So, if you heard Mozart Minute episode one, in which Mozart write the Baroness von Waldstätten asking about the price of a fancy coat, you might have been left with some burning questions: Did Mozart get the coat? If so, how much did it set him back? And who was the Baroness von Waldstätten anyway? The baroness was a staunch friend to both Mozart and his fiancée-in-progress, Constanze Weber, in the turbulent run-up to their marriage. In a letter four days after the previous one to her and only two months after his sudden marriage to Constanze, Mozart wrote to thank the baroness, as he put it, âfor having at once taken so much trouble about the beautiful coat, and for your goodness in promising to give me one like it.â? Emily Andersonâs English translation of the great opera composerâs letter continues more like a soap opera: âI can say with truth that I am a very happy and a very unhappy man,â? Mozart wrote, âunhappy since the night when I saw your Ladyship at the ball with your hair so beautifully dressed â for â gone is my peace of mind! Nothing but sighs and groans! [â¦] But alas! Who taps me on the shoulder? Who peeps into my letter? Alas, alas, alas! My wife! Well, well, in the name of heaven, I have taken her and must keep her!â? Additional reading: Jane Glover Mozart's Women: His Family, His Friends, His Music (MacMillan)
Jennifer Hambrick unites her extensive backgrounds in the arts and media and her deep roots in Columbus to bring inspiring music to central Ohio as Classical 101’s midday host. Jennifer performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago before earning a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.