Luigia Polzelli

Luigia Polzelli (ca. 1760-5 October 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.

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. [Information in this paragraph from Walter, 2001]

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 [Hughes 1970, 53] . 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.

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.". [Robbins Landon and Jones, 1988, 187.]

Haydn wrote a considerable number of operas himself (see List of operas by Joseph Haydn, but only twice assigned Luigia a role (Silvia in L'isola disabitata and Lisetta in La vera costanza). [Walter 2001]

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) [Antonio's baptismal name was Alois Anton Nicolaus; Robbins Landon and Jones 1988, 116] 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. [Hughes, 86] . Antonio became a violinist in the Esterházy court orchestra in 1803. [Robbins Landon and Jones, 1988, 312]

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." [Robbins Landon and Jones 1988, 236-237.] . 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." [Hughes, p. 81] Luigia soon left Vienna herself, returning to Italy and finding work in a small theater in Piacenza. [Walter 2001]

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." [Hughes, p. 81] . Not long after, Haydn embarked on a new romantic relationship in London with the English widow Rebecca Schroeter.

Later life

Luigia later worked in a small theater in Bologna. Haydn remained in contact with her, sending her money from time to time, and when in 1800 Haydn's wife Maria Anna died, Polzelli persuaded him to write the following promise:

:"I, the undersigned, promise to Signora Loisa Polzelli (in case I should consider marrying again) to take no wife other than said Loisa Polzelli, and should I remain a widower, I promise said Polzelli to leave her, after my death, a pension for life of three hundred gulden (in figures 300 fl.) in Viennese currency. Valid before any judge, I herewith set my hand and seal,

There are a few more letters sending money. [Source for this paragraph, including quotation: Robbins Landon and Jones 1988, 307]

While Haydn kept to his promise and never remarried, Polzelli ultimately married a singer named Luigi Franchi. The two later traveled to Cremona and then to Hungary, where Luigia died in poverty in 1830. [Walter 2001] .

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.

Notes

References

*Botstiber, H. (1932) "Haydn and Luigia Polzelli," "The Musical Quarterly" 18: 208–15. Available on JSTOR.
*cite book|last= Geiringer |first= Karl |authorlink= |coauthors= Irene Geiringer |title= Haydn: A Creative Life in Music |publisher= University of California Press |edition= 3rd ed. |year= 1982 |location= |pages= xii, 403 |url= |doi= |id= |isbn= 0520043162 |ref= CITEREFGeiringer1982
*Hughes, Rosemary (1970) "Haydn", J. M. Dent.
*cite book|last= Landon |first= H. C. Robbins |authorlink= H. C. Robbins Landon |coauthors= David Wyn Jones |title= Haydn: His Life and Music |publisher= Indiana University Press |date= 1988 |location= |pages= |url= |doi= |id= |isbn= 978-0253372659 |ref= CITEREFLandon1988
*Walter, Horst (2001) "Luigia Polzelli," article in the New Grove online dictionary.