Mozart!

MOZART! A two-part musical by Michael Kunze and Sylvester Levay

Book and lyrics: Michael Kunze
Music and orchestration: Sylvester Levay
Poetic translation into Lithuanian: Viktorija Streiča, Kristina Siurbytė
Premiere: 6 October 2023
Vereinigte Bühnen Wien
Worldwide Stage Rights: VBW International GmbH

In the musical MOZART!, Austrian creators present a celebrated figure in Austria’s rich history and a genius of the musical world: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791). One of the most famous classical composers of all time, he captivated audiences with his masterful melodies and was notorious for his extravagant lifestyle, which, incidentally, recalls the behaviour of many modern pop stars. After a brilliant and feverishly rapid career, he died young, at just 35.

The premise of MOZART! reveals the conflict between its main character and the world around him. Although the story unfolds in the 18th century, modern audiences will immediately recognise the problems the protagonist faces and find many connections with their own life experiences. Mozart confronts an inevitable destiny and the drama of personal growth, making his story moving and timeless.

MOZART! is the brilliance of rock in a Rococo world. The collision of styles, and the irreconcilable face-off between past and present, reflect the ambiguity at the heart of the protagonist’s identity. As a man, Mozart feels stifled by the traditions of the Salzburg court: as an artist, he is merely a servant to the nobility. Yet he longs for creative and personal freedom—to live his own life, dream, and also carouse, play cards and love. Mozart, once a child prodigy, is relentlessly pursued by the genius within him: the “porcelain child” Amadeus, who ceaselessly writes music and is visible only to Mozart and the audience.

This moving psychological ambiguity is underscored by composer Sylvester Levay’s musical concept. The score combines bold contemporary genres—ballads, ragtime and rock—with subtle original Mozartian Rococo melodies, heard whenever Amadeus, Mozart’s grumpy, childlike alter ego, sits at the piano.

Rather than focusing on the prevailing myth of the great composer, the musical portrays the legendary Mozart as flawed and fragile, and therefore deeply relatable. The musical MOZART! seeks to free Mozart’s character from clichés and superficial adoration, allowing audiences to see and feel him as a real, living, breathing person.

The world premiere of the musical MOZART! took place at Theater an der Wien in Vienna in 1999. The first international premiere was in Hamburg in 2001. Productions have been staged in 9 countries: Austria, Belgium, China, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Japan, South Korea and Sweden, and performed in seven languages: Czech, Flemish, German, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean and Swedish. More than 2,300 performances have been given, and over 2.5 million people have seen the musical.

The cast includes theatre and guest soloists, members of the theatre choir and ballet, and students of the Mikas Petrauskas School of Performing Arts