G.S. Interviewing Antonio Salieri
1) G.S- As a great musician and composer, what kinds of things in your early life made you strive to be where you are today?
A.S- The one big thing that sparked my interest in the arts is that one day I was walking in town and passed the town organist, and my father asked me why I didn’t talk to the organist so nicely when I said hello. I didn’t really enjoy his playing that much and I said, “He played poorly and without feeling” (Salieri-Online, 2009). When my parents died, I moved into the town’s best monastery school, Padua, with my brother, and there I first discovered my singing voice. I was first soprano in our choir. Also I studied the violin and piano at a very young age.
When I turned fifteen, a family friend took me to Venice, and there we lived in a fabulous palace. I had not known he was rich before he took me off. Our family friend, Giovanni Mocenigo provided me with music teachers so I could further my career as a musician. I was introduced to Florian Leopold Gassmann, who became my main teacher and taught me most of what I now know. From there I furthered my career and that is what got me interested in the arts.
2) G.S- What did your teachers do to make you want to keep going with the whole “composer and musician,” thing and influence your talents?
A.S- Close to what I said in your first question, the spark of my talents and continuing to improve my musical skills gave me a push to want to keep going. My teachers and family friends were good to me, providing me with lessons and such, and making the experience fun. The progression in what I love to do helped me develop an interest very easily. Working in the court of Vienna performing for the Empress made me want to improve my talents so I could achieve a greater status in the court.
My teacher, Gassmann, provided me teachers to learn other languages like French, Latin, and German. Learning other languages is a great help because I could communicate with other people who speak that language if they had a question about one of my operas or something. After having meetings with the Emperor and Gassmann, the Emperor was very impressed with my piano skills and wanted me to play for him every meeting. I wouldn’t have reached that point without the help of my teachers. They were very good to me.
3) G.S- When you first started to become well known for your abilities, what was the world of music already like?
A.S- When I first started to write for my Empress Maria Theresa of Vienna, I was among other great composers such as Mozart, Gluck, and Gassmann my mentor. I heard about a letter my Empress wrote to her daughter-in-law saying, “For the theater, I confess that I prefer the least Italian to all our other composers” (Rice, 1998). I was pleased to see that I was held in such high regard of my Empress. Operas were very popular when I first started. When I was twenty-four, I had seen eight operas of mine performed.
For the court I was Kapellmeister, which is the Royal Composer. One of my students was Beethoven, who moved on to be a great composer. Mozart was also a big rival of mine. A lot was happening when I first started composing and playing; it was a big world of music. That’s just a brief answer to what the world of music was like when I entered.
4) G.S- How did the economic, cultural, and political situations happening around you affect your work?
A.S- The economic, cultural, and political situations around me were not all that great. Yet, some things political were very good. When I was young, still living in Venice, it was mostly run by merchants, which affected most of our economy. We needed lots of improvement for our economy because Venice was kind of sad, the city itself wasn’t a “happy, happy, joy, joy” city, more depression. But once I moved to Vienna it was better.
The culture in Venice was good though. After my parents died and I moved in with my brother Francesco, in his church school, I had more religion there then at home. Also there I learned how to play violin and harpsichord, which I answered earlier. When I moved to Vienna, and was introduced to the court, it was very nice. I enjoyed composing for the Empress and Emperor; they were very kind to me. The political situation in the Habsburg Empire (Vienna,) was also very good at the time with Maria Theresa and Emperor Joseph the second with power.
5) G.S- What were some major accomplishments of yours and what were your practices for your art?
A.S- I have written over forty operas, which is an accomplishment in itself. It took a while to get to the level where I was writing operas, good operas. I took part in the founding of “Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (Society for the Friends of Music)” (Salieri-Online, 2009). I taught choir in that organization, which helped young people to become vocalists, which is an accomplishment in my old eyes. Its really hard to name all of my accomplishments, people really consider me great.
Writing operas seemed to lead to more operas. It seemed to be a medium for me. A few of them were not my best and were not very successful. The more I wrote the better they got. I had kind of a trial and error method, even though I didn’t go back and correct past operas. My methods helped reach my accomplishments.
6) G.S- What were some big openings and offerings that led to your success?
A.S- My biggest opportunity that led to more things was when I was introduced to Florian Leopold Gassmann, my mentor. From there, it was almost like a chain reaction. One thing led to the next, which became greater and greater things, eventually leading up to when I was Kapellmeister. Being Kapellmeister was probably my biggest accomplishment in Vienna. The downside of becoming Kapellmeister of the royal court was the fact that Gassmann died and when he died the position was offered to me.
After living in Vienna for four years, I had the option of writing a “complete opera” (Salieri-Online, 2009). One of the courts poets, Giovanni Boccherini, had written a poem called “La Donna Letterate,” (Salieri-Online, 2009) which he wanted music written for. If my mentor Gassmann wanted to read it over and make changes I would let him because it was originally written for him. Most of the opera was composed in about four weeks. Kapellmeister and composing La Donna Letterate were two of my many opportunities that I took.
7) G.S- Were there any personal choices, or decisions you had to make in order to become successful?
A.S- Of course there were some choices I had to make in order to become successful. If I didn’t write a lot of operas I would not have the experience to write better and more successful ones, like my Armida. Armida was probably one of my most successful operas. Choices were all around me. Of course I didn’t have to go with my brother to the monastery and learn how to play violin and harpsichord. I could have been with one of my other many brothers or sisters, although, music was a big part of the family.
This isn’t really a personal choice, but if my parents, mainly my father, had not of died, the chance of me moving to Vienna and become a great success would not have been as likely. In Vienna, I did seem to make a lot of my own decisions, but if a libretto came around, I would have taken what I could get and try to write music for it. I almost never argued to things like composing operas and librettos and such. If I were to argue, I would probably lose a lot of my opportunities to write and compose and become famous. Being compliant is a personal choice to help become successful.
8) G.S- What obstacles did you have to overcome to be an artist?
A.S- The biggest obstacle I had to pass in order to be a successful artist was about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In 1791 I was strongly accused of murdering him. Mozart had a messenger come to his door one afternoon, and they assumed it was me. The messenger most likely poisoned him because, "....a few days before he died, his whole body became so swollen that the patient was unable to make the smallest movement, moreover, there was stench, which reflected an internal disintegration which, after death, increased to the extent that an autopsy was impossible" (Solomon, Mozart: A Life, quoted by Salieri-Online). I did not kill him though, and no one has any evidence.
Stress was also a big roadblock. My parents died when I was very young. A family friend took me off to Vienna from Venice to learn how to compose and sing with my mentor, Florian Leopold Gassmann. Aside from being accused of killing Mozart, he was also competition. Mozart was a very successful and famous child prodigy, and composed whole concertos when he was very young. There were some very hard obstacles to pass to become an artist, but they were definitely worth it.
9) G.S- What kinds of things limited you as an artist and a person? Did anything happen in your life that stopped you from doing something more?
A.S- There has been many limitations recently actually. Obviously, I am in the process of a limitation right now. You’re interviewing me in my room in this wretched hospital. My wife died in 1807, about 10 years back, which is a big limitation for me. I have been very depressed lately, which is why I am here. I have written many compositions while I have been here these past 10 years though, surprising as it may seem.
I did have some limitations earlier in my life though, the Mozart scandal, being accused of his death. Still, no one has found me guilty, because I most definitely did not murder him. Writing as many compositions as I did was very stressful. Composing is a lot of work, and is a slight setback. Although I did succeed in my arts, it was still a very hard thing to accomplish.
10) G.S- What personal stories describe how you became successful in your line of work?
A.S- There are many stories that tell of my success. It started by studying with my brother Francesco and learning how to play the violin and harpsichord. Being taken to Vienna by Giovanni was of course the start of all my success. Vienna is where I got big. If I didn’t move to Vienna and then Paris later, I wouldn’t have accomplished all that I have.
Being appointed Kapellmeister later in my life was something I consider success. Kapellmeister got me other jobs, people noticed me, lots happened from that single promotion. Composing La Donna Letterate was my first paying piece. I moved on from being a student after being paid for that. After writing La Donna Letterate I wrote my second big success, L’amore Innocente, which was shown three times. A later opera of mine, Armida, was probably my greatest success.
