sledging party you write to me about, and I wish you a thousand
opportunities of pleasure, so that you may pass your life
merrily. But one thing vexes me, which is, that you allowed Herr
von Molk [an admirer of this pretty young girl of eighteen] to
sigh and sentimentalize, and that you did not go with him in his
sledge, that he might have upset you. What a lot of pocket-
handkerchiefs he must have used that day to dry the tears he shed
for you! He no doubt, too, swallowed at least three ounces of
cream of tartar to drive away the horrid evil humors in his body.
I know nothing new except that Herr Gellert, the Leipzig poet,
[Footnote: Old Mozart prized Gellert's poems so highly, that on
one occasion he wrote to him expressing his admiration.] is dead,
and has written no more poetry since his death. Just before
beginning this letter I composed an air from the "Demetrio" of
Metastasio, which begins thus, "Misero tu non sei."

The opera at Mantua was very good. They gave "Demetrio." The
prima donna sings well, but is inanimate, and if you did not see
her acting, but only singing, you might suppose she was not
singing at all, for she can't open her mouth, and whines out
everything; but this is nothing new to us. The seconda donna
looks like a grenadier, and has a very powerful voice; she really
does not sing badly, considering that this is her first
appearance. Il primo uomo, il musico, sings beautifully, but his
voice is uneven; his name is Caselli. Il secondo uomo is quite
old, and does not at all please me. The tenor's name is Ottini;
he does not sing unpleasingly, but with effort, like all Italian
tenors. We know him very well. The name of the second I don't
know; he is still young, but nothing at all remarkable. Primo
ballerino good; prima ballerina good, and people say pretty, but