Mozart and the Shouting Lady of Vienna

Organising and labelling my photographs, I came across this one of a shouting lady, taken a couple of years ago in Vienna.   Even if you know the city well, you probably won't recognise her. She's hidden away on a rooftop. 

To me, there are several odd things about her.  Her hands are more like claws.  What are those three things on her chest? Is she wearing something on her head? And what can she be shouting about?  She looks as if she's enjoying herself, and the white stripe down her face (courtesy no doubt of a perching pigeon) gives her the look of a lady in war paint.  A kind of Boadicea.

I've enjoyed revisiting the photos of that Viennese trip. Here are some more - do you notice a common theme? You'd think Mozart was born there, at least.  But he wasn't. He just lived there for a while.

A Mozart mug, and a heap of Mozart chocolates

Mozart Corner

Mozart showing the way upstairs.

Mozart really did like Vienna - they didn't treat him like a servant like the snobs did  in Salzburg, and above all, they cared about music and liked him.   He did well financially there, and had quite a good apartment, near the Cathedral.  When I visited, I realised he'd been quite a party boy  - apparently he'd sit up all night with his friends, playing billiards, and he was very, very good at it.  He loved dancing, too; in fact, his wife thought he should have been a dancer.

And in the apartment, there is a very small room with a very fine decorative ceiling. 

It's in remarkable contrast to the rest of the flat, (which is fairly plain) and apparently it was decorated in this way because a previous tenant to Mozart had been in the business of making fancy ceilings, and this tenant had created the ceiling to show what he could do.  I suppose it was in a small room because he didn't want to spend too much time and money on what was, after all, an advertisement.

The people at the Mozart House don't know what this room had been used for when Mozart had the flat, but I'd lay a fair sum that Mozart quickly bagged it for himself and woite his music in it.  In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it sold him the apartment in the first place.  There's no proof, but I do believe it!

Come to think of it, although that shouting lady dates from long after Mozart's time, she might actually be singing, not shouting.

Singing very loudly. From a Mozart opera, perhaps.