Music History : Vienna
...This particular theater sat 1350 audience members. These audience members sat in various locations within this theater. The, "parterre noble," sat right in front of the stage and was reserved for the nobility. The first two tiers of boxes were also reserved for nobility except for those belonging to the imperial family, or reserved for foreign ambassadors. Behind the, "Parterre noble," the second parterre, parts of the third tier boxes and the upper gallery were open to anyone who could cough up the money for the seats. These were mainly for the wealthier members of the Vienna's middle class, along with foreign visitors. As with any show there are nosebleed cheap seats. The price of the cheap seats in the most upper parts of the theater, which were called the, "Paradies," had a reduced price from twenty kreuzer to seven. Seven seems like a reasonable price but this price was still out of reach for many Viennese. The central income for the theater was the rental of boxes from the nobility and they had to clean out their wallets. The annual fee for a box ran from 700 to 1000 guldens and that translates to one gulden is equal to sixty kreuzer.
Most of the audience had attended the theater for a generation or maybe even more than that. They were generally accustomed to the music of high quality that had been performed by Gluck, Traetta, Gassmann and Haydn. Those who had witnessed those performances held high standard and expected the same level of quality from the composers and performers. The music that was played there was influenced by wealthy Viennese aristocracy. They were willing and able to spend large amounts of money on music. As the century progressed, less strict rules for the music allowed the composer to have more influence on the music that was played. Mozart, who argued with the Archbishop of Salzburg, had a most likely conflict...
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