the
names of the performers
––
details
of the ballet – the
ballet music
etc.

What has been added before each major
scene change
can easily be altered in the libretto if Herr Quaglio
²
has changed it. – – In
Atto primo scena VIII
, for ex., it says:
Nettuno esce
etc. and then
Nel fondo della prospettiva se vede Idomeneo, che si forza arrampicarsi sopra quei dirupi
etc.
³
I think that the
description
and
explanation of these scenes
should reflect the way you intend to stage it, in other words, according to whether Idomeneo remains on his ship or whether, although not actually shipwrecked, he leaves the ship with his crew in the face of the apparent danger and seeks shelter on the rocks. In short, it depends on how it’s staged. It should be left to Herr Quaglio, who’s a man of skill and experience. But there must be shipwrecked vessels as
Idamante
says in his recitative in
scene 10 ‘vedo frè quel’ avanzi di fracassate navi su quel Lido sconosciuto guerrier’
.
⁴
But, to continue! You’re absolutely insistent on shortening 2 recits. I sent for Varesco at once as I
didn’t receive your letter till 5 o’clock this evening, and the mail coach leaves early tomorrow morning. We’ve examined it from every point of view and can find no reason to shorten it. It’s translated from the French, as the draft envisaged. Indeed, if you look at the draft, you’ll see that it was demanded that this recit. should be lengthened a little so they don’t recognize each other too quickly and now there’s the risk that it’ll be made to seem ridiculous if they recognize each other after only a few words. Let me explain:

Idamante
has to say why he’s there, he sees the stranger and offers him his services.
Idomeneo
goes so far as to speak of his anguish and yet he must also return his greetings. At that point
Idamante
will tell him that he sympathizes with the unfortunate man as he too has known misfortune,
Idomeneo’s
answer must necessarily be a question.
Idamante
now describes the king’s misfortune and Idomeneo, with his
puzzling
words
non più di questo
,
⁵
gives
Idamante
a glimmer of hope and he asks in his eagerness
dimmi amico, dimmi dov’è?
⁶
This eagerness makes Idomeneo ask
ma d’onde
⁷
etc – surely Idamante must now explain things in such a way as to depict himself as a son worthy of his father and to excite in Idomeneo feelings of surprise, respect and the desire to discover who this young man is, so that, when he realizes that he’s his son, the whole affair becomes more interesting? – – But if something really has to be left out, I’ve thought the matter over and think that it should be after Idamante’s recit.
che favella? vive egli ancor’
⁸
etc., which ends:
dove quel dolce aspetto vita mi renderà? Idomeneo, ma d’onde nasce questa, che per lui nutri tenerezza d’amor?
⁹
You can then go straight to
perchè qual tuo parlar si mi conturba? Idamante
.
e qual mi senti anch’io
¹⁰
and go on from there etc. In this way you’ll lose 1½ pages on page 32 of the copy of Varesco’s libretto enclosed with this letter, namely, the beautiful account of Idamante’s
heroic feat, beginning with Idam.’s
Potessi almeno etc
.
¹¹
This may shorten it by a
minute
, yes,
in puncto
a whole minute. A great gain! Or do you want father and son to run into each other and recognize one another in the way that the disguised Harlequin and Brighella meet as servants in a foreign country and quickly recognize and embrace each other?
¹²
Remember that this is one
of the most beautiful scenes in the opera
, indeed, it’s the main scene and the one on which the whole of the rest of the story depends. In any case, this scene can’t weary the audience
as it’s in the first act
.