The Letters, vol 1 | Page 5

acts
Irene; she has a"] very harsh voce, e canta sempre [Footnote: "Voice,
and always sings"] a quaver too tardi o troppo a buon' ora. Granno fa
un signore, che non so come si chiame; e la prima volta che lui recita.
[Footnote: "Slow or too fast. Ganno is acted by a gentleman whose
name I never heard. It is his first appearance on the stage."] There is a
ballet between each act. We have a good dancer here called Roessler.
He is a German, and dances right well. The very last time we were at
the opera (but not, I hope, the very last time we ever shall be there) we
got M. Roessler to come up to our palco, (for M. Carlotti gives us his
box, of which we have the key,) and conversed with him. Apropos,
every one is now in maschera, and one great convenience is, that if you
fasten your mask on your hat you have the privilege of not taking off
your hat when any one speaks to you; and you never address them by
name, but always as "Servitore umilissimo, Signora Maschera."
Cospetto di Bacco! that is fun! The most strange of all is that we go to
bed at half-past seven! Se lei indovinasse questo, io diro certamente che
lei sia la madre di tutti gli indovini. [Footnote: "If you guess this, I shall
say that you are the mother of all guessers."] Kiss mamma's hand for
me, and to yourself I send a thousand kisses, and assure you that I shall
always be your affectionate brother.
Portez-vous bien, et aimez-moi toujours.

3.
Milan, Jan. 26, 1770.
I REJOICE in my heart that you were so well amused at the sledging
party you write to me about, and I wish you a thousand opportunities of
pleasure, so that you may pass your life merrily. But one thing vexes
me, which is, that you allowed Herr von Molk [an admirer of this pretty
young girl of eighteen] to sigh and sentimentalize, and that you did not
go with him in his sledge, that he might have upset you. What a lot of
pocket- handkerchiefs he must have used that day to dry the tears he

shed for you! He no doubt, too, swallowed at least three ounces of
cream of tartar to drive away the horrid evil humors in his body. I know
nothing new except that Herr Gellert, the Leipzig poet, [Footnote: Old
Mozart prized Gellert's poems so highly, that on one occasion he wrote
to him expressing his admiration.] is dead, and has written no more
poetry since his death. Just before beginning this letter I composed an
air from the "Demetrio" of Metastasio, which begins thus, "Misero tu
non sei."
The opera at Mantua was very good. They gave "Demetrio." The prima
donna sings well, but is inanimate, and if you did not see her acting, but
only singing, you might suppose she was not singing at all, for she can't
open her mouth, and whines out everything; but this is nothing new to
us. The seconda donna looks like a grenadier, and has a very powerful
voice; she really does not sing badly, considering that this is her first
appearance. Il primo uomo, il musico, sings beautifully, but his voice is
uneven; his name is Caselli. Il secondo uomo is quite old, and does not
at all please me. The tenor's name is Ottini; he does not sing
unpleasingly, but with effort, like all Italian tenors. We know him very
well. The name of the second I don't know; he is still young, but
nothing at all remarkable. Primo ballerino good; prima ballerina good,
and people say pretty, but I have not seen her near. There is a grotesco
who jumps cleverly, but cannot write as I do--just as pigs grunt. The
orchestra is tolerable. In Cremona, the orchestra is good, and
Spagnoletta is the name of the first violinist there. Prima donna very
passable- -rather ancient, I fancy, and as ugly as sin. She does not sing
as well as she acts, and is the wife of a violin-player at the opera. Her
name is Masci. The opera was the "Clemenza di Tito." Seconda donna
not ugly on the stage, young, but nothing superior. Primo uomo, un
musico, Cicognani, a fine voice, and a beautiful cantabile. The other
two musici young and passable. The tenor's name is non lo so [I don't
know what]. He has a pleasing exterior, and resembles Le Roi at
Vienna. Ballerino primo good, but an ugly dog. There was a ballerina
who danced far from badly, and, what is a capo d'opera, she is anything
but plain, either on the stage or off it. The rest were the usual average. I
cannot write