METASTASIO. 



107 



with his generous friend's purfe at his command, he 

 oor, and surrounded by Iwrren prospects com- 

 with the claims which he had upon the grati- 

 tude of hir country, as the restorer of her poetry, and 

 as the greatest living ornament of her language. He 

 had invited the itomanina to be hi* guest, but was ob- 

 liged to be indebted to her liberality. She tried to 

 mnuli him with the most affectionate appeals to his 

 fortitude, but his spirit, though naturally cheerful, be- 

 gan to sink into gloom and despondency. His affairs 

 were in this unpromising state, when, in 17-9, he re- 

 ceived an invitation from the Court of Vienna to come 

 and reside there as coadjutor to Apostolo Xeno, the im- 

 perial laureate. His pension was to be three thousand 

 florins (L.3OO) a year. The offer was the more flatter- 

 ing, that it came in consequence of the recommenda- 

 tion of Zeno himself, who had enjoyed the laurel since 

 the year 1718. His chief employment had been to 

 furnish lyrical dramas for the imjierial theatre, and 

 they were reckoned the best dramas of the kind which 

 the Italian language could boast of, before those of Me- 

 tastasio. Zeno, declining in health and yean, moat 

 honourably recommended a substitute for himself in 

 this employment, who, he must have clearly foreseen, 

 would eclipse hi* own poetical memory. 



On quitting Rome for the imperial capital, Metasta- 

 sio consigned the care of all hi* effects and concerns) to 

 his zealous friend the Romanina, who willingly took 

 charge of his little place*, and of the sums of money 

 which he left behind him for the support of his father. 

 He arrived in Vienna the 3Oth of July, 1730. The 

 first regular opera which he produced for the imperial 

 theatre was " Adriano in Sina," which was set to mu- 

 sk by Caldara. Of its succeu we have no account ; 

 but we may conjecture that it was well received, from 

 the favour which was shown to it by the rest of Eu- 

 rope. In one of his letters to Marianna Uulgarini. he 

 gives a pleasing account of the reception of " Deme- 

 the second opera which he composed in Vienna. 

 The applause, he says, was such as the oldest people 

 never remembered having been given to any theatrical 

 piece. The audience repeated parts of it in conversa- 

 tion as if it had been German. He had not only been 

 successful, but had conquered the envy attending on 

 and " those," he says, " who were before his 

 are now become his apostle*." His corres- 

 i with Rnmanina continued to detail to her the 

 reception of hi* pieces, and the other inci- 

 dents of his life, till no great time before her death, 

 which took place in 1 7.U. She manifested her attach- 

 ment by beqeathing to him all her possession* after the 

 decease of her husband, to the amount of 8.5,000 

 crowns ; but Metastasio, with much rectitude and pro- 

 priety, declined the bequest. Inconsistent a* it may 

 seem with our ideas of law and decorum, the legality* 

 of this will is not questioned by any of hi* Italian 

 biographers ; and his renunciation of it is spoken of 

 by them all as a most disinterested sacrifice. Of the 

 nature of his connection with the Romanina, it is no 



S breach of charity to judge, that it was not pro- 

 quits pktonic. The circumstance of her hus- 

 reaiding in the same house with them, both at 

 Naples) and Rome, might be thought indications of 

 conjugal fidelity ; but a chaste actress and opera singer 

 is a sull more uncommon phenomenon in Italy than in 

 England. The female Italian opera singers, as Dr. 

 Burney* observes, generally find it convenient to have 

 a nominal husband, who will fight their battles, and 

 contend with the impressario, or manager of the opera. 



In the course of their correspondence, it appears as if Metastasio. 

 the Itomanina was at one time anxious to go to Vienna * < *"V 1P ' 

 a* a singer, and suspected Metastasio of not speaking 

 openly on the subject. It was thought that he was 

 fearful of the effect which her arrival might have had 

 on his own reputation, as the Emperor Charles VI. 

 was a prince of very rigid ideas of decorum. Yet, 

 after all, it is not easy to p:irt, im very harsh terms, 

 with the name and memory of the woman who solaced 

 the lieart, and cherished the genius of Metastasio. 

 Something may be allowed lor the general manners of 

 her country, anil her vocation. She was no ordinary 

 person ; she made no vulgar choice in her affection ; 

 and was neither mercenary nor inconstant in preserv. 

 ing it. The age at which she died is not precisely 

 known ; but she was probably older than Metastasio, 

 having attained to the zenith of her reputation as a 

 singer in Genoa in 1712. Metastasio speaks with deep 

 irrirf for her death to those with whom it was not his 

 interest to be* ostentatious of such feelings. In a let- 

 ter to his brother, he says" Poor Marianna will 

 never return ; and I lu'lieve that the rest of my life 

 will be insipid and sorrowful. " It has been already 

 noticed, that in early life he took the minor orders of 

 priesthood. In one of his letters to his female friend, 

 he mentions the death of a certain abate in Sicily, to 

 whose vacant abltey he would h.ive w ished to sun 

 but did not know in what diocese it was situated, or 

 whether it was requisite thnt the candidate should l>e a 

 regular ecclesiastic. It appears from other letters, that 

 although he wished for secular preferment in the 

 church, he had no intention to be an ecclesiastic " in 

 taerii." 



Hi- conr*e of life, after hi* removal to Vienna, was 

 little varied by other events than the successive pro- 

 <ii of his operas. In 1738, he was, without soli- 

 citation on his part, complimr ntitl by the city of Asisi 

 with a patent of nobility. His appointment of lau- 

 reate, and the profits of his compositions, enabled him 

 to support a respectable appearance in society, and to 

 live with all the comforts necessary to his retired and 

 moderate habits. It may be suspected, however, that 

 he was obliged, for many years, to cherish retired and 

 moderate habits from necessity as much as choice ; nor 

 does he write to his friends at all times with unquali- 

 fied satisfaction about his pecuniary affairs. " Charles 

 VI.," be says in a letter to a friend, " as a reward 

 for my long services, and to make up for my unpaid 

 salary, granted me a thousand crowns in Sicily on a 

 bisnoprick or benefice in that kingdom ; but all the 

 bishops, abbot*, and beneficed clergy became from that 

 time immortal, and the kingdom was lost before I had 

 received a penny. The treasurer-hip of Cosenza in Ca- 

 labria becoming vacant, ray august patron, remember- 

 ing my unpaid arrears, destined it for me. I took pos- 

 sessionspent more than 800 ducats of my own mo- 

 ney in fees and other expenses ; but before I had lw- 

 gun to reap the first crop, the Spaniards entered the 

 kingdom, and I remained with my patent in my hand, 

 ready for curling my hair, or folding up sugar plums." 



Tne Empress Queen, he farther relates to his corres- 

 pondent, impoverished by a seven years' war, was ob- 

 liged to diminish the salaries of her servants. To con- 

 sole him for this diminution, and for his other losses; 

 she assigned him 1500 florins in Milan ; but at the end 

 of five yean the promise was unfulfilled ; and after fif- 

 teen years service be found himself in a worse state 

 than when he had left his native country. This was 

 undoubtedly faithful picture of his affairs at one pe. 



