18th-Century Characters, Including Frederick the Great, Discussion Post 34

[cahn]

And including Emperor Joseph II!

from Derek Beales: Joseph II, Volume 2: Against the World, 1780 - 1790:

Joseph's alleged comment to Mozart about the Entführung, "Too many notes", has been taken as evidence of his ignorance. But he probably said something like, "Too beautiful for our ears, and monstrous many notes." It is always necessary to bear in mind, when appraising the emperor's remarks, his peculiar brand of humor or sarcasm. He was usually getting at someone. And he did not use the royal "we". The ears in question were those of the Viennese audience, whom he was mocking for their limited appreciation of Mozart's elaborate music.

(though not gonna lie, I think it is a LOT of notes)

Comments

Re: Klement: the Weber Version - I

[felis]

Man, you could make a movie out of this bonkers episode! And then everyone would critique it as unrealistic.

You'd have to sell it as a satire even if you just stuck to the truth. Well, alleged truth, what with Pöllnitz' and Klement's own accounts in the mix. But still!

Re: Klement: the Weber Version - I

[selenak]

Hey, it was the century of the conmen, and le Comte de Saint-Germain, Cagliostro and Casanova would like to point out that their adventures were reported as straight drama, despite containing cons as absurd. (Well, in Cagliostro's case, it helps that one of these involved the Affair of the Necklace that proved one of the fatal events for Marie Antoinette.)

Also, I just thought for the first time: Die Geschichte des Gestiefelten Katers fits so much in this era with these guys, doesn't it?

All this said, I'm surprised that none of the later German satirists having a go at the Prussian state took the Clemens/Klement story and ran with it. Yes, censorship applied till WWI, but you could get around it in historical drama, especially if publishing in a not Hohenzollern ruled state before 1870.