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A musical family
The Habsburgs were noted for their enjoyment of
music, dancing and acting from childhood onwards –
Maria Theresa was no exception.
Several times a year Charles VI commissioned elaborate festive
opera performances in the Court theatre rooms, despite the
fact that the state finances were in steep decline. He
introduced the vogue for performances with members of the
aristocracy in which his daughters, Maria Anna and Maria
Theresa, also took roles. On the birthdays and name-days of
the imperial couple their children took to the stage in ballet and
drama performances in front of a select audience. In 1732 the
young archduchesses together with ladies of the Court
performed an Italian comedy ‘for the pleasure of their parents
on a stage built especially for this purpose’ in one of the rooms
at the Hofburg.
Not only balls and other festivities at the Imperial Court but also
all theatrical performances in Vienna were strictly governed by
the Church calendar. During periods of fasting, entertainments
such as these were not permitted, and no ‘Comedie’
performances took place on Fridays. Whenever a member of
the imperial family died a period of mourning had to be
observed during which festivities and theatrical performances
were prohibited.
A new rival to the hitherto dominant Italian directors of music
emerged in the Styrian Baroque composer Johann Joseph Fux
(1660–1741). He was music teacher to Charles VI and from
1711 occupied the influential positions of Court Music Director
and Court Composer. Charles VI also composed music and
conducted performances of works by other composers from
the clavier; Kapellmeister Fux enthused over his gifts: ‘Oh, what
a pity that Your Majesty did not become a virtuoso’.
Both Charles VI’s daughters sang. At their mother’s request
they performed an ‘operetta’ in the Hall of Mirrors at the
Hofburg in 1735: ‘Kayserliche Hof- und Kammermusici’
(Imperial Court musicians) accompanied the Archduchesses
Maria Theresa and Maria Anna, ‘who sang and acted
without scores’.
Maria Theresa had a lifelong preference for Italian music. In
1771 she wrote to her daughter-in-law Maria Beatrix
commending a Requiem by the old Court Kapellmeister Georg
Reutter, a teacher of Joseph Haydn, but opined that she
preferred ‘the least of the Italians to any Austrian composer,
even Gassmann, Saglieri, Gluck and others. Here and there
they are able to make one good piece or other, but on the
whole I always prefer the Italians.’
Author
Julia Teresa Friehs
Literature
Grasberger, Franz: Ein Goldenes Zeitalter der Musik, in:
Koschatzky, Walter (Hrsg.): Maria Theresia und ihre Zeit. Eine
Darstellung der Epoche von 1740–1780 aus Anlass der 200.
Wiederkehr des Todestages der Kaiserin, 2. Aufl. Salzburg/Wien
1979, 379–386;
Hadamowsky, Franz: “Spectacle müssen sein.” Maria Theresia und
das Theater, in: Koschatzky, Walter (Hrsg.): Maria Theresia und
ihre Zeit. Eine Darstellung der Epoche von 1740–1780 aus Anlass
der 200. Wiederkehr des Todestages der Kaiserin, 2. Aufl.
Salzburg/Wien 1980, 387–392;
Hadamowsky, Franz/Witeschnik, Alexander: 100 Jahre Wiener Oper
am Ring, Katalog zur Jubiläumsausstellung in sämtlichen
Redoutensälen der Hofburg, 17.5.–28.9.1969, 17–115;
Prawy, Marcel: Die Wiener Oper. Geschichte und Geschichten, Wien
1969, 25–39;
Schloss Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H.: Schloss
Schönbrunn – Lernbehelf für Guides, Bd. 2, 3. erw. Aufl. Wien 2000,
153–158;
Schloss Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H.: Skriptum
Schlosstheater, Wien 1998/99;
Vocelka, Karl/Heller, Lynne: Die Lebenswelt der Habsburger. Kulturund Mentalitätsgeschichte einer Familie, Wien 1997, 52–66;