Vom sterbenden Rokoko

A lively portrait of a greener, freer Vienna opens the collection, where winding streets spill onto sun‑drenched meadows and mischievous cats stretch in amber light. The narrator paints the city as a child‑like playground, brimming with fragrant herbs, laughing girls, and a gentle soldier watching over the budding grass. In this idyllic world, artists and dreamers drift between taverns and gardens, their conversations flavored with wit and the promise of music that may soon travel beyond the Austrian hills.

Within this bright setting the first tale follows a charismatic composer and his enigmatic companion as they venture toward Prague, their attire as flamboyant as their ambitions. Their banter about Paris, the rise of a new “iron age,” and the lingering spirit of Mozart set a tone of playful satire and subtle intrigue. The surrounding stories—ghostly encounters, frivolous aristocrats, love potions, and salon intrigues—continue the blend of humor and nostalgia, inviting listeners to wander through a bygone summer that still whispers its charm today.