Fridolin Weber, a man of good family and of education, was the prompter and the copyist of the Mannheim theatre. Poor as he was, he had cultivated the talents of his daughters. They were five in number. The second, Aloysia, was fifteen, distinguished for her beauty and superb voice. She and Mozart went together to the chateau of the Princess of Orange,--and they loved each other. She sang for the Princess and he played, and the letters written by Wolfgang to his father show more than a musician's interest in Aloysia. For her he wrote a passionate aria, choosing Metastasio's lines "Non so d'onde." This love making was stopped by a sensible and kindly letter from Leopold, and the boy and his mother set out for Paris. There were tears, and presents. Aloysia gave her lover two pairs of mittens which she had worked, and Fridolin added a roll of music paper and a copy of Molière. But Aloysia was piqued and never forgave Wolfgang for his obedience to his father.
Sister of the composer and remarkable as a musical prodigy. This portrait is idealized, being a reproduction from the Bruckmann collection.]
After a journey of nine days, mother and son arrived in Paris, the 23d of March, 1778. Mozart, sick at heart, looked upon the gay scenes with disapproving eyes. Even a month after his arrival, he wrote his father that he was indifferent to all things and that nothing interested him. His room was gloomy, and so small that he could not get a pianoforte between the two cots. However he lost no time in calling upon Grimm and the Mannheim friends. He met Legros, the director of the "Concert spirituel," who gave him work, and Noverre, the celebrated ballet-master, and for him he wrote music for a ballet-pantomime called "Les Petits Riens," which was produced at the Opera house June 11, 1778. It was preceded by an opera of Piccini and ascribed to Noverre. The "demoiselle Asselin" was praised by the journals, and nothing was said about the music. The manuscript was discovered by Victor Wilder, and the ballet was played during the winter of 1872-73 at a concert at the Grand Hotel, Paris. A few days after the first performance of this ballet, Mozart's "Paris" Symphony was played in the hall of the Tuileries and with success. A second symphony, played in September, has disappeared.