Life of Mozart

——56 MOZART AS AN OPERA COMPOSER.In the postcript he again begs his father to consultVaresco, and hurry him on. On further consideration,however, he thought he had still conceded too much, and afew days afterwards he wrote (December 10, 1783) :Do all you can to make my book a success. I should like to bring theladies down from the ramparts in the first act, when they sing their airs,and I would willingly allow them to sing the whole finale upstairs.Varesco was quite willing to make the alteration, whichwas easily to be effected by a change of scene. The alteredversion exists, together with the original text ; but we knownothing further on the subject. Mozart seems to havemade more extensive demands. He wrote to his father(December 24, 1783):Now, for what is most necessary with regard to the opera. TheAbbate Varesco has written after Lavina's cavatina ": A cui servera lamusica della cavatina antecedente " —that is of Celidora's cavatina—butthis will not do. The words of Celidora's cavatina are hopeless andinconsolable, while those of Lavina's are full of hope and consolation.Besides, making one character pipe a song after another is quite anexploded fashion, and never was a popular one. At the best it is onlyfitted for a soubrette and her lover in the ultime parti. My idea wouldbe to begin the scene with a good duet, for which the same words, witha short appendix for the coda, would answer very well. After the duet,the conversation could proceed as before ": E quando s' ode il campanellodella custode." Mademoiselle Lavinawill have the goodness totake her departure instead of Celidora, so that the latter, as prima donna,may have an opportunity of singing a grand bravura air. This would, Ithink, be an improvement for the composer, the singers, and the audience,and the whole scene would gain in interest. Besides, it is scarcely likelythat the same song would be tolerated from the second singer after beingsung by the first. I do not know what you both mean by the followingdirection : At the end of the interpolated scene for the two women inthe first act, the Abbate has written ": Siegue la scena VIII che primaera la VII e cosi cangiansi di mano in mano i numeri." This leads meto suppose that he intends the scene after the quartet, where the twoladies, one after the other, sing their little songs from the window, toremain. But that is impossible. The act would be lengthened out ofall proportion, and quite spoiled. I always thought it ludicrous to read :Celidora. " Tu qui m' attendi, amica. Alia custode farmi veder vogl' io ;ci andrai tu puoi." Lavina :" Si dolce amica, addio." (Celidora parte.)Lavina sings her song. Celidora comes back and says :" Eccomi, orvanne," &c. ; and then out goes Lavina, and Celidora sings her air ; theyrelieve one another, like soldiers on guard. It is much more natural