(Vienna, December 24, 1783, to his father. The situation referred to was in Varesco's opera which never reached completion.)
47. "At six o'clock I drove with Count Canal to the so-called 'Breitfeldischen Ball' where the pick of the beauties of Prague are in the habit of congregating. That would have been something for you, my friend! I fancy seeing you,—not walking, but limping,—after all the pretty girls and women! I did not dance, neither did I spoon;—the first because I was too tired, the second because of my congenital bashfulness. But I saw with great pleasure how all these people hopped about delightedly to the music of my 'Figaro' turned into contradances and Allemands. Here nothing is talked about except 'Figaro,' nothing played, piped, sung or whistled except 'Figaro;' no opera is attended except 'Figaro,' always 'Figaro.' Certainly a great honor for me."
(Prague, January 15, 1787, to a friend, whose name is unknown.)
48. "'Don Giovanni' was not written for the Viennese; rather for the people of Prague, but most of all for me and my friends."
(Reported by Nissen, who also relates that Mozart often said "The Bohemians are the ones who understand me." When "Le Nozze di Figaro" received an enthusiastic reception in Prague, Mozart said: "Because the Bohemians understand me so well I must write an opera for them." The opera was "Don Giovanni.")
49. "I am just home from the opera; it was as crowded as ever. The duet, 'Mann und Weib,' and the bells in the first act, were repeated as usual,—also the trio of the boys in the second act. But what delights me most is the silent applause! It is easy to see how this opera is ever rising."
(Vienna, October 7, 1791, to his wife. The opera was "Die
Zauberflote.")
MUSICAL PEDAGOGICS
50. "Herr Stein is completely daft on the subject of his daughter. She is eight years old and learns everything by heart. Something may come of her for she has talent, but not if she goes on as she is doing now; she will never acquire velocity because she purposely makes her hand heavy. She will never learn the most necessary, most difficult and principal thing in music, that is time, because from childhood she has designedly cultivated the habit of ignoring the beat."
(Augsburg, October 23, 1777, to his father. Nanette Stein afterward married Andreas Streicher, who was Schiller's companion in his flight to Franconia. As Frau Streicher she became Beethoven's faithful friend and frequently took it upon herself to straighten out his domestic affairs.)