27 January 1783

pages 48-49

Cher Amadé!

We adored the magical Mozart ball you gave last week at your flat!

What an honor, a pleasure, a delicious delight, (& since I know well you love a good sampling of synonyms…) what a joy, a treat – what perfection it was to perform with you once again! I swear, our magnificent music must have melted the Mehlgrube…especially the new rondo!

Ah, non sai qual pena sia…

Ah, Amadé, you must have thought my own heart was made of ice after I broke yours all those years ago. Yet given the choice between music & marriage, I’d truly rather be your soprano than your spouse. (Particularly since Stanzi is doing such a fine job of the latter…)

Now that we are both happily settled, we can forgive each other for being young and silly. (In fact we used the pain we caused each other to great effect in this last concert, didn’t we? I am sure the audience felt utterly desolate & heartbroken after I was through with them!) I can’t tell you what it means to hold your music in my heart, and in my mouth, knowing you wrote some of it just for me. Can you see now that a close musical relationship will last longer than a personal one? It’s still love.
And it’s worth everything. (What else have you got for me?)

Bon Anniversaire, Amadé!

♥Aloysia

(Exerpts from Letters to Mozart © 2006 Kristin Serafini.)