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: An 18th-C RPF pinch hit

[mildred_of_midgard]

Omg! I somehow came away thinking the first episode of Ekaterina was called "Dulcinea,"

LOL! I was SO confused! Okay, this makes sense now. :D

I'll try to dip in when I can, but it will definitely be sporadic.

This is good, actually! Because I have hit the point where I can finish a (sufficiently interesting) German book in a reasonable amount of time, and so I'm now in a "Buy book - read book - buy book - read book" mania. As opposed to "Choose one book that's worth spending an entire month wrestling with it, wrestle with it, then take a break before gearing up for another book," which is where we were until this month.

I'm furiously investing in that future day on which my German proficiency allows me to make salon contributions a la selenak and felis.