Sheet music booklet for "Captivity. A Ballad. Supposed to be Sung by the Unfortunate Marie Antoinette, During her Imprisonment in the Temple. The Words by the Revd. Mr. Jeans…& Sung by Sig.ra Storace & Mrs. Crouch, Set by Stephen Storace," two pages, 8.75 x 13, printed for the author and sold by J. Dale [1793], by the composer at the end (“Storace”) for the authentication of this edition. Presented in a custom-made binding in paper wrappers, with "in homage to Marie Antoinette" handwritten on the front wrapper. In very good to fine condition, with repairs to several tears.
Stephen Storace studied with Mozart, and may have collaborated with him under the name 'Alessandro Cornetti.' Storace’s lament on the captivity of Marie Antoinette was sung by his sister Nancy, with mezzo-soprano Anna Maria Crouch, at concerts given with her brother at Drury Lane Theatre, London from 1792-1794. Nancy Storace was Mozart’s first Susanna in 'The Marriage of Figaro.' Mozart played the piano part in a concert aria: 'Ch’io mi scordi di te,' he wrote for her farewell performance in Vienna, February 23, 1787. Storace’s rendition of 'Captivity' must have been most poignant since she saw Marie Antoinette in all her splendor in March of 1787 when she sang 'Susanna' for the Queen in a private performance of 'The Marriage of Figaro' at Versailles. Years earlier, in 1762, Mozart slipped on the marble floor when playing with the Hapsburg children at Schönbrunn. Seven year old Marie Antoinette picked him up. Many allege he said to her: 'You are very nice. I will marry you.'
