Wolfgang to his sister · 26 January 1770
Letters from Mozart · Chapter I Italy · Mailand
Listen to the first sentence (German)
The letter and its translation
Mich freut es recht von ganzem Herzen, daß Du bei der Schlittenfahrt, von der Du mir schreibst, Dich so sehr ergötzt hast, und ich wünsche Dir tausend Gelegenheiten zur Ergötzung, damit Du recht lustig Dein Leben zubringen mögtest.
I rejoice in my heart that you were so well amused at the sledging party you write to me about, and I wish you a thousand opportunities of pleasure, so that you may pass your life merrily.
Just ehe ich diesen Brief angefangen habe, habe ich eine Arie aus dem Demetrio [von Metastasio] verfertigt, welche so anfängt: Misero tu non sei etc.
Just before beginning this letter I composed an air from the "Demetrio" of Metastasio, which begins thus, "Misero tu non sei."
Die prima Donna singt gut, aber still; und wenn man sie nicht agiren sähe, sondern singen nur allein, so meynte man, sie sänge nicht, denn den Mund kann sie nicht öffnen, sondern winselt Alles her …
The prima donna sings well, but is inanimate, and if you did not see her acting, but only singing, you might suppose she was not singing at all, for she can't open her mouth, and whines out everything.
Die seconda Donna macht ein Ansehen wie ein Grenadier, und hat auch eine starke Stimme; und singt wahrhaftig nicht übel, für das, daß sie das erste Mal agirt.
The seconda donna looks like a grenadier, and has a very powerful voice; she really does not sing badly, considering that this is her first appearance.
Ein Grotesco ist da, der gut springt, aber nicht so schreibt wie ich: wie die Säue brumzen.
There is a grotesco who jumps cleverly, but cannot write as I do--just as pigs grunt.
Selected sentences from the letter. The translation is our own.
The picture shows a festival ball in Milan's Teatro Regio Ducale in 1747 — not the theatres of Mantua and Cremona in the letter, but the house where Wolfgang's opera 'Mitridate' opened that December. In December 1769 Wolfgang set off with his father Leopold on his first journey to Italy. He wrote this from Milan the day before his fourteenth birthday, giving his sister a mischievous review of the singers he had heard in Mantua and Cremona.
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Credits
- Picture: Unknown artist · Festball im Teatro Regio Ducale, Mailand · 1747 · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · source
- Letter text: Mozarts Briefe (L. Nohl, 1865), Nr. 3 · public domain · archive.org
- Narration: made with Supertonic 3 (Supertone Inc.), model licence OpenRAIL-M.
- All sources: Lingua Museum sources and licences
