The National Library of the Czech Republic’s rare music-historical collections also include the Mozart Memorial, a unique collection of sheet music, letters and other Mozart-related documents established in 1837.
W. A. Mozart’s concert scenes for Josepha Duschek at the Mozart Memorial
NL CR, sign. M II 12
Mozart-related documents established in 1837. Two concert arias, which W. A. Mozart wrote for his long-time friend, the Prague soprano Josepha Dushek (Josefa Dušková, 1754–1824), occupy a prominent place in this collection. The first of these, ‘Ah lo previdi – Ah t’invola agl’occhi miei’ (K 272), was composed in 1777 during the Dušeks’ stay in Salzburg; the second, ‘Bella mia fiamma, addio – Resta, o cara’ (K 528), was written at the end of Mozart’s second stay in Prague in the autumn of 1787. Both manuscripts on display are the work of a professional Prague copyist from the time when Mozart’s memorial was created.