Mozart &
Material Culture

Souvenirs

German-speaking seminary for Catholic priests in Rome, founded in 1552; several archbishops of Salzburg studied there, including Hieronymus Colloredo.

Giuseppe Vasi, S. Apollinare and the Collegio Germanico, 1759.jpg

Giuseppe Vasi, S. Apollinare and the Collegio Germanico, 1759


Mozart Relevance

Mozart and his father visited the Collegium Germanicum on 2 May 1770, where at the request of Albert Mölk, Mozart gave a concert, as described in the diary of Giovanni Biringucci, minister at the Collegium Germanicum from 1765 to 1776:

  1. At 10:15 p.m. a small boy from Salzburg, 12 or 13 years old, came to the College with the permission of the Father rector. He played the harpsichord astonishingly, and extemporized at length on a theme given to him without notice by our Maestro di Cappella before the entire community assembled in the room. In similar fashion he then improvised on other themes presented to him, accompanied two arias, and then everyone gathered in the church where he played the organ. He appear gratis, thanks to his fellow countryman Sig. Mölck, to whose family he professed obligations. For the rest, he is travelling throughout Europe with his father, Maestro di Cappella at Salzburg, and it is said that he is to compose an opera for the next carnival in Rome; it is said he receives 20 [scudi] for each appearance.

According to Leopold Mozart's letter of 2 May 1770, the Salzburg court bass singer, Joseph Meissner, also performed with Mozart.

Bibliographic Reference
Steinhuber, Geschichte des Collegium Germanicum-Hungaricum in Rom