Mozart Spilled the Tea About His Love Life in a 1782 Letter. Now It’s Heading to Auction.
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It’s not just Mozart’s music that’s dramatic: It’s his letters, too.
At age 26, the legendary composer wrote to his close friend Baroness von Waldstätten to say that he will need to get married within two days in order to save his future wife from being dragged out of his house by the cops. That very letter could fetch more than $600,000 at Christie’s this July.
Mozart inked the two pages in the summer of 1782 whilst in Vienna. At that time, Constanze Weber was living under the same roof as Mozart, but the couple had not yet tied the knot. Constanze’s mother, Cäcilia Weber, was none too pleased about the couple’s domestic situation and threatened to send in the police to reclaim her daughter and save her reputation. Mozart decided the only solution was for him wed Constanze the next day. The couple went on to get married on August 4, 1782.
“Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is one of the most influential and prolific composers of all time, and we are delighted to unveil such a personal letter to the world,” Thomas Venning, head of Christie’s books and manuscripts, London, said in a statement. “Mozart letters are scarce at auction, and it is hard to think of any iconic historical figure where you have an equivalent unfiltered insight into such an important and private moment.”
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Mozart’s arrival in Vienna also marked a turning point in his professional life. It was then that he chose an independent career making money through compositions, performances, and teaching rather than relying on his privileged position as a musician at the Salzburg court.
The letter, which was signed and written by Mozart himself, has always been kept in private collections. In fact, it has not been seen by the public or scholars since 1989. The rarity will appear as a lead lot in the Christie’s Exceptional Sale in London on July 6. It is expected to sell for between $383,000 and $638,000 (£300,000 and £500,000). If history repeats itself, however, the lot could exceed expectations. Last year, one of Mozart’s autographed music manuscripts surpassed its pre-sale estimate of $153,000 and sold for $160,000.
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