Herold, Ferdinand

Comprising two continuous narratives (volume 1 continued in volume 2, volume 3 continued in volume 4), describing the premiere of his first opera, La gioventù d’Enrico quinto, at Naples in 1815, and the operas in Naples on the advent of Rossini’s arrival,  the singing of Colbran and Nozzari in Spontini’s La Vestale,  and operas by Mayr, Guglielmi, Garcia and Paisiello , his encounters with Paisiello and Zingarelli,  transcribing melodies at the Sistine Chapel,  hearing Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri in Venice (“…l’ exécution est en general moins bonne qu’au theatre Carcano de Milan…”), with a detailed account of his perilous journey from Venice to Vienna at the end of the Napoleonic  Wars, his encounters with Salieri, praising his Palmira, and Weigl, comparing performances of Mozart’s Don Giovanni with those he had heard at Paris and Naples (“…celle fait beaucoup mieux au piano qu’au theatre…”), comparing Mozart with Grétry (“…sont 2 hommes de genie…”) and Gluck, relating early anecdotes about Mozart’s composition of Die Zauberflöte, reporting a performance by Weber and Baermann of the grand duo concertant in Munich, criticizing Rossini’s La donna del lago at Milan, giving detailed assessments of the singers in Italy in 1821, including  the castrato Vellutti (…il a des élan souvent malencontreux, mais q.q.ois magnifiques, et de grandes effet..”), Pasta, Morandi, Donzelli, Crivelli, Tosi and many others,  his visits to Vesuvius, Calabria, Procida, Nisida, and Ischia, with side-notes indicating towns;

 4 volumes,  4to, c.438 pages, lined paper, contemporary wrappers or vellum-backed boards, the 2^nd volume inscribed (chez M^r Érard), probably France, c.1815-c.1824 

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This is a primary source for the biography of Ferdinand Herold.  The information is referred to in Thomas Betzwieser's articles in The New Grove and in MGG, but the original manuscripts have never been accessible for extensive scholarly use.  Herold has apparently based his narrative on earlier diaries or his letters home to his mother.  They include references to contemporary events that would have had to be added retrospectively (“…c’était precisement le jour où l’empereur abdiquait…), and some dates have been added subsequently (including a few mistakes: “1814” for 1815).