Monday, August 10, 2009

"Amadeus" this ain't.

A while ago I talked about modernized interpretations of the past when I posted about the Jane Campion film Bright Star slated to come out later this year. Now, we have something completely different...

Mozart, l'Opera Rock is a staged operetta portraying the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but with a twist. The costumes, music, and likely the whole thing is deliberately anachronistic to connect the great composer's life and impact with today's culture.

Normally, I might think: "But... if you're not going to play Mozart's actual music, then what's the point in doing a fictionalized bio on him?"

And then I saw this clip that has been released to promote the production. Beware before you click; there is semi-nudity and it's probably not a work-safe video.

I think I kind of love it. It's kind of how I imagine Vogue magazine might make a historical musical. C'est avant-garde, mais c'est francais, mon petit chou ;-)

Go here to see the official site for Mozart, l'Opera Rock. My French is far from perfect, but I managed to navigate my way around, so if you have a reading knowledge of the language it should be fine.

Here is a clip on Youtube from the song "L'assasymphonie," and here is "Tatoue moi." It's fairly obvious who is Mozart, Salieri, Death, etc. Enjoyez!

If you were/are in France, would you go see this show? What do you think of modernizing the life of Mozart? Moreover, are you in love with the costuming, or do you hate it (I think you can only go one of two ways on this)?

2 comments:

  1. Those French....geez. I hate it. Why modernize Mozart? What is the purpose? It's sort of "sacreligious". Suffice it to say, I would not go see the show if you paid me.

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  2. I think it's definitely a polarizing thing for them to do, and will drive away quite a few people.

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