Between 1769 and 1773, the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his father Leopold made three Italian journeys. The first, an extended tour of 15 months, was financed by performances for the nobility and by public concerts, and took in the most important Italian cities. The second and third journeys were to Milan, for Wolfgang to complete operas that had been commissioned there on the first visit. From the perspective of Wolfgang's musical development, the journeys were a considerable success, and his talents were recognised by honours which included a papal knighthood and memberships in leading philharmonic societies.
Leopold Mozart had been employed since 1747 as a musician in the Archbishop of Salzburg's court, becoming deputy Kapellmeister in 1763, but he had also devoted much time to Wolfgang's and his sister Nannerl's musical education. He took them on a European tour between 1763 and 1766, and spent some of 1767 and most of 1768 with them in the imperial capital, Vienna. The children's performances had captivated audiences, and the pair had made a considerable impression on European society. By 1769, Nannerl had reached adulthood, but Leopold was anxious to continue 13-year-old Wolfgang's education in Italy, a crucially important destination for any rising composer of the 18th century.
During the first tour, Wolfgang's performances were well received, and his compositional talents recognised by commissions to write three operas for Milan's Teatro Regio Ducale, each of which was a critical and popular triumph. He met many of Italy's leading musicians, including the renowned theorist Giovanni Battista Martini, under whom he studied in Bologna. Leopold also hoped that Wolfgang, and possibly he himself, would obtain a prestigious appointment at one of the Italian Habsburg courts. This objective became more important as Leopold's advancement in Salzburg became less likely; but his persistent efforts to secure employment displeased the imperial court, which precluded any chance of success. The journeys thus ended not with a triumphant return, but on a note of disappointment and frustration.
Background
In November 1766, the Mozart family returned to Salzburg after a three-and-a-half-year "grand tour" of the major Northern European cities, begun when Wolfgang was seven and Nannerl twelve. This tour had largely achieved Leopold's objective to demonstrate his children's talents to the wider world and advance their musical education. A stay in Vienna beginning in 1767 proved less happy: an outbreak of smallpox, which led to the death of the Archduchess Maria Josepha of Austria, prevented the children from performing in the imperial court and forced the family to seek refuge in Bohemia, a move which did not prevent Wolfgang from contracting the disease.Sadie, pp. 132–134 They returned to Vienna in January 1768, but by now the children were no longer young enough to cause a sensation in their public concerts.Blom, p. 38 Leopold fell out with the court impresario Giuseppe Affligio, and damaged his relations with the eminent court composer Christoph Willibald Gluck, through an over-eagerness to secure a performance of Wolfgang's first opera, La finta semplice.Sadie (2006), pp. 135–139 As a consequence he developed a reputation at court for being importunate and "pushy".Sadie (2006), pp. 140–141
After returning to Salzburg in January 1769, Leopold considered the 18-year-old Nannerl's education to be virtually finished, and focused his efforts on Wolfgang.Halliwell, pp. 142–143 He decided to take the boy to Italy, which in its pre-unification days was a collection of duchies, republics, and papal states, with the Kingdom of Naples in the south.Roberts, p. 486 For more than two centuries Italy had been the source of innovations in musical style, the home of church music, and above all the cradle of opera.Sadie, p. 176 In Leopold's view, Wolfgang needed to absorb firsthand the music of Venice, Naples, and Rome, to equip himself for future commissions from Europe's opera houses, "the late eighteenth-century composers' honeypots" according to Mozart's biographer Stanley Sadie. Leopold wanted Wolfgang to immerse himself in the Italian language, to experience church music of the highest quality, and to extend his network of influential acquaintances. There was also the possibility, for both Wolfgang and Leopold, of securing positions in the northern Italian Habsburg courts. With these priorities in mind, Leopold decided that Nannerl and her mother should stay at home, a decision they resented but which made economic and practical sense.Sadie (2006), p. 177
In the months before their departure, Wolfgang composed prolifically, gaining the favour of Archbishop Siegmund Christoph von Schrattenbach, who, as Leopold's employer, had to consent to the journey. Permission to travel, along with a gift of 600 florins,The florin, or gulden in German, was the currency of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A florin was worth about one tenth of a pound sterling. The generosity of the gift is apparent in comparison with Leopold's annual salary of 354 florins (Sadie (2006), p. 35). was granted in October. Wolfgang was awarded the honorary title of Konzertmeister (court musician), with a hint that on his return this post would merit a salary.
First journey, December 1769 – March 1771
Journey to Milan On 13 December 1769, Leopold and Wolfgang set out from Salzburg, armed with testimonials and letters that Leopold hoped would smooth their passage. Among the most important was an introduction to Count Karl Joseph Firmian of Milan, described as the "King of Milan", an influential and cultivated patron of the arts. His support would be vital to the success of the entire Italian undertaking.Halliwell, p. 145
The pair travelled through Innsbruck, then due south to the Brenner Pass into Italy. They continued through Bolzano and Rovereto to Verona and Mantua, before turning west towards Milan. Leopold's financial plans for the journey were broadly the same as for the family's grand tour—travel and accommodation costs were to be met by concert proceeds. This winter journey to Milan occupied a difficult and unpleasant six weeks, with the weather forcing extended stops. Leopold complained in his letters home about unheated inn rooms: "freezing like a dog, everything I touch is ice". Early concert receipts were modest; according to Leopold, costs were running at around 50 florins a week.Halliwell, p. 146 After having unwisely boasted about profits made from the grand tour, Leopold was now more cautious about revealing financial details. He tended to emphasise his expenses and minimise his takings,Solomon, p. 58 writing, for example: "On the whole we shall not make much in Italy ... one must generally accept admiration and bravos as payment."Solomon, pp. 86–87
The longest pause was two weeks spent in Verona, where the press reported glowingly on Wolfgang's concert of 5 January 1770.Sadie (2006), pp. 181–184 Father and son attended a performance of Guglielmi's Ruggiero, which Wolfgang wrote about dismissively in a letter to Nannerl. The boy also had his portrait painted by a local artist, most probably Giambettino Cignaroli. An alternative attribution to Saverio Dalla Rosa has also been suggested. The portrait had been commissioned by Pietro Lugiati, Receiver Général for the Venetian Republic. This interlude was followed by a shorter stop in Mantua, where Wolfgang gave a concert at the Accademia Filarmonica, with a programme designed to test his abilities in performance, sight-reading, and improvisation. According to a press review the audience was "dumbfounded" at this "miracle in music, one of those freaks that Nature causes to be born".Sadie (2006), pp. 185–186 In Mantua, they suffered a snub from Prince Michael of Thurn und Taxis, who informed them through a servant that he had no desire to meet them. Historian Robert Gutman surmises that the Prince, aware of the Affligio affair in Vienna, wanted no dealings with musicians who did not know their place.Gutman, pp. 260–261 By contrast, Count Arco, whose family were members of the Salzburg court, received them warmly.A different Count Arco of the same family administered the "kick in the arse" that ended Wolfgang's appointment in the Salzburg court 10 years later. Gutman, pp. 548–549
The Mozarts arrived in Milan on 23 January and found comfortable lodgings in the monastery of San Marco, not far from Count Firmian's palace.Halliwell, pp. 146–148 While they waited to see the Count, they attended Niccolò Piccinni's opera Cesare in Egitto.Zaslaw, p. 163 Firmian eventually welcomed them with generous hospitality and friendship, presenting Wolfgang with a complete edition of the works of Metastasio, Italy's leading dramatic writer and librettist. Firmian also hosted a series of concerts attended by many of the city's notables, including Archduke Ferdinand, a possible future patron for the young composer. For the last of these occasions, Wolfgang wrote a set of arias using Metastasio's texts. These were so well received that Firmian commissioned Wolfgang to write the opening opera for the following winter's carnival season in Milan, just as Leopold had hoped he might.Sadie (2006), p. 190Gutman, p. 263 Wolfgang would receive a fee of around 500 florins, and free lodgings during the writing and rehearsal. The Mozarts left Milan on 15 March, heading south towards Florence and Rome, committed to return in the autumn and taking with them fresh letters of recommendation from Firmian.
Up to this point in the tour Wolfgang appears to have done little composition. The Accademia Filarmonica concert in Mantua had included much improvisation but little of Wolfgang's own music; the only certain compositions from this phase of the tour are the arias composed for the final Firmian concert, which sealed his contract for the carnival opera. These are Se tutti i mali miei, K. 83/73p,"K" refers to the catalogue of Mozart's works, completed in 1862 by Ludwig von Köchel and revised several times. Where two K numbers are given, the first is the number in the original catalogue, and the second the number in the most recent revision (1964). See Sadie (2006), pp. 613–621, also Zaslaw, pp. 558–561. Misero me, K. 77/73e, and Ah più tremar ..., K. 71. The Symphony in G, K. 74, evidently completed in Rome in April, may have been started in Milan.Zaslaw, p. 178
Milan to Naples