Estates Theatre in Prague where two of Mozart's operas were premiered
There is no question that the Praguers of the late eighteenth century exhibited a special appreciation for the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, even though, as recently pointed out by Daniel E. Freeman, confirmations of this fact attributed to Mozart himself in sayings such as "Meine Prager verstehen mich" ("My Praguers understand me") have only come down to posterity second or third hand.[1] Perhaps the most valuable direct testimony that attests to the discernment of the musical public in Prague with regard to Mozart's music comes from Lorenzo Da Ponte, the librettist of Mozart's opera Don Giovanni, which was first performed in Prague:
It is not easy to convey an adequate conception of the enthusiasm of the Bohemians for [Mozart's] music. The pieces which were admired least of all in other countries were regarded by those people as things divine; and, more wonderful still, the great beauties which other nations discovered in the music of that rare genius only after many, many performances, were perfectly appreciated by the Bohemians on the very first evening.[2]
The most important legacy of Mozart's association with the city of Prague was the composition of the operas Don Giovanni and La clemenza di Tito and the first performance of the "Prague" Symphony, which may or may not have been composed by Mozart specifically to be performed in Prague during his first visit to the city early in 1787.
^Freeman 2021, 329-31.
^Quoted in Freeman 2021, 2, from the Memoirs of Lorenzo da Ponte (New York, 1988), 231-32. These observations were originally published in 1823.
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