?28 November 1791

On the reception of La clemenza di Tito in Prague

Musikalisches Wochenblatt, ix, ?28 Nov 1791

[70]
         6. Vermischte Nachrichten.

Musikalisches Wochenblatt, 70


⁣    Prag.
Die grosse italiänische Oper: la
Clemenza di Tito
, nach der Komposition des
Hrn. Kapellmeister Mozard, bei Gelegenheit
der Krönungsfeierlichkeit hier aufgeführt,
hat den Beifall nicht gefunden, den der sonst
hier so beliebte Komponist erwarten konnte.
Nächstens schreibe ich ausführlicher darüber.

Musikalisches Wochenblatt, 70b

[translation:]

⁣         6. Miscellaneous news.

⁣    Prague. The grand Italian opera La clemenza
di Tito
, composed by Herr Kapellmeister Mozart,
performed here on the occasion of the coronation
festivities, did not find the acclaim that the
composer, otherwise so beloved here, could have
expected. I will shortly write in more detail
about this.


Commentary

Deutsch (Dokumente, 380) includes a report from issue XII of Musikalisches Wochenblatt regarding the first production of La clemenza di Tito in Prague during the festivities surrounding the coronation of Leopold II as king of Bohemia in Prague in early Sep 1791. The report, dated 12 Dec, also refers to the cantata by Kozeluch that was performed during the coronation festivities, and it reports Mozart’s death (Musikalisches Wochenblatt, 94; Deutsch gives a tentative date of 31 Dec 1791 for issue XII, but it is more likely that it was published before the Christmas hiatus, perhaps on Mon, 19 Dec). However, Deutsch omits this shorter notice on Tito from issue IX of the Wochenblatt, published around three weeks earlier. Although missing from Dokumente, this shorter notice from issue IX is quoted in part in Otto Jahn, W. A. Mozart, vol. 4, 569, n. 40.

Like the longer notice from Dec, this shorter one states that Tito was not a success; “[the opera] did not find the acclaim that the composer, otherwise so beloved here, could have expected.” That the author of the notice uses the first person pronoun “ich” and promises a more detailed report in the near future suggests that this was the same correspondent who submitted the longer notice in issue XII. However, no initials are given, and the identity of the correspondent remains unknown. (The list of contributors for the Wochenblatt and its successor the Musikalische Monathsschrift does not include anyone in Prague.)


Notes

This short notice is also published in Schwob (2015, 186–87). For a more detailed discussion of the earliest sources on the reception of the first production of La clemenza di Tito, see our entry for 18 Sep 1791. On Musikalische Wochenblatt, see the Notes to our entry for 10 Oct 1791.


Bibliography

Schwob, Rainer J. ed. 2015. W. A. Mozart im Spiegel des Musikjournalismus, deutschsprachiger Raum 1782–1800. Beiträge zur Mozart-Dokumentation, vol. 1. Stuttgart: Carus Verlag.


Credit: DE

Author: Dexter Edge

Search Term: mozard

Categories: Biography, Reception

First Published: Fri, 19 Sep 2014

Updated: Sun, 15 Jan 2023


Print Citation:

Edge, Dexter. 2014. “On the reception of La clemenza di Tito in Prague (28 November 1791).” In: Mozart: New Documents, edited by Dexter Edge and David Black. First published 19 September 2014; updated 15 January 2023. https://www.mozartdocuments.org/documents/28-november-1791/

Web Citation:

Edge, Dexter. 2014. “On the reception of La clemenza di Tito in Prague (28 November 1791).” In: Mozart: New Documents, edited by Dexter Edge and David Black. First published 19 September 2014; updated 15 January 2023. [direct link]