To-morrow is our first entertainment in the Augarten. At half-past eight
Martin is to call for me in a hackney-coach, and we have six visits to
make; I must be ready by eleven o'clock to go to Rumbeck; then I dine
with the Countess Thun; we are to rehearse the music in her garden in
the evening. There is to be a symphony by Van Swieten, and another by
me; Mdlle. Berger, an amateur, is to sing; a boy named Türk[46] is
to play a violin concerto, and Fräulein von Aurnhammer and I the duet
concerto in E flat (365 K.).
The first concert went off well; among the audience were the Archduke
Maximilian, the Countess Thun, Wallenstein, Baron van Swieten, and
many other musical connoisseurs, but we hear nothing further of the
undertaking, which cannot have been so brilliant a success as had been
hoped.[47] There was no doubt, however, as to the success which Mozart
achieved during the Lenten concerts of 1783. He contributed greatly
towards the success of a concert given by his sister-in-law, Aloysia
Lange, at the theatre on
{CONCERT FOR ALOYSIA LANGE.}
(285)
March 11. His Parisian symphony for the Concert spirituel (297 K., Vol.
II., p. 49) was performed on this occasion, after which Madame Lange
sang the song which he had composed for her in Mannheim: "Non sò d'onde
viene" (294 K., Vol. I., p. 419), with new variations for the voice.
How many memories it must have awakened in them both! "Gluck had the box
next to the Langes," he informed his father (March 12, 1783), "in which
was also my wife. He could not praise enough either the symphony or the
song, and he invited us all to dinner next Sunday." In addition Mozart
played a concerto of his own composition. "The theatre was very full;
and I was so well received by the public, that I could but feel happy
and content. After I had gone away the clapping was so persistent that
I was obliged to return and repeat the rondo. It was a perfect storm of
applause." For his own concert on March 22 every box was taken, and the
theatre "could not have been fuller." The programme of this concert,
which he copied for his father, gives us an idea of what Mozart's
concerts were. There were performed:--
1. The new Hafner symphony, composed the previous summer (385 K., Vol.
II., p. 210).
2. Air from "Idomeneo," "Se il padre perdei" (366 K.), sung by Madame
Lange.
3. The third subscription concerto, then just published, in C major (415
K., No. 5).
4. The Countess Baumgarten's scena (369 K., Vol. II., p. 168), sung by
Adamberger.
5. The short Sinfonia-concertante of the last "Final-musik" (320 K.,
Vol. II., p. 87).
6. The favourite concerto in D (175, 382 K., Vol. I., p. 324).
7. Scena, "Parto, m' affretto," from "Lucio Silla" (135 K., Vol. I., p.
180), sung by Mdlle. Teyber.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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