The Mozarts, Who They Were (Volume 1). Diego MinoiaЧитать онлайн книгу.
If the numbers quoted seem exaggerated (and quite possibly they were, considering the level of poverty in which its subjects lived and in which their taxes were utilized by the Court for its expenses), here we have another example in Germany in 1772; Mannheim, a small capital with a population of approximately 25,000 in 1776, as was Salzburg, which was the seat of the Prince's Electoral Palatinate, as well as the most famous orchestra of its time. Charles Burney reports that there were nearly one-hundred musicians and twenty-three vocalists at the service of the Prince, among which many were Italian (Roncaglio, Persarini and Saporosi). The high regard in which the Prince held the musicians, not especially common in that epoch, was clarified by his specific generosity; on the list of the 100 musicians, not all of them were "actively engaged", some for old age, some for ill-health. So the Prince guaranteed all the musicians who were no longer able to work a good pension as long as they resided in Mannheim, but would be compensated (though with a half salary) in the case that they should relocate back to their birthplace or elsewhere. Moreover, the advantages of the courtiers of the Electoral Palatinate did not end there, as was the summer relocation to the residence at Schwetzingen, His Highness was accompanied by 1,500 people, paying all of their travel, food and accommodation expenses (while it is probably more accurate to say that the Mannheim citizens covered all costs).
Another example, even more expensive and indicative of the social perception that the lower classes had regarding "artistic expenses" of the monarchy: Ludwigsburg 1772, the new seat of the Court of the Duchy of Württemberg after its transfer from Stockholm. The Italian Niccolò Jommelli (1714-1774) serving the Duke from 1754 as a composer and Kapellmeister, directed the theatrical seasons of the Court which were considered the most extravagant and lavish. The expenses for the theatrical and musical productions, though, were so exorbitant, that they compounded upon the taxation level to the point that the citizens had to resort to the Imperial Diet (a convention formed by the Emperor and by the most influential Princedoms of the Empire) in protest of what they considered excessive squandering at the expense of the community.
The result of the protests were a reduction of 50% of the wages of the musicians and consequently an "exodus" of the best in the Court with the exception of the Charge (in 1770, even Jommelli's contract was annulled). Regardless, in 1772 the orchestra of the Duke of Württemberg which was under the direction of the Italian violinist Antonio Lolli (first violin soloist who in his previous years was so extraordinarily talented that he was able to increase his earnings from 700 florins to 2,000) could count on 18 violins, 6 violas, 3 violoncellos, 4 double basses, 4 oboes, 2 flutes, 3 horns and 2 bassoons for a total of 42 musicians, of which were added 2 organists. In addition to the musicians, we can also count the singers, almost all Italian, for the melodramma serio (2 sopranos, 2 contraltos, 2 castratos) and for the opera buffa (3 female voices and 5 male voices), 32 male and female dancers, not to mention instrument carriers, opera prompters and copyists for the preparation of the scores to be distributed among the musicians. Here we also find a list of 90 retired artists. Burney also tells us of a peculiar piece of information, that the Court of the Duke of Wūrttemberg had 15 castrated singers at his disposal, as he had two Bolognese surgeons that were "experts at the surgery that effected the timbre of the voice".
The musicians of the Salzburg Court
Knowing the musicians who gradually came later into the scene in the various roles at their service to the Salzburg Court may help us understand who the Mozart family was dealing with and possibly better comprehend why Leopold, after various initial career advancements, held his position definitively in the role of Vice-Kapellmeister. The names of these musicians can also be occasionally found in the Mozartian epistolary which is why there could be useful information about them in order to better understand situations and relations that influenced the Mozart's life. When Leopold Mozart was hired in 1743 as a violinist in the orchestra of the Prince's Archbishop of Salzburg, at the musical apex of the city sat Johann Ernst Eberlin with already 17 years of service as the Court's organist and then promoted to Kapellmeister in 1750 and Anton Cajetan Adlgasser, initially hired as a chorister, who was then was replaced by Eberlin in the role of Court organist. These two musicians, both originally from Bavaria were, therefore, directly superior and most certainly to him, besides aspiring to the post that they held being of higher importance and pay than his, lead to some profit in the connections of their compositions toward his advancement as a composer.
Johann Ernst Eberlin (Jettingen 1702 -- Salzburg 1762)
Eberlin's musical education was quite similar to that of Leopold Mozart, of which he was also friend, teacher and probably mentor in the musical Court. In fact, like Leopold, he also studied at the Lyceum of the Jesuits of Augsburg where he received his musical education, and later transferred to Salzburg to study law at the Benedictine University, and like Leopold, abandoned his studies after two years. Hired in 1727 as an organist (during the epoch of the Archbishop Firmian who governed nearly 20,000 inhabitants of the region of which practicing Protestants were forced to emigrate), in 1749, he obtained simultaneously the positions of Court Kapellmeister and Cathedral Kapellmeister, namely Chorus Conductor and was responsible for the musical development for all of the ceremonies at the Salzburg Cathedral. Eberlin was an esteemed composer, and even Leopold Mozart had a high opinion of his music which, though, given their outdated style in comparison to the musical evolution of that epoch, were soon forgotten. His keyboard musical pieces, 9 toccatas and fugues for the organ, were requested by Wolfgang in 1782, while he was residing in Vienna, discovering the fugues of Bach thanks to the evenings spent at the Baron van Swieten home. Wolfgang's intention was probably to use them to deepen his study of the fugue, or possibly as had already happened in the past, to claim them as his own (secretly requesting to have his father copy them in Salzburg) obtaining the goodwill of van Swieten who was a great appraiser of Bach's polyphonic music. In a letter to his sister Nannerl, dated 20 April, he writes: "If our father has not yet had the operas of Eberlin copied, I would be happy, as I have already secretly received them and unfortunately, have ascertained (...) that they are too ordinary to deserve a position among Haendel and Bach".
Anton Cajetan Adlgasser (Inzell 1729 -- Salzburg 1777)
After moving from his birthplace in Bavaria to Salzburg, Adlgasser became Eberlin's pupil (later marrying his daughter) and was the organist of the Cathedral until his death (Wolfgang Mozart followed him as organist). He married three times in his lifetime. His last wife was the singer Maria Anna Fesemayer of which both Mozart father and son were witnesses at their wedding given their friendship and their collaboration in the creation of the oratory Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots (The Duty of the First Commandment). The composition, in three parts, beholds a ten-year-old Wolfgang Mozart compose the first, Michael Haydn the second and Adlgasser the third. He died astonishingly of a heart attack while performing the aspiration of his life, during his performance at the organ in Salzburg's Cathedral.
Giuseppe Francesco Lolli (Bologna 1701 -- Salzburg 1778)
Hired in 1722 as a tenor in the Orchestra of the Salzburg Court, Lolli became Vice-Kapellmeister in 1743 and then Kapellmeister in 1762. Leopold Mozart, who aspired to that very position, was embittered by the preference conceded to Lolli, so much so, that he writes of his rival's compositions: "He has never written more that a few chamber oratorios and religious music". In 1772, due to old age, he was substituted as Kapellmeister by Domenico Fischietti.
Johann Michael Haydn (1736 -- 1806)
Younger brother (in age as well as musically) of the great Franz Joseph, followed his elder brother's footsteps becoming at the age of eight years old a choirboy in the chorus at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. He later studied violin, organ and composition. As soon as he finished his studies, he was appointed Kapellmeister in Oradea, a Romanian city located in the north-west where he was to gain experience. Five years later, in 1762, he relocated to Salzburg to substitute Leopold Mozart (who was no longer available for the position due to the first promotional journey to Vienna of his child prodigy), and then finally as Kapellmeister and Concert Conductor (initial annual pay was 300 florins), a position that he held for forty-three years, including the honor of free meals in the official dining hall; Leopold and Wolfgang Mozart never had such a privilege, and were only allowed to eat at the table in the kitchen