Places: Mozart's music room in the Figarohaus

Of all the apartments in which Mozart resided while he lived in Vienna, the Figarohaus is probably the best-known. Originally known as the Camesina House, it was renamed the Figarohaus years later because this was the apartment where Mozart lived when he composed his famous and beloved Italian comic opera Le Nozze di Figaro.

The room that has been attributed as Mozart's music room had originally served as a small chapel for the noble Camesina family who originally built the house 300 years before Mozart. Years later, the building was sold and split into several apartments, cutting the chapel in half, but leaving the original marble walls and the ornate ceiling for which this particular room is famous.

Several scenes take place in this room in So Faithful a Heart, among them the scene where Mozart rehearses with Nancy for an upcoming Lenten concert performance of his opera Idomeneo, in which Nancy is to sing the role of Ilia.

     It was a frigged January afternoon as Mozart sat in the music room of his apartment at his fortepiano, rehearsing with Nancy, Ilia’s Act Three aria, in which she asks the breezes to carry her confession of love to Idamante, who has gone to battle the sea serpent. The warmth of Nancy’s voice seemed to soften the chill in the air which had invaded the room from outside, and he didn’t seem to notice the white puffs of steam that poured from her mouth as she exhaled.

     "Zeffiretti lusinghieri, Deh volate al mio tesoro: E gli dite, ch'io l'adoro, Che mi serbi il cor fedel." (Gently caressing breezes, fly to my beloved. Tell him that I adore him and keep him faithful.)

     “That’s it, Nancy! Smoooothly…yes…yes,” he coached as he raised his hand in the air. “Lovely…hold that now…crescendo…now let it trail off…yes!” He stopped playing and sighed, “Oh how I wish you could have been my original Ilia! How Munich would have adored you, Nancy!”

The Figarohaus stands now as one of the most popular museums in Vienna. If you ever have the opportunity to travel there, you'll definitely want to put it on your list of places to see!