Life of Mozart

352 ILLNESS AND DEATH.enough, by Cramer.^°'' The opera was nicknamed " LesMiseres d' Ici," and " I'operation " of the " derangeur "Lachnith was discussed.^*^^ But all were agreed as to theexcellence of the scenery and ballet, of the arrangement ofparticularscenes, and of the admirable performance of theorchestra and chorus, which may account for the factthatthis deformity was one hundred and thirty times performed inParis up to 1827.-^°^ On February 23, 1865, the unmutilated" Zauberflöte " was, for the first time, placed on the stage ofthe Theatre-Lyrique, translated by Nuitter and Beaumont,and had a brilliant success.-^°^CHAPTER XLIV.ILLNESS AND DEATH.NO sooner was the " Zauberflöte " completed and performedthan Mozart set to work with restless eagernessupon his still unfinished Requiem.^ His friend, Jos.von Jacquin, calling upon him one day to request him togive pianofortelessons to a lady who was already an admirableperformer on the instrument, found him athis writingtable,hard at work on the Requiem. Mozart readily acceededto the request, provided he might postpone thelessons for a time ;" for," said he, " I have a work on handwhich lies very near my heart, and until that is finished Ican think of nothing else."^ Other friends remembered100Cramer, Anecd. sur Mozart, p. i8. Cf. Ztg. f. d. eleg. Welt, 1801, No. lor.101 Castil-Blaze, L'Acad. Imp. de Mus., IL, p. 86."S! A. M. Z., XX., p. 858; XXXIII. , pp. 82, 142. In the year 1829, theGerman performance of the " Zauberflöte " was very successful in Paris.(A. M. Z., XXXI., p. 466.)103 Niederrhein. Mus. Ztg., 1865, p. 68. Berl. Mus. Ztg., Echo, 1865, p. 73.Henry Blaze de Bury, Revue des Deux Mondes, 1865, LVL, p. 412.'The narrative which follows is founded chiefly upon the widow's statementsin Niemetschek (p. 50. Nissen, p. 563), which agree with those made by her toan English lady at Salzburg in 1S29 (The Musical World, 1837, August andSeptember. Hogarth, Mem. of the Opera, II., p. 196), and upon a letter fromSophie Haibl (April 7, 1827), extracts from which are given by Nissen (p. 573),and of which Köchel has sent me a copy in full.2 Mosel, Ueb. d. Orig. Part, des Requiem, p. 5.