In the summer of 1763, Leopold Mozart came to the conclusion that it was time to move away from Salzburg and, once and for all, set off on a long tour across Europe with his son Wolfgang and his older sister Nannerl, who both had shown, from an early age, extraordinary musical talents.
A year earlier, in 1762 —Wolfgang was not yet six— the children had successfully performed in Munich and, in September of the same year, dazzled the courts of Vienna gaining fervent applause, a watch, some elegant clothes and some kisses on the cheeks.
After returning from these 'flying' visits which normally took a couple of weeks (each way), Leopold began planning an extensive European tour. This, eventually, would last more than three years, leading them to travel throughout France and England. The aim of this tour was to present the world with what he called "the gift that God has given me" and expecting from it, naturally, some money.
Leopold was right. The tour resulted in a huge success and became useful in many ways: little Wolfgang, only seven, had a lavish premiere playing in the courts of great kings and princes, deepening his experience as a musician, improviser and composer. Above all, it made money, and plenty.
But this was not manna from heaven.
In fact, in the second half of the eighteenth century, Leopold Mozart behaved as a seasoned entrepreneur, as we should say today. Before coming to each village, Leopold, the producer, used to publish a notice in local newspapers announcing the arrival of these amazing children and reporting the marvelous things they could do with a keyboard, even if it was covered with a cloth avoiding the children to see the keys.
An advertisement in a London newspaper, in 1763, reads:
"To all Lovers of Sciences:
The greatest prodigy that Europe, or that even Human Nature has to boast of, is, without contradiction, the little German boy Wolfgang Mozart; a boy, eigth years old who has, and indeed very justly, raised the admiration not only of the greatest men, but also of the greatest musicians in Europe. It is hard to say, whether his execution upon the harpsichord and his playing and singing at sight, or his own caprice, fancy and compositions for all instruments, are more astonishing. The father of this miracle, being obliged by desire of several ladies and gentlemen to postpone, for a very short time, his departure from England, will give an opportunity to hear this little composer and his sister, whose musical knowledge wants no apology.
Performs every day in the week, from twelve to three o'clock, in the Great Room, at the Swan and Hoop, Cornhill.
Admittance 2s. 6d. each person."
If Leopold was an outstanding producer of cultural events, he was far less successful as a promoter of his son’s career. He tried hard to obtain for Wolfgang a stable position in a court other than Salzburg's. Fortunately for posterity, all of them were unsuccessful, which allowed Mozart to apply his mind at working for himself.
Sonata in F major - Adagio - Piano: Elisabeth Leonskaja
Although in 1762 the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria rewarded Wolfgang for his performance in Vienna with a little suit decorated with gold braids, later she was less well disposed towards him. In 1771, having received an inquiry from his son, the Archduke Ferdinand, about employing Wolfgang in his court, Maria Theresa advised him not to admit "composers or any other useless people like them", in particular, "none of the Mozarts, who drift around the world like beggars".
Maria Theresa is remembered as a great promoter of science and the arts; a genuine representative of enlightened despotism, even though in this case the anecdote shows that she was a little bit more despotic than enlightened.
The Empress left this world in 1780. So, we may assume that she might have been able to enjoy some of the three sonatas that Mozart, the beggar, composed in Paris in 1778.
The Sonata in F major is less well known than the Sonata in A major (with its popular Rondo alla turca or Turkish march) but it is equally beautiful, and represents another illustration of the rich diversity of Mozart's instrumental output. This sonata has three movements and a conventional structure: allegro - adagio - allegro molto. The adagio is one of the sweetest and delicate slow movements of the keyboard music of its time.
As everybody knows, Wolfgang Amadeus composed not only piano sonatas. Leopold, a visionary, prophesied that Wolfgang's goal as a composer should be Italian opera.
As a sign of it, let's listen three splendid voices singing the trio "Soave sia il vento", from the opera buffa "Cossi fan tutte" composed in 1790, a year before his premature death (Leopold, the tireless promoter, had died in 1787).
Many people would shed tears listening this song of abandonment and inconsolable sadness. The song is a farewell, but a fraudulent one: the man is cheating on the girls to win a bet. This piece is used in a sad scene of the movie "Closer", in which a traumatic break-up takes place in the aisles of a theatre inside which the singers perform the aria.
The beautiful ladies are Miah Persson and Anke Vondung. The bass is Nicolas Rivenq.
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