Nashville / Vienna
Do you ever think about the fact that in the olden days Vienna must’ve been perceived as something akin to Nashville, LA or New York? It’s where artists went to make it. Where dreams were writ large. Where you could go and be something.
Back then, the gig was pure patronage. The music business was write for your patron, get a job on the court or with a steady rich dude, and arrange for your tunes to be performed, hopefully with you as a conductor. I just think about Mozart as an Axl Rose-style figure, showing up with his bags and his trunks to make it in the big city. He was, of course, already famous. But still, something about the way that that city held sway and the music scene it created must’ve been as intoxicating as places like Williamsburg these days.
I think I need to watch Amadeus again.
