Of course, I know all the attractions Hamburg has for you, and how difficult it will be for you to tear yourself away. Nothing can be more delightful than your father’s new house, looking out, as it does, upon the “Alsterbassin,” and the city steeples,—all the rooms so bright and cheerful, amply furnished, and yet not crowded, and no comfort wanting that the most fastidious Londoner could want; besides which, the owner, the rooms, the furniture, and, above all, the large music-room, plainly show how anxiously you are expected. No doubt, then, you will find everything charming and comfortable; but although we have no fine view and no comforts to offer, we should one and all rejoice to see you, and that, indeed, is the main point.
By the by, Madame Belleville is here, and has met with but little success. She intended giving a concert, and the bills announced that Mr. Oury, her husband, was going to assist her; but the Berlin people would not be attracted, so she gave it up, and performed at the theatre between two comedies. People said there was no soul in her playing, so I preferred not hearing her; for what a Berliner calls playing without soul must be desperately cold. Take it all in all, I am blasé with regard to Hummel’s Septet and Herz’s Variations, and the public was quite right to be blasé too. Then, again, the “Lovely City” (see Moscheles’s unpublished correspondence) is plain, into the bargain, and so I prefer Madame Blahetka. Dear me! how badly I’ve behaved to her, never saying good-by! Do apologize for me; but, above all, take my part if your sister calls me disagreeable and abuses me for what I said about Berlin. Tell her it was from sheer selfishness I spoke, and that I chiefly thought of my own pleasure in wishing to see you both and the children again,—in fact, say that I’m an egotist, for I am, and do want you to come. My love to Emily and Serena, and may you and Moscheles be as well and as happy as I wish you to be!
Yours,
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy.
At the close of the London season the Moscheleses went to Hamburg on a visit to Mrs. Moscheles’s relatives. The following letter was written on Mendelssohn’s hearing of their arrival:—
Berlin, Aug. 10, 1832.
Dear Moscheles,—
1st Motto: “Tell it none but the wise.”
2d Motto: “Worrying pays.”