The year began with promise. Emperor Joseph II commissioned Lorenzo Da Ponte and me to create a new opera: Così fan tutte[i]. In truth, the commission had first been offered to Vienna’s court composer, Antonio Salieri[ii], who began setting the libretto before leaving it unfinished. With Da Ponte’s text, Cosi fan tutte promised to be unpredictable and unapologetic – a philosophical comedy about fidelity, disguises, impulsive lovers, and the questionable wisdom of men who claimed to know better.
The pressure to complete the score was considerable, but once the curtain rose, the music sparkled. Audiences responded warmly, delighted by its humor and mischief. The opera appeared destined for a long and successful run.
Then tragedy struck. Emperor Joseph II died.
Out of respect for the late Emperor, Vienna’s theaters closed. Performances were halted, stages fell silent, and the city draped itself in black fabric. Applause vanished overnight.
Joseph’s successor, Leopold II[iii], approached patronage with caution and an evident concern for expense. He did not strike me as a man inclined to wake up and declare that Vienna required more lavish Mozart operas. As his coronation in Frankfurt approached, I devised what I believed to be a bold solution: I would finance my own concert tour.
To do so, I used what remained of Father’s inheritance and pawned several family possessions – objects that seemed to whisper in silent disapproval as I handed them over. The plan was ambitious, precarious, and lacking any form of safety net. It should have come with a warning label. It did not. Artistically, the tour succeeded. Economically, it failed. Emotionally, it left me so disoriented that even my distress seemed uncertain what to do with itself. I returned to Vienna exhausted, with an impressive list of debts and very little else. And yet, something remained. Beneath the fatigue and frustration, there was still a pulse – a quiet persistence. Even in the darkest stretches, hope endured. And so did music.
[i] Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti (Women are like that, or The School for Lovers, K. 588), is an opera buffa in two acts. It was first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna
[ii] Antonio Salieri (1750–1825) was an Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacher active mainly in Vienna. Celebrated across Europe in the late 18th century, he served as imperial court composer and Hofkapellmeister under Emperor Joseph II.
[iii] Leopold II (Peter Leopold Josef Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard; 5 May 1747 – 1 March 1792) was the penultimate Holy Roman Emperor, as well as King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, and Archduke of Austria from 1790 to 1792, and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790. He was a son of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I.