(voice) un: amadeus

[fordeath]

Name: w. a. mozart
Date: backdated to mid-maiuril
Format: voice

[ for those who know him, this post by amadeus is lacking in its usual energy and jubilance, instead weighed down by measured thoughtfulness. it's also a long time coming: he has been mysteriously missing from the theater scene for some months now. ]

When the Teatro Regio Ducale in Milan was destroyed by fire, it was rebuilt the Teatro alla Scala in 1778 and gracefully inaugurated with an opera by none other than Antonio Salieri himself. —L'Europa riconosciuta, in case you wondered.

It feels wrong to celebrate the legalizing of theater without him here, when he was so integral to its passing. He was my partner in all things, including the year-long endeavor it took to get here.

... Still, we have the rest of the Council to thank, and all of you who lent a hand in the past. Thank you, truly. It meant a great deal to us old art fogies.

Comments

[towards_okeanos]

I must say I'd be most delighted to attend any play by Aristophanes. It's been ages since I saw any of his works.

[He did read great comedian's more recent works... though recent might not be an appropriate word to use right now. They were recent when he read them. Not so recent anymore...]

If I had to choose one, I'd love to see Lysistrata, I always regretted I never had the chance to see it on stage.

[Sadly, all the conquering hardly left him with time to spend on cultural events.]

[fordeath]

I'll put the good word in, my friend. If that troupe has taken my unreasonable demands in stride, the classics will surely be no match for them, in spite of them being entirely foreign.

[ honestly, amadeus isn't all that well-versed in ancient plays. salieri, on the other hand, certainly paid attention to his extracurricular studies. ah well... ]

Unfortunately, my heart lies with opera, myself. How do you feel about those, Your Majesty?

[towards_okeanos]

[Now, here's one that knows how to talk to royalty.]

I am afraid this opera you speak of was not a thing known in my time. [Mainly because it did not exist yet.] Alas, you are making me regret I haven't paid closer attention to cultural life in this city.

Would you mind explaining how it differs from tragedy or comedy?

[fordeath]

[ who knew decades of schmoozing every other court official for a paycheck in his first life would equip him with the skills needed to keep ancient kings from incinerating him on the spot in his second?

mostly. ]

Oh, opera is only an evolution of those forms. [ evolution, he says. frank. ] An opera can be a comedy, tragedy, seria or buffa, or any number of genres. The difference being that the stories are told entirely through music. Powerful music, at that. ... At least, when I'm involved.

[towards_okeanos]

That so.

[It is only natural that forms will be perfected over time as more and more master artisans attempt them. But to take theatre play and tell it solely through music? That is quite a novel thing to do.]

Entirely through music. Does that mean there are no actors involved?

[He hopes not. It would make a whole thing rather static. Very untheatrical in his opinion.]