I admit I know very little about the historical Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. All I know about him is "he was a child prodigy who wrote some great music and died young". Until I saw this musical, I had no idea about his relationship with his father or the existence of Nannerl, Constanze or Colloredo. The reading I've done since watching it has convinced me that the musical does an injustice to almost everyone except Wolfgang and Nannerl.
First, some information. Mozart! is a German-language musical by Michael Kunze and Sylvester Levay, the same writer and composer who made Elisabeth das Musical. It premiered in 1999 and met with a lukewarm response. Now that I've seen it, I can understand why. This version was staged in 2015, filmed, and released on DVD.
I only recognised two of the actors, both from different versions of Elisabeth:
Thomas Borchert (Lucheni in 1998) as Leopold Mozart
Mark Seibert (Death from 2012-circa 2015?) as Colloredo
The story begins after Mozart's death. Then it flashes back to when he was a child, and then jumps forward to him as an adult. We're introduced to Wolfgang, his sister Nannerl, his overbearing father Leopold, his arrogant employer Colloredo... and Amadé, who's the personification of Wolfgang's genius and who literally stabs him and writes music with his blood.
Wolfgang and Leopold
Colloredo
Nannerl
Wolfgang and Colloredo have an argument that ends with Wolfgang being fired, so he goes to find work elsewhere. Colloredo, in an astonishing display of pettiness, does his best to stop anyone hiring Wolfgang. I was just getting into the story and expecting to see Wolfgang to triumph over Colloredo... and then it takes a turn for the surreal.
Picture this, if you will. (Or you could watch the musical and then you won't have to picture it.) You're watching a show set in 18th century Austria. All right, so the costumes are rather anachronistic, and the sets are very bland and rely too much on projections. But it's still supposed to be the 18th century, and you can suspend your disbelief enough to accept that.
And then a van drives onstage.
And then a van drives onstage.
I'm not joking. They drive an actual van onstage -- a van that IMHO bears a striking resemblance to the Mystery Machine of Scooby-Doo! fame. The first time I saw the musical, I had to pause it and skip backward and forward a few scenes to assure myself that no, someone hadn't added a clip from an entirely different show to the video.
Things deteriorate even further from then on. The van in question is driven by the Weber family, a bunch of money-obsessed creeps who look like they got lost on their way to a rock concert. Naturally, they latch onto Wolfgang as a way to get money.
This picture is its own snarky caption.
Meanwhile, Colloredo has realised how good Wolfgang's music is and is determined to get him to work for him again. And Leopold is angry with Wolfgang's behaviour, and wants his son to go back to working for Colloredo. Wolfgang has fallen in love with Constanze, one of the Webers and the only one of them who's remotely sympathetic, and doesn't care what his father wants. Act 1 ends with Wolfgang bluntly (and crudely) refusing to work for Colloredo, then singing the most memorable song in the musical.
Wie wird man seinen Schatten los? (How Can You Escape Your Shadow?)
If you noticed that title sounds a bit like "Die Schatten werden länger", then you can already guess what this song is about. Wolfgang wants to live, but he knows that Amadé is slowing killing him and there's no way to escape. This is where that aforementioned "writing in blood" scene appears.
Amadé and Wolfgang
Amadé writing with Wolfgang's blood
In Act 2, we learn that the Webers are as repulsive as ever and historical accuracy has been murdered in its sleep. What else is new?
Constanze, her mother, and a set almost as hideous as the Webers.
Constanze and Wolfgang are apparently living together. Yes, in 18th century Catholic Austria, an unmarried man and woman are living together and no one except Constanze's mother objects -- and her objection is because she wants money, not to save her daughter's reputation. Now, people did live together years ago... but if it became widely known it would have been scandalous. Especially in Catholic countries. Royalty and nobility could get away with it, but Wolfgang was neither. Anyway, Constanze's mother forces them to get married, and then she sponges off Wolfgang.
Nannerl asks Wolfgang for money so she can get married. Instead Wolfgang gambles his money away, the irresponsible jerk 😠
Leopold dies, and Wolfgang finally realises he's been a brat. Not that it changes him, though. Then he gets a visit from a mysterious man who wants him to compose a requiem. It's strongly implied that this is some sort of supernatural visit.
If you've read this far, I think you can already guess what my overall opinion of the show is.
As if the unlikeable characters, the frequently-dull plot and the blatant lack of regard for historical accuracy weren't enough, the sets are ugly too.
In fact, I hesitate to call them "sets". That conjures up images of doors and furniture placed on the stage. For about three quarters of the musical, the actors and (maybe) one piece of furniture are all that's on the stage. The rest of the backgrounds are provided by projections. On very rare occasions, this looks realistic. Most of the time it's as unconvincing as the show itself. Remember how I complained about the poor lighting in Elisabeth (2005)? Mozart! would have benefited from lighting like that.
The high point of this musical is the music. In fact, if you're interested in this musical, I'd advise you to not bother watching it at all but to listen to the songs instead. You'll get the good without the bad or the ugly.
Nannerl asks Wolfgang for money so she can get married. Instead Wolfgang gambles his money away, the irresponsible jerk 😠
Leopold dies, and Wolfgang finally realises he's been a brat. Not that it changes him, though. Then he gets a visit from a mysterious man who wants him to compose a requiem. It's strongly implied that this is some sort of supernatural visit.
Wolfgang and the mysterious man
Wolfgang composes an opera, has a final confrontation with Colloredo, and then dies before finishing the requiem. Before he dies he realises that it's his own requiem. And then Amadé stabs him in the heart 😮
That face Wolfgang makes ruins what should be the most dramatic scene in the musical. He looks like he's just heard something surprising, not like he's been stabbed in the heart.
If you've read this far, I think you can already guess what my overall opinion of the show is.
As if the unlikeable characters, the frequently-dull plot and the blatant lack of regard for historical accuracy weren't enough, the sets are ugly too.
In fact, I hesitate to call them "sets". That conjures up images of doors and furniture placed on the stage. For about three quarters of the musical, the actors and (maybe) one piece of furniture are all that's on the stage. The rest of the backgrounds are provided by projections. On very rare occasions, this looks realistic. Most of the time it's as unconvincing as the show itself. Remember how I complained about the poor lighting in Elisabeth (2005)? Mozart! would have benefited from lighting like that.
The high point of this musical is the music. In fact, if you're interested in this musical, I'd advise you to not bother watching it at all but to listen to the songs instead. You'll get the good without the bad or the ugly.
Is it available online?: Yes, on YouTube with English subtitles. My grasp of spoken German is poor, but I understand enough to suspect the subtitles take liberties with the meaning of some lines.
Rating: The story gets 3/10, the costumes, sets and historical accuracy get 1/10, and the songs get 6/10. I'll leave it to someone with a better grasp of maths to work out what the average rating is 😊
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