The Rosenkavalier Palace

It stands – just as one would expect – in Vienna, and bears exactly the same name as it did on 8 October, 1777: Palais Auersperg (Auersperg Palace). On that day it was purchased by Prince Johann Adam Auersperg, some 50 years after it had been built by master builder Giovanni Christiano Neupauer, according to plans by the legendary Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach. The original owner was a certain Hieronymus Capece de Rofrano – who’s name immediately transports us directly into Richard Strauss’ opera “Der Rosenkavalier” (The Cavalier of the Rose)! Octavian de Rofrano, the cavalier at the court of the great Austrian Empress Maria Theresia, the gallant suitor with the silver rose, actually existed! Hugo von Hofmannsthal, in fact, used one of the Rofranos as the model for his Octavian; however, the real personage was named Peter and was the son of the aforementioned Hieronymus, who paid no less than 28,000 guldens for the property – originally the site of an old brickworks – on which he built his palace. He could certainly afford to do so, for he held the position of Head Postmaster of the Habsburg territories in Italy – and in those days, the Austrian postal service was not yet plagued by financial difficulties.

In the house of the Rofranos, money was of no object. Everything was of the highest quality – especially the music. In fact, the palace itself was, to quote one of its most famous visitors, “one of the most beautiful chords in the symphony ‘Vienna’”. Since this visitor was no other than the great Robert Stolz, it has to be admitted that this opinion came from a competent judge. Music was always the invisible hub of the palace, long before Richard Strauss wrote his opera with a Rofrano as the hero. In 1760, for example, the imperial field marshal Prince Joseph Friedrich Wilhelm of Saxony-Hildburghausen moved in as a tenant. He was a knowledgeable music lover of great sensibility and infallible good taste, and engaged no less a personage than Christoph Willibald Gluck as the musical director of his famous house concerts. This was definitely a highlight in the musical history of the palace, but by no means the only one. In March of 1786, it was the venue of a private performance of Mozart’s opera “Idomeneo”. The ensemble comprised exclusively of members of Vienna’s high society, and included such famous names as Baron Polini and Count Hatzfeld. Mozart, who revised the vocal parts to “suit the vocal chords” of his noble performers, composed a special “scena con rondo” with violin solo for this occasion. Another famous figure of the Austrian nobility also took part in an amateur performance in this building: Crown Prince Rudolf, four years before his tragic end. At that time the palace had long since been purchased by Prince Auersperg, whose name it still bears today. The street on which it is located, too, is called Auerspergstrasse, in honour of Prince Adolf Auersperg, who was Prime Minister of Austria for eight years. Under the ownership of the Auersperg family, the palace became a centre of high society, the scene of glittering parties and gala evenings. It was here, for example, that a granddaughter of King Gustav Adolf of Sweden was wed to King Albert of Saxony. And three years later, in October 1856, a dance was held which was attended by the 26-year-old Emperor Franz Joseph, his wife Elisabeth and all the members of the imperial family.

A colourful chapter of Austrian history is reflected in the history of Palais Auersperg. But even after the brilliance of that era was extinguished forever, the chronicle of the palace was nowhere near its end. For a time, this building of dignified elegance housed only the Federal Office for the Protection of Monuments, and it seemed as if its former social and political importance might be forgotten. But this was not the case, for a simple plaque on its façade reads: “In 1945 Austrian patriots gathered in this building, prevented the destruction of Vienna, and laid the cornerstone for a free Austria in memory of those who had sacrificed their lives. The Austrian Resistance Movement.” This terse account tells it all. The only thing that might be added is that among these patriots we find such celebrated names as the later Federal Chancellor Leopold Figl and the future Presidents Dr. Theodor Körner and Dr. Adolf Schärf. Thus the list of famous personages associated with Palais Auersperg stretches from Head Postmaster Rofrano to some of the most important political figures of the modern era, and the ranks of its prominent guests have continued to grow, no matter how the times and the forms of government may have changed.

Today, as always, the Viennese still love to sit in comfort in beautiful surroundings, and when they do, they expect a treat for the ear as well as for the eye. It is therefore not surprising that the intimate Auersperg concerts – just as in the past – are once again numbered among the musical delicacies to be savoured in Vienna, in an ambience that leaves nothing to be desired. Artists of many generations have made sure of this. Be it the exquisite, graceful building itself, the charming park with its enormous old trees that once shaded Empress Maria Theresia, the elegant library, the loggia with its beautiful wainscoting, or the winter garden which Walter Slezak once described as “Schönbrunn on small format film”– everything that meets the eye emanates refined, serene harmony, the kind of harmony which cannot be manufactured, but which has to develop over a long period of time, just as the building itself has developed: built upon the site of an old brickworks on the outskirts of the city and today part of the pulsating heart of that city, where society, art and politics still hold their fertile rendezvous.