Visits and Sketches at Home and Abroad, Vol. 2 (of 3): With Tales and Miscellanies Now First Collected — John Shaqi
Visits and Sketches at Home and Abroad, Vol. 2 (of 3): With Tales and Miscellanies Now First CollectedJameson, Mrs. (Anna)
History
Visits and Sketches at Home and Abroad, Vol. 2 (of 3): With Tales and Miscellanies Now First Collected
Jameson, Mrs. (Anna)
Germany -- Description and travel
acting as well as her singing is admirable.
I wish, if ever we have that charming Devrient-Schröeder, and her vocal
suite, again in England, they would give us the Iphigenia, or the Armida,
or the Idomeneo. She is another who must be heard in her native music
to be justly appreciated. Madame Milder _was_ a third, but her reign is
past. This extraordinary creature absolutely could not, or would not,
sing the modern Italian music; no one, I believe, ever heard her sing
a note of Rossini in her life. Madame Vespermann is here, but she sings
no more in public. She was formed by Winter, and was a fine classical
singer, though no original genius like the Milder; and her voice, if
I may judge by what remains of it, could never have been of first-rate
quality.
Well--after the opera--while scandal, and tea, and refreshments were
served up together--I had a long conversation with Count ---- on the
politics and statistics of Bavaria, the tone of feeling in the court,
the characters and revenues of some of the leading nobles--particularly
Count d'Armansberg, the former minister, (now in Greece taking care of
the young King Otho,) and Prince Wallerstein, the present minister of
the interior. He described the king's extremely versatile character, and
his _vivacités_, and lamented his present unpopularity with the liberal
party in Germany, the disputes between him and the Chambers, and the
opinions entertained of the recent conferences between the king and his
brother-in-law, the Emperor of Austria, at Lintz, &c. I learnt much that
was new, much that was interesting to me, but do not understand these
matters sufficiently to say any thing more about them.
The two richest families in Bavaria are the Tour-and-Taxis, and the Arco
family. The annual revenue of the Prince of Tour-and-Taxis amounts to
upwards of five millions of florins, and he lays out about a million
and a half yearly in land. He seldom or never comes to Munich, but
resides chiefly on his enormous estates, or at Ratisbon, which is _his_
metropolis,--in fact, this rich and powerful noble is little less than
a sovereign prince.
* * * * *
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account