Luigia Polzelli

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Luigia Polzelli (ca. 1760-October 5, 1830) was an Italian mezzo-soprano, who sang at the Esterházy court in Hungary during the late 18th century. She was for a number of years the lover of the composer Joseph Haydn.

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[edit] Early years

Luigia Polzelli was born Luigia Moreschi in Naples sometime around 1760. She married the violinist Antonio Polzelli some time before 1779. The couple apparently lived in Bologna.[1]

[edit] Relationship with Haydn

Luigia arrived at the Esterházy court with her husband Antonio in 1779; both had two-year contracts. Luigia was nineteen years old at the time[2]. Polzelli soon turned out to be a not particularly able singer. Moreover, her husband had difficulties in fulfilling his duties as a violinist, as he was in the initial stages of long drawn out demise from tuberculosis. The reigning prince, Nikolaus Esterházy was a great connoisseur of opera who was well acquainted with high-quality singing, and recognizing Luigia's mediocrity and Antonio's unreliability he soon moved (1780) to have them dismissed (in fact, he was willing to buy out the rest of their contracts). However, at this time it emerged that Polzelli had become lover of Haydn, then 48, who had had a very bad relationship with his wife almost since the beginning of their marriage. The Prince, who valued Haydn's services immensely, apparently agreed to keep the Polzellis on the payroll.

Rosemary Hughes, assessing the relationship, notes that "both of them looked forward to an eventual marriage", though under the rules of Roman Catholic Church to which they both belonged, this was completely impossible until the deaths of their respective spouses.

The relationship between Haydn and Polzelli continued for over ten years, until about 1791.

[edit] Musical influence on Haydn

Polzelli had an important influence on Haydn's musical output, for a somewhat negative reason: despite frequent tutoring from Haydn, she often had trouble with difficult parts. An important part of Haydn's job at Eszterháza was to put on productions of operas by other composers. Where arias assigned to Luigia were too difficult for her to sing, Haydn wrote so-called "insertion arias" for her, replacing the originals in performance. David Wyn Jones says of these works that they demonstrate "Haydn's customary flair for the composition of simple soubrette arias.".[3]

Haydn wrote a considerable number of operas himself (see List of operas by Joseph Haydn, but only twice assigned Luiga a role (Silvia in L’isola disabitata and Lisetta in La vera costanza.[4]

[edit] Children

Luigia already had a two-year-old son, Pietro (1777–1796), when she arrived at Esterháza. She bore a second son, Antonio (1783–1855)[5] in her third year there. Both she and Antonio believed that he was the natural son of Haydn, though Haydn himself never admitted this, at least in writing.

Haydn, who was hitherto childless, was fond of both Pietro and Antonio. He gave them musical instruction and became their guardian on the death of their legal father. In 1792, Haydn took Pietro into his Vienna home, continued his instruction, and got him a position as a piano teacher in an aristocratic home. Pietro died of consumption in 1796.[6]

[edit] Breakup

Luigia and her husband lost their jobs in September 1790, when her employer Prince Nikolaus Esterházy died, and his successor Anton dismissed virtually the entire musical establishment that had served under his father. Like Haydn, they moved to Vienna, where Antonio died the following year. Luigia did not accompany Haydn when he departed for England in December 1790.

At that time, Haydn, still considered himself committed to a future marriage with Luigia, should this be made possible by the death of his wife. On hearing from Luigia of Antonio's death, he wrote her from London, expressing his longing for "the time ... when two pairs of eyes will close", and begging her to write, saying "your letters are a comfort to me however sad I am."[7]. However, the relationship soon cooled; in 1792 "constant reports reached Haydn from Vienna that Luigia Polzelli had been speaking ill of him, and had even sold the piano he had given her."[8] Luigia soon left Vienna herself, returning to Italy and finding work in a small theater in Piacenza.[9]

Haydn eventually wrote sorrowfully to her asking that if she married again she would let him know "the name of the man who will be so happy as to possess you." [10]. Not long after, Haydn embarked on a new romantic relationship in London with the English widow Rebecca Schroeter.

[edit] Later life

Luigia later worked in a small theater in Bologna. She married a singer named Luigi Franchi, and the two later traveled to Cremona and then to Hungary, where Luigia died in poverty in 1830.[11].

[edit] Correspondence

Polzelli is of importance to Haydn biography, as a number of Haydn's letters to her are preserved, containing information about the composer. They are written in Italian.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Information in this paragraph from Walter, 2001
  2. ^ Hughes 1970, 53
  3. ^ Robbins Landon and Jones, 1988, 187.
  4. ^ Walter 2001
  5. ^ Antonio's legal name was Alois Anton Nicolaus; Robbins Landon and Jones 1988, 116
  6. ^ Hughes, 86
  7. ^ Robbins Landon and Jones 1988, 236-237.
  8. ^ Hughes, p. 81
  9. ^ Walter 2001
  10. ^ Hughes, p. 81
  11. ^ Walter 2001

[edit] References

  • Botstiber, H. (1932) "Haydn and Luigia Polzelli," The Musical Quarterly 18: 208–15. Available on JSTOR.
  • Geiringer, Karl (1982) Haydn: A Creative Life in Music.
  • Hughes, Rosemary (1970) Haydn, J. M. Dent.
  • Robbins Landon, H. C. and David Wyn Jones (1988) Haydn: His Life and Music, Thames and Hudson.
  • Walter, Horst (2001) "Luigia Polzelli," article in the New Grove online dictionary.
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