Sophie Haibel

Sophie Weber Haibel (1763? - 1846) was a singer of the 18th and 19th centuries. She was the sister of Constanze Mozart and the sister-in-law of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. She is remembered today primarily for the testimony she left concerning the life and death of her brother-in-law.

Life

She was born into a musical family, the youngest of four sisters all of whom became trained singers; two achieved professional fame: the oldest sister Josepha Weber and the second oldest Aloysia Weber. She moved with the family, first to Munich, then to Vienna, following the burgeoning career of Aloysia. Sophie herself sang at the Burgtheater in the 1780-1781 season, but apparently did not make any kind of long-term success as a singer.

In 1782, when Constanze married Mozart, she was the only Weber sister who was present at the ceremony.

In 1791, she was the only daughter in the family yet unmarried; she lived with her widowed mother Cäcilia Weber, but was frequently present in the Mozart household during the composer's traumatic death, and helped Constanze care for her dying husband.

She was married in 1807 (7 January) to Jakob Haibel (1762-1826), who was a tenor singer, actor, and composer; he was the author of a successful Singspiel that was performed many times by the theatrical troupe of Emanuel Schikaneder. The couple lived in Djakovar, Slavonia (today called Dakovo, in Croatia), where Haibel was the cathedral choirmaster. Following Haibel's death, Sophie moved to Salzburg, where Constanze, now widowed from her second marriage, was living. The two lived together until Constanze's death in 1842.

Sophie died in Salzburg in 1846, aged about 83.

Remembrances of Mozart

Sophie's own remembrances of Mozart and his death come from a letter she wrote to Constanze's second husband Georg Nissen, to help with the Mozart biography that Nissen and Constanze were working on. She was also interviewed by Vincent and Mary Novello in 1829 during the journey they undertook to gather information about Mozart. For some of her remembrances, see Death of Mozart.

References

• Clive, Peter (1993) Mozart and his Circle: A Biographical Dictionary. New Haven: Yale University Press.