Mozart: A Life in Letters: A Life in Letters (67 page)

The postman has just arrived
. The seat prices for the opera weren’t raised, only the subscription was suspended.

Gretl sang admirably and was much applauded by the elector, who spoke to her afterwards, and also by Maestro Prati etc.
⁷
You know that people had been waiting to see who’d be the
seconda donna
as
Lisel Wendling
refused to play the
seconda donna
to Madame
Lebrun
, especially because on this occasion she’d such an insignificant part with
2 very short and worthless ariettas
. But since
Lisel Wendling
saw no hope for her daughter,
⁸
she herself took on this worthless part so that Gretl couldn’t steal a march on her and in that way prevented Gretl from appearing at the electoral opera and enhancing her own reputation. Meanwhile she’s
⁹
sent her daughter and husband to Paris. I’ve not heard a word about Bologna, except that when Pacchierotti
¹⁰
was there, I’m told he was again ill and had to be bled. I have to reply to a
long letter
or, rather,
2 letters
from Marchand, but since I can write only a little at each sitting, I’ll have to devote a whole week to it in order to deal with everything properly. I’m supposed to go
to Munich
– I’m supposed to go
to Vienna
and God knows where else. Oh! If only I were my own master! I’d soon pack up and leave. As soon as I know
about the post
, I’ll ensure that the
glass carrier
has something to take with her.
¹¹

The boxes that I sent you must of course be returned as I always need boxes when sending things. The one containing the pears belongs in any case to Herr d’Ippold. Now that the weather’s turned colder, I’ve bought 6 lbs of good-quality beef and am having it boiled at home. Of the chickens that I’ve been fattening up, I occasionally get one roasted at the local inn; and this works very well; I’ll have the
last one the day after tomorrow. And so half my food comes from the inn, the other half I provide myself: if I’ve got something in the house, I get it prepared there. What I usually send for is some soup and a sausage at midday, or cabbage, sometimes with a liver sausage, maybe lights or tripe or calves’ feet or preserved meat – most of this I usually keep back for the evening, when Tresel boils up some of the soup or else boils a piece of my beef or gets something from the landlord or cooks some rice or barley that I’ve bought myself, as everything that comes from the inn has without exception had vinegar added. In short, I live a soldier’s life –
if I have something, I eat it, day in day out
. Patience! – –

If I can’t find the Haydn variations,
¹²
I can always get a copy of them from Count Leopold Arco. – Baron Rechberg
¹³
is no longer coming but is going to Strasbourg instead. –
There was no tempo marking
on the score of the concerto in G,
¹⁴
so I didn’t add one. –

Baron Bagge is, of course, a very old fool. At his concerts in Paris he always scraped away at the first violin, occasionally playing the flute in the most wretched manner imaginable: only in old age has he hit on the mad idea of wanting to play concertos and making himself look foolish. – As for the war that’s currently being waged in the theatre, there’s nothing in the least edifying about it, it involved only that
troublemaker Herr Reinike
, who then stirred up Mattausch and Litter.
¹⁵
Everything’s now calm again.

It’s a few weeks now since Frau Schörkhofer sent me this cook. – As far as I know, she’s from Kammer, is neatly dressed, with a golden Linz mob cap; she limps – one of her legs must be shorter than the other – but she certainly walks down the street quickly enough. She’s not old, – but nor is she very young. At least she’s
not at all pretty
: but not exactly ugly either: in her dress she’s neat and tidy. I’ll speak to Frau Schörkhofer and tell her everything. That she should be
corrupted is hardly a danger: no one will be placed in temptation’s way by this woman.

I feel exactly the same about the war as my son:
¹⁶
I read the newspapers every day and always look at the map of Holland; but I’m not making any plans. Count Weissenwolf has been enlisted and has already left for his regiment, which is one of those that’s supposed to be going to the Netherlands.
Buon viaggio!
– I must close now and get to bed. I kiss you and the children with all my heart and am ever your honest father

L. Mozart

Hanchen
¹⁷
has written both to
me
and
Herr Hagenauer
. The Schiedenhofens didn’t return from Triebenbach until last Saturday evening. I’ll drop round tomorrow, they weren’t at home when I called yesterday.

I’m writing this in advance of a possible visit from the woman who transports the glass. The opera
¹
was performed again on Sunday to the greatest possible acclaim, it’s now becoming so popular that the whole town is praising it and describing it as the most wonderful work. Herr Haydn sat behind the keyboard in the orchestra; of course everyone kept asking him his opinion, and he said:
this opera needed only to have an orchestra of 60–70 persons and the necessary intermediary instruments, namely, clarinets and english horn, whose parts had to be played on violas here – only then would you hear what an admirable work it is. He couldn’t have been more pleased
. – The opera will not be taken
off
till Christmas
, when there’ll be 2 more performances. Countess Gundacker
²
said that the more she’s seen the opera, the more she’s liked it. Blonde’s duet with Pedrillo and her own aria were again repeated: the drinking song
Vivat Bacchus
even had to be repeated
3 times
. – All who’ve seen it in Vienna are unanimous in saying that the acting at the theatre here is better – it’s livelier and more natural and the whole performance is more committed than in Vienna. Much the same has been said by Count
von Eltz
and the 2 Barons Fechenbach, who’ve seen it in Berlin, Mainz and Mannheim.
³
The latter are the brothers of Baron Fechenbach, who’s now dean of Mainz cathedral and who was with us in Lyons
⁴
with Baron Wayer and Canon Schultheiss. – At his Excellency’s supreme command, Herr Haydn was supposed to write an opera for these people: and on the prince’s orders Herr Schmidt had to submit all the German opera texts he could find in order for them to be examined, but unfortunately nothing suitable could be found. Both Haydn and Schmidt were extremely pleased at this. Herr Schmidt said: if I’m to do myself credit, I can’t rehearse a new work in under
4 weeks
, as we always have 3 other works to rehearse every week. And Herr Haydn said he couldn’t toss anything off that would be a credit to him; he said that at some later date he’d prefer to write an Italian opera for the archbish. – – But he knows that this is a long way off as there’s no one here to sing it: – at least one foreign female will first have to be begged to come here. So these plans are all currently in the air! And nothing has been decided.

I sent for Frau Schörkhofer and discussed the matter in detail with her, examining it in its entirety. I can honestly say that I’m sorry that I’m saddled with old Tresel, she’d have made an excellent servant as I need one who’s good at sewing in order to repair my cuffs and other things and I’ve often no one or have to pay through the nose. I’ve thought about it a lot and think that my son may know her
foster-parents and may even have dined with them. He’s the
manager of the brewery at Schörfling near Kammer
: because he and his wife have no children, they agreed to foster this child, as her own father, a dissolute man, had run off and abandoned her and her brother, who was taken in by his godfather, a potter. Her foster-mother would now like her to find a job somewhere else and thinks that it would help her to make her way in the world if she didn’t stay in Schörfling. Since she’s been here,
Countess Engl
has been sending her mob caps to stitch as she used to make them for her previously; she also had to sew mob caps for Baroness Rehlingen here. Frau Schörkhofer says she’s not very quick at stitching mob caps but that they couldn’t be neater or prettier etc. and that she’s a methodical, tidy, God-fearing person, I’ve noticed her in church at Holy Trinity. The prison governor’s wife wants to employ her as a cook, but she doesn’t want to work there – and she’s quite right – to work as a prison cook doesn’t sound very nice. Nor does she want to cook for a member of the clergy – because of the malicious gossip – and once again she’s right. – She’s not worried about the pay, because, as far as I can see, her foster-parents are providing her clothes: there’s only one difficulty – namely, the fact that the work is very hard; for although – according to Frau Schörkhofer – she thinks that she can do everything, Frau Schörkhofer feels, as I do, that she won’t be able to carry wood and water, not least because she
limps a little
, having been crippled as a child, with the result that one leg is slightly withered and shorter than the other. To tell the truth, I’ve spoken only once to this person – and then only briefly: but she struck me as a quiet, rather shy but a very clean and capable person. –

For the present I must protest
in optima forma
that I have no wish to get involved: – but I wish to express an opinion and, indeed, must do so and say what I, as an honest man, think and what everyone is bound to think given the state of the world at present: namely, that servants are one of the biggest problems of domestic life and that it’s now more difficult than ever to find good servants. That they’re often less intelligent, that they cheat their employers more than they used to over articles of luxury and that, into the bargain, they demand better pay is indubitably clear from our everyday experience. And so
I can no longer say:
it was always like this; that’s how my parents did it
. Times have changed. – Also, my son must bear in mind that
he has young children
. If Nannerl
⁵
learns how to
sew
and
stitch mob caps
and do other
linenwork,
if she sees
good home cooking
and mixes with servants who have a little more style and who don’t set her a bad example, and if she doesn’t always hear stupid and silly things, it’ll be of more use to her than if she’s surrounded by
coarse and clumsy peasants and infatuated and foolish mares,
all too easily acquiring peasant customs and expressions that she’ll never entirely get rid of.
Well, everything will sort itself out:
I know the saying. But no, my dearest son, it doesn’t always sort itself out with all children.
Not all children are equally intelligent.
You, dear son, had a different kind of mother! – The mother of your children was a
Polis,
⁶
e questo basta!
One can’t be careful enough when bringing up children. On this occasion you won’t get a good and capable cook who can also do delicate tasks if she also has to do all the heavy work: – moreover, the more delicate tasks would be neglected, as every peasant girl – of which you have a whole village full – can help to carry wood. The little that you spend you’ll save by virtue of the fact that your daughter will become more skilful: my whole attention was invariably directed at my children’s education and training. First and foremost are good manners and knowledge, enlightened and sound common sense and skill; money and fortune are secondary to these in the eyes of every sensible person. –
The first
of these remains and cannot be taken away, whereas one can squander or lose or be cheated of
the second
etc.

Frau Schörkhofer has just told me that she was mistaken. My son hasn’t dined with this woman’s foster-parents in Schörfling, but the manager of the brewery and his wife, together with their foster-daughter, dined with my son at the abbot’s house in Mondsee on the occasion of some Mass or other, so it was then that she had the
honour of meeting my son, whom she found to be such an honest man. Frau Schörkhofer, who’d misunderstood, had to come specially to tell me as the girl doesn’t want the slightest untruth to be told about her. – My son may perhaps be surprised that I’ve gone into such detail in all these matters and filled whole sheets with my scribblings. But, as my daughter knows, that’s the way I am; with me, everything must be clear. – – What I wrote above was not aimed exclusively at this woman, but these are my honest thoughts that are
based on experience
: and with that – amen!

Pauernfeind, the postmaster at Stein, is ill; Joseph Barisani
⁷
has been out there since Friday, the 19th, and hasn’t returned yet. – It’s said that there’s not much hope. –

Have I already told you that Baron Rechberg is going to Strasbourg? But I won’t have told you that Countess Wallis wants me to give keyboard lessons to her little son. It won’t be news to you that I’d now like to be in St Gilgen,
shooting wild duck
. – The cantor will no doubt have expressed his pleasure at having attended the theatre, seen a comedy, heard some beautiful symphonies and seen 2 plays –
a tragedy
and a
comedy
. The new counsellor of the exchequer, Herr Hartmann, should, as I understand it, be preparing to be appointed attorney to the exchequer. He went to Ulm, presumably to collect his wife and children, although I thought I saw him yesterday. Frau von Gerlichs is still in bed; you have to speak to her very loudly, as she can no longer hear very well: little sleep; – little appetite; – many years on her back; – still suffering from a cold––it will be quite something if she recovers; today she told me that she was feeling somewhat better. I should add that Herr von Kleinmayr visits her regularly. –