Salzburger 9

»Es wird eine Königin zum Tode verurteilt, die der Scharfrichter enthauptet, nach abgeschlagenem Haupte kommt eine kleine Prinzessin hervor, welche anfangs wider den Scharfrichter sich erzürnet, bald darauf aber in denselbigen sich verliebet und eine italienische Arie singt.« Was sich hier wie ein Ausschnitt aus einem der surrealen Schauspiele Eugène Ionescos anhört, ist 1776 in Salzburg entstanden und von einem Pater verfasst worden. Im Universitätstheater wurden nach alter Tradition im Fasching und zu Ende des Schuljahres von Schülern und Studenten lateinische Tragödien, die mit komischen Einlagestücken versehen waren, zum Besten gegeben.

Michael Haydn wrote his Italian "Serenata" to a libretto by Metastasio on the theme of the lover's grief felt by the goddess Diana, who took vows of chastity without thinking that she might be hit by Amor's arrows. This opera in two acts from 1778 celebrated it's premiere during Michael Haydn's lifetime but then was forgotten for more than two centuries; it was first performed again in full in Salzburg in 2018 and now is finally available on cpo.

"When the ci-hitty gets into a bu-hoys sy-hist-em, he loses his a-hankerin' for the cou-huntry." So intones W.C. Fields in his Yukon-based Victorian absurdist two-reeler The Fatal Glass of Beer (1933). However, if the city you lived in was Salzburg, Austria, the idea of "a-hankerin' for the cou-huntry" was a popular one, and Salzburg's court composer Johann Michael Haydn paid tribute to it through these two little "Abbey operettas" written not for a civic theater, but for the theater at the Benedictine University in Salzburg. Haydn's singspiel Die Hochzeit auf der Alm (The Wedding on the Alpine Pasture, 1763) was intended as a mere opener to Salzburg scribbler Florian Reichssiegel's ponderous five-act Latin tragedy Pietas conjugalis in Sigismundo et Maria; however, it was the singspiel that won the day.

Michael Haydn wrote his Italian "Serenata" to a libretto by Metastasio on the theme of the lover's grief felt by the goddess Diana, who took vows of chastity without thinking that she might be hit by Amor's arrows. This opera in two acts from 1778 celebrated it's premiere during Michael Haydn's lifetime but then was forgotten for more than two centuries; it was first performed again in full in Salzburg in 2018 and now is finally available on cpo.

During her lifetime Marianna Martines was a highly regarded composer. In 1772, for example, the English music historian Charles Burney praised her 'very well written' compositions, her keyboard artistry asmasterly,' and her own person as a singer who was 'more perfect than any singer I had ever heard.' Pietro Metastasio, her mentor, valued her talent and art just as very much as did Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who frequently participated in her 'musical evening entertainments.' With these evenings, which were held 'at least once a week', she exercised a considerable influence on Vienna’s music life.

Johann Michael Haydn, the "Salzburg Haydn" has always stood in the shadow of his elder brother Joseph. He might have gone on to higher profile posts but decided to stay in Salzburg, being regarded highly during his lifetime by colleagues such as Mozart but somehow staying under the radar since his death. Leopold Mozart pointed out that he was a bit of a drinker which may account for a certain lack of ambition, but who are we to speculate.

During her lifetime Marianna Martines was a highly regarded composer. In 1772, for example, the English music historian Charles Burney praised her 'very well written' compositions, her keyboard artistry asmasterly,' and her own person as a singer who was 'more perfect than any singer I had ever heard.' Pietro Metastasio, her mentor, valued her talent and art just as very much as did Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who frequently participated in her 'musical evening entertainments.' With these evenings, which were held 'at least once a week', she exercised a considerable influence on Vienna’s music life.