After long negotiations, the German actor August Wilhelm Iffland was engaged to appear in sixteen roles at the two Viennese court theaters in June 1801. For his four-week guest appearance Iffland was paid the astonishing sum of 1,500 thalers. Owing to the political situation and the severe Austrian censorship, the plays he appeared in were all of minor significance, written by Kotzebue, Gemmingen, Schröder, Cumberland, Sheridan, Mercier, and Iffland himself. When exactly Iffland left Vienna, has previously been unknown, but the day of his departure can be verified with an unpublished entry that he left on 23 July 1801, in the album of the blind pianist Therese Paradis (A-Wst, H.I.N. 92659, 73).
Es ist der Weg des stillen / Verdienstes der zur Zu / friedenheit führt. Ihre / sanfte Seele wird sie / erwerben, wenn Ihr glän / zendes Verdienst, Ihnen / nicht von sich schon jede Freude / entgegenführen müßte.
Zum Gedächtniß / schrieb es
Ifland
Wien / den 23 Jul / 1801 – Im Getöse / der Abreise, wo es ihm noch / verstattet ward, die bescheidne / Kunst zu bewundern
[translation:]
It is the way of the silent merit that leads to contentment. Your gentle soul will earn it, if your splendid accomplishments proper would not bring you every possible joy. Written in memory of
Ifland
Vienna, July 23rd, 1801 – in the din of departure when he was still allowed to admire the humble art.
Portrait of Iffland, engraving by Klotz after Schultze (A-Wn, PORT_00091748_01)
© Dr. Michael Lorenz 2015. All rights reserved.
Updated: 22 November 2024
No comments:
Post a Comment