Malá Strana - The Rough Guide to Prague - page 90

MOZART IN PRAGUE
Mozart made the first of several visits to Prague with his wife Constanze in 1787, staying
withhisfriendandpatronCountThuninwhatisnowtheBritishembassy(Thunovská14).
A year earlier, his opera The Marriage of Figaro , which had failed to please the critics
in Vienna, had been given a rapturous reception at Prague's Nostitz Theatre, now the Sta-
vovské divadlo , and on his arrival in 1787 Mozart was already flavour of the month. As
he wrote in his diary: “Here they talk about nothing but Figaro . Nothing is played, sung
or whistled but Figaro . Nothing, nothing but Figaro . Certainly a great honour for me!”
Encouraged by this, he chose to premiere his next opera, Don Giovanni , later that year,
in Prague rather than Vienna. He arrived with an incomplete score in hand, and wrote the
overture at the Dušeks' Bertramka villa in Smíchov, dedicating it to the “good people of
Prague”. Apart from a brief sojourn while on a concert tour, Mozart's fourth and final visit
toPraguetookplacein1791,theyearofhisdeath.Theclimaxofthestaywasthepremiere
of his final opera, La Clemenza di Tito , commissioned for the coronation of Leopold II as
king of Bohemia (and completed whilst on the coach from Vienna to Prague). The opera
didn't go down quite as well as previous ones - the empress is alleged to have shouted
“German hogwash” from her box. Nevertheless, four thousand people turned out for the
composer's memorial service, held in Malá Strana's church of sv Mikuláš to the strains of
his Requiem Mass .
Sv Mikuláš (St Nicholas)
Malostranské náměstí • Church Daily: March-Oct 9am-5pm; Nov-Feb 9am-4pm • 70Kč Belfry Daily:
April-Sept 10am-10pm; March & Oct 10am-8pm; Nov-Feb 10am-6pm • 90Kč • 257 534 215, stnich-
olas.cz • Tram #12, #20 or #22 to Malostranské náměstí
Dominating the Malá Strana skyline is the church of sv Mikuláš , or St Nicholas , easily the
most magnificent Baroque building in the city, and one of the last great structures to be built
on the left bank.
Nothing about the relatively plain west facade prepares you for the High Baroque interior ,
dominated by the nave's vast fresco by Johann Lukas Kracker, which portrays some of
Mikuláš' more fanciful miraculous feats. Along with his role as Santa Claus, he is also de-
picted here rescuing sailors in distress, saving women from prostitution by throwing them
bags of gold and reprieving from death three unjustly condemned men. Even given the over-
whelming proportions of the nave, the dome at the far end of the church remains impressive,
thanks, more than anything, to its sheer height. Leering over you as you gaze up at the dome
arefourterrifyinglyoversizedandsternChurchFathers;onebrandishesagildedthunderbolt,
whileanothergarrottesadevilwithhiscrozier,leavingnodoubtastothegravityoftheJesuit
message.