What I realised, going round the various Mozart locations in
Salzburg and Vienna, is that we have very little on Mozart except his letters. The 'Figaro House' in Vienna makes good use of this by creating a very interesting commentary to flesh out the life he lived in the now bare rooms. For example, this picture shows what was probably the games room (hence the 18th Century chess board), and looks down the lane to the House of the Teutonic Knights where Mozart received the celebrated 'kick in the pants' from a functionary of his former employer, Archbishop Colloredo. The spaciousness of the apartment shows how well he was doing as an independent freelancer. (As with all these photos, click on it to get the full details.)They had also calculated his income in his heyday, showing it to be compatible with that of a Nobleman, and I didn't know that the current theory of his getting into debt was from gambling, both legal and probably (not mentioned in his letters) illegal.
Mozart lived his life to the full in many ways,
and one letter says that most mornings he would be up "at 5.30, or even 5, to go to the Augarten". And here it is. It's nothing special as a park, but it was great walking round the same spaces that he did. I didn't feel his spirit or anything, but seeing his surroundings helped to anchor his way of life in my mind.Meanwhile Vienna, like Salzburg, makes as much money out of the man as possible. I wonder what he would think of the kitsch surrounding him? I tried to get him on the EtherealNet in Austria but without success - internet access is not so common in rural Austria, and there are still electric typewriters on people's desks there. But here in London - wait a minute, something's coming through... could it be the man himself?
I'll try the question - what do you think of all
the commerce around your name? What? Can you have a Royalty? Well no, even the new 95-year proposals won't go back that far; but anyway, what good is money where you are? Ah, you've joined the Eurozone. And Benjamin Britten is a better Poker player than you, because you can't mask your feelings... Look, I've only got 30 euros left from the trip, I'm sorry but there's nothing I can do. But while you're there I would just like to say - I know this sounds a bit pretentious, but - thank you for reaching parts of my being that other composer's music doesn't reach, thank you for somehow being able to express the richness and ambiguity of the human condition in sound. What? No I'm sorry, I really can't get any money up there. Certainly not until you get on PayPal.I suppose we too are exploiting Mozart, using him as a hook for our fund-raising effort. We are aiming to raise £14,500 for a neurological teaching microscope and other ancillary hospital equipment, and already have more than 90% of that. If you feel able to help us give something back to the NHS, which helped us in our hour of need, that would be great. There is a donation page at www.justgiving.com/Mozart_and_the_Microscope, with some more details about the charity and the fund, which stays open until November 1st.
