Mozart's Wife by Waldron Juliet

Author:Waldron, Juliet [Waldron, Juliet]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Books We Love Ltd.
Published: 2012-08-30T00:00:00+00:00

Right after Christmas some of the Thuns, the Bohemian side of that gracious noble family, sent messages through their Viennese relatives inviting Mozart to Prague. The Marriage of Figaro, dead of neglect in Vienna, had become their city’s obsession.

At first, Mozart couldn’t believe that the people of Prague were more musically astute than the Viennese. Still, the invitations kept on arriving. Finally, one came from a person whose judgment Mozart absolutely trusted, Franz Dusek, Concertmeister for the Prague orchestra.

Franz Dusek and his wife, Josefa, had been Wolfi’s friends for years. Josefa was a brilliant concert singer, famous all over the empire. Mozart had told me her story.

“Just like Aloysia, Josefa got her start under a nobleman’s wing.”

An affable way to look at it, I thought.

“After she fell in love with Dusek, her count was gentleman enough to release her. Amiable fellow that Count Clam is, he even gave them a villa as a wedding present.

“The first time I met Josefa I was only fourteen. She was famous, beautiful, and a count’s mistress. God! I would have sold my soul to be that man.

“And what feeling, what expression, she put into that aria I wrote for her. I remember nearly coming off when she sang the final cadenza.”

Anyhow, the story was a torrent of purest Mozart. The more he went on about how much he was looking forward to hearing Josefa sing, the more I wondered if he wasn’t busy rekindling an old infatuation.

It was in January, winter’s hardest heart, when we drove off to Prague. A journey at that time of year is always a miserable proposition.

We bundled up in fur coats and wore big fur sacks over our shoes to keep our feet warm. In the coach, we were stuffed to the waist with dusty straw because that was the only way to keep from getting frostbitten. Even so, we had to stop at almost every inn we passed to keep from freezing.

Although we sipped brandy and huddled close together, Wolfgang and I were so stiff by the end of each day that we could hardly stand. At night, we’d hunch over the stove in our room, wrapped in blankets and shake for an hour.

We lodged in Prague at The Three Golden Lions and had hardly finished washing up and shivering when the Duseks appeared, rushing unannounced into our room. As I feared, Josefa and Wolfgang clicked together like old Doctor Mesmer’s magnets. Once they got started hugging and kissing, they couldn’t seem to stop.

Her husband and I were left standing and staring. Finally, Dusek grinned, shrugged, and threw his long arms around me. “Don’t you think we should pay them back a little?”

I liked his attitude. Not only was he a nice-looking fellow, but he had a sense of humor. Smiling, I stood on the tips of my toes to give him a kiss, for he was very tall. It was a little surprising, the way he insisted upon kissing me on the lips, but I wasn’t going to make a fuss while Josefa and Wolfi were still cooing.

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