Considering the brevity of his two short visits, Mozart made quite an impression in Leipzig. His death was reported in the Leipziger Zeitungen: ‘Wien. den 7 Dec. In der Nacht vom 4ten auf den 5ten ist die berühmte k. k. Hofkammer-Componist, Wolfgang Mozart, mit Tode abgegangen’. This was one of the first published notices to appear and can hardly have been copied from the Vienna announcement, which came out on the same day. On 20 December, the Leipziger Zeitungen carried a report from Prague (dated 15 December) describing the memorial service. This is very similar to other accounts published in Prague and Vienna but is not a direct copy. Again, it is notably early in date, preceded only by the notice in the Prager Oberpostamtszeitung. Of particular interest in the Leipzig report is the direct statement that Mozart had not bequeathed much (‘wenig Vermögen’) and that Baron van Swieten, whose official rank is given, had already declared his intention to act in the interests of the children. More touchingly, early in the new year, Marianne Kirchgessner gave an academy in Leipzig at which she announced a ‘concetin’ by ‘my immortal friend Mozart’. The quintet Mozart composed for her (K.613) was performed in Vienna on 18 August 1791, quite possibly with the composer taking the viola part.

The scene was set for the return of the Italiänische Opera-Virtuosen, and in the next three summer seasons Mozart’s Italian operas enjoyed unprecedented acclaim. The seminal role of the Prague opera company in their reception is demonstrated above all by the case of Così fan tutte. The Leipzig audience had not yet had a chance to hear this work and it became the star attraction of the summer of 1792. Details of the season are given in Table 31.