One of the things I like most about the 1994 movie Shawshank Redemption is the message of hope that runs through the surprising spiritual core of this prison drama. It’s not my usual brand of movie drama; but then this is not your usual prison movie.
One particularly memorable scene speaks to the power of music to transcend the here and now. If you’ve seen the movie, I’m sure you know the scene I’m preparing to describe. According to Roger Ebert, “the overhead shot of the prisoners, spellbound by the music, is one of the film’s epiphanies.” Right on Roger!
One particularly memorable scene speaks to the power of music to transcend the here and now. If you’ve seen the movie, I’m sure you know the scene I’m preparing to describe. According to Roger Ebert, “the overhead shot of the prisoners, spellbound by the music, is one of the film’s epiphanies.” Right on Roger!
Prisoner Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) manages to lock himself in the warden’s office (without the warden), puts an album on the phonograph and smiles with sublime pleasure as the notes from Mozart’s opera “Le nozze di Figaro” (The Marriage of Figaro) sweep over him and the P.A. system for all the world within those prison walls to hear.
Somehow I think Dufresne knew Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro was about a valet/servant Figaro who outwitted his master Count Almaviva. Enough said; no spoilers should this prize-winning flick pique your interest.
Red (Morgan Freeman), Defresne’s fellow prisoner and friend, said it best when reflecting on the epic Mozart moment: “I have no idea to this day what them two Italian ladies were singin' about. Truth is, I don't want to know. Some things are best left unsaid. I like to think they were singin' about something so beautiful it can't be expressed in words, and makes your heart ache. I tell you, those voices soared. Higher and farther than anybody in a gray place dares to dream. It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made these walls dissolve away.”
The walls were really all that were left of the 300 year old Vienna apartment Mozart called home for two and a half years. It's where he composed his popular opera, The Marriage of Figaro, in 1786. My drab little life soared to new heights as I walked the bare rooms of Austria’s favorite son and the world’s most prolific composer of such moving music.
Somehow I think Dufresne knew Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro was about a valet/servant Figaro who outwitted his master Count Almaviva. Enough said; no spoilers should this prize-winning flick pique your interest.
Red (Morgan Freeman), Defresne’s fellow prisoner and friend, said it best when reflecting on the epic Mozart moment: “I have no idea to this day what them two Italian ladies were singin' about. Truth is, I don't want to know. Some things are best left unsaid. I like to think they were singin' about something so beautiful it can't be expressed in words, and makes your heart ache. I tell you, those voices soared. Higher and farther than anybody in a gray place dares to dream. It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made these walls dissolve away.”
The walls were really all that were left of the 300 year old Vienna apartment Mozart called home for two and a half years. It's where he composed his popular opera, The Marriage of Figaro, in 1786. My drab little life soared to new heights as I walked the bare rooms of Austria’s favorite son and the world’s most prolific composer of such moving music.
The first floor apartment is the only one of Mozart’s Viennese residences that still exists today. The entire building is now devoted to providing a view of Mozart’s life, his operas, and 18th century Vienna.
Originally a two story unit built in the 17th century, it was redeveloped in 1716. When Mozart lived there it was known as the Camesina House after the family that had owned it since 1720. The original entrance to the house faced Schulerstrabe and would have been the one Mozart used. When it was bordered up years later to make room for a shop on the first floor, the rear entrance on Domgasse became the main entrance.
Originally a two story unit built in the 17th century, it was redeveloped in 1716. When Mozart lived there it was known as the Camesina House after the family that had owned it since 1720. The original entrance to the house faced Schulerstrabe and would have been the one Mozart used. When it was bordered up years later to make room for a shop on the first floor, the rear entrance on Domgasse became the main entrance.
The higher up you lived, the less social status.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his wife, Constanze, moved to Domgasse 5 in 1784. The residence, one of 13 Mozart occupied in the 10 years he lived in Vienna (the rumor is when it got tough to pay the rent, he moved on), was comprised of four large rooms, two small rooms and a kitchen, with an interior courtyard area for his performances. Their first of six children (only two survived infancy) was born in 1784.
Scale model of Mozart's apartment.
Imagine having a front row seat several stories up from all those magnificent concerts!
The design of the original 17th century courtyard was essentially destroyed during renovations.
On the 150th anniversary of Mozart's death, in 1941, his former rooms were opened to the public as part of the "Imperial German Mozart Week," a National Socialist event. The Vienna Museum took over the exhibition in 1945. In 2004, the city of Vienna's Wein Holding Company took over an extensive renovation of the Mozarthaus in preparation for the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth in 2006.
They did a nice job! I didn’t realize taking pictures was strictly forbidden (must have been the language barrier!) until halfway through our tour, although all there is to show (really) of Mozart’s apartment is bare rooms with off-white walls covered here and there with relevant pictures of people in Mozart’s life; photocopies of sheet music and a single piece of furniture in each room representative of the era to suggest the room’s function.
I found a desk in the room where it is thought Mozart did much of his composing and tutoring.
They did a nice job! I didn’t realize taking pictures was strictly forbidden (must have been the language barrier!) until halfway through our tour, although all there is to show (really) of Mozart’s apartment is bare rooms with off-white walls covered here and there with relevant pictures of people in Mozart’s life; photocopies of sheet music and a single piece of furniture in each room representative of the era to suggest the room’s function.
I found a desk in the room where it is thought Mozart did much of his composing and tutoring.
I found this gentleman, too, but he's too tall to be Mozart.
Aside from his concerts for nobility, tutoring was a reliable means of income for Mozart. While Mozart lived at this residence, he tutored Johann Nepomuk Hummell, a seven-year-old “wunderkind” from Bratislava who lived with Mozart and his family for a little over a year. Thomas Attwood, a musician from London, was another live-in student who returned home with the skills needed to become an organist, composer and conductor.
The list of furnishings that was part of public record after Mozart’s death contained both every-day and luxury items. Mozart had finally arrived, even though his new social status was short-lived. He and his family were forced to vacate the apartment two and a half years later.
The list of furnishings that was part of public record after Mozart’s death contained both every-day and luxury items. Mozart had finally arrived, even though his new social status was short-lived. He and his family were forced to vacate the apartment two and a half years later.
Lots of written descriptions, minimal furnishings.
Among the luxury items listed as part of his property following his death was a billiard table, a hard table and a canapé.
I think the Suspense ORDER should have included a list of his gifts to mankind - his music.
The three items were the basis for the depiction of the largest room in the apartment, the salon or game room. The design was that of a typical bourgeois home in the then popular Rococo and Classic styles.
Nice wallpaper!
According to reliable sources (letters, journals, etc.), Mozart loved to play cards and billiards for “high stakes, right through the night. He was very thoughtless, but his wife was indulgent.” (S. Bossiere)
I loved the view of the narrow street below the salon.
I loved the view of the narrow street below the salon.
Not exactly suburbia.
I imagined the noise of 18th century Vienna mingling with the raucous fun of a musical genius blowing off steam with friends and colleagues in that salon. It is believed Mozart’s happiest years were spent in this residence.
The apartment is just blocks from Vienna’s famed St. Stephen’s Cathedral, where Mozart and Constanze Weber were married in 1782, and where Mozart's funeral was held after his death at age 35, in 1791;
The apartment is just blocks from Vienna’s famed St. Stephen’s Cathedral, where Mozart and Constanze Weber were married in 1782, and where Mozart's funeral was held after his death at age 35, in 1791;
Almost as heavenly as Mozart's music.
and within walking distance from Vienna’s elite shopping along Karntnerstrasse. Mozart loved to buy nice clothes and buckled shoes.
Vienna, the capital of culture, was a mecca for musicians then and now.
I love the beauty and power of Mozart's music.
The only thing missing from those bare rooms the day I visited last fall was the sound of his music. It would have been pure heaven to hear and feel the sweet notes from The Marriage of Figaro breathing Mozart's life and his astounding gifts into those empty rooms. The rest is just trappings of his life here on earth.
Of course, Mozart’s music is pure heaven in any venue, even prison, particularly those we occasionally create for ourselves.
_________________________________________
The Bottom Line on Mozart's Figaro House:
Verdict: If you're a true lover of the man and his music, you won't be disappointed with this bare bones look at Mozart's living conditions during the last years of his life. Just standing in the place he called home gave me chills.
How to Get There: Walking is your best mode of transportation in Vienna's Innerstadt. From St. Stephen's Cathedral, head southeast from Stephens Plaza on Schulerstrabe approximately 1 block. Turn right on Domgasse. Mozart's Figaro House will be on the left.
Insider Information: You can tour the apartment for 2 Euro; for 10 Euro your tour includes commentary via a headset. Our prearranged package tour did not include headsets or any of Mozart's music. Remember, no pictures! Unless of course you run ahead of the crowd and keep a low profile until you're caught.
Nearby Food: This is Vienna's tourist district. You have your pick of cafés up and down Karntnerstrasse.
The only thing missing from those bare rooms the day I visited last fall was the sound of his music. It would have been pure heaven to hear and feel the sweet notes from The Marriage of Figaro breathing Mozart's life and his astounding gifts into those empty rooms. The rest is just trappings of his life here on earth.
Of course, Mozart’s music is pure heaven in any venue, even prison, particularly those we occasionally create for ourselves.
_________________________________________
The Bottom Line on Mozart's Figaro House:
Verdict: If you're a true lover of the man and his music, you won't be disappointed with this bare bones look at Mozart's living conditions during the last years of his life. Just standing in the place he called home gave me chills.
How to Get There: Walking is your best mode of transportation in Vienna's Innerstadt. From St. Stephen's Cathedral, head southeast from Stephens Plaza on Schulerstrabe approximately 1 block. Turn right on Domgasse. Mozart's Figaro House will be on the left.
Insider Information: You can tour the apartment for 2 Euro; for 10 Euro your tour includes commentary via a headset. Our prearranged package tour did not include headsets or any of Mozart's music. Remember, no pictures! Unless of course you run ahead of the crowd and keep a low profile until you're caught.
Nearby Food: This is Vienna's tourist district. You have your pick of cafés up and down Karntnerstrasse.
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