A copy of Mozart and Salieri for the glory of the recovering Ophelia

PRAGUE. Unexpected opening at the Czech Museum of Music. Found the lost cantata of Mozart and Salieri.

On Tuesday, February 16, a truly historic event took place in the Czech capital. Lukáš Vendl performed the cantata Per la ricuperata salute di Ophelia, found by the archives of the Czech Museum of Music (České muzeum hudby), on the harpsichord.

The existence of the lost score of the great Mozart has been known for several centuries. Her addressee was the opera diva Nancy Storace (Nancy Storace), who became the first Suzanne in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and Ophelia in Salieriev’s La grotta di Trofonino. Wolfgang Amadeus and his senior friend Antonio were fans of the British singer. During maternity leave, the voice temporarily left her, and then returned again. This event caused considerable delight among both composers and a certain bandmaster Cornetti, about whom absolutely nothing is known.

The result of collective joy was the four-minute work "Greetings of the recovering Ophelia." The author of the libretto was Lorenzo da Ponte. A collection of his works and cantata notes ended up in the Czech Museum of Music in the middle of the 20th century. No one knew the true value of this acquisition. Only in 2015, the successful decoding of the initials of the authors and the cataloging conducted led to a sensational discovery.

For more than 60 years, a joint work of Mozart and Salieri, the antagonism of which is nothing more than a myth, lay in the Prague Museum. The authenticity of the document was certified by a musicologist and composer from Germany Timo Hermann. You can’t imagine the best present for the 260th anniversary of Mozart, celebrated this year.

Elena Tanakova © Gallerix.ru