New York's HERE is presenting a new production of the solo show The Other Mozart, written and performed by Sylvia Milo, June 22-July 12. Directed by Isaac Byrne (Bekah Brunstetter's Green and To Nineveh at American Place Theatre), it features music composed by Nathan Davis and Phyllis Chen of the International Contemporary Ensemble.
The story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his older sister Nannerl--that is, the story of the male genius and his sister or wife who might be just as brilliant but never gets the chance--has parallels throughout human history, not to mention in classical music. Fanny Mendelssohn, recognized as brilliant at a young age, was nevertheless told her musicianship could be only "ornamental." Clara Schumann, though an influential and celebrated pianist, was not widely recognized as a composer in her own time even as she worked tirelessly to promote her husband Robert's music (and that of Brahms).
Saddest of all may be the story of Mozart's sister, in the sense that while we have references to her having composed music, none survives. Leopold Mozart took his children touring together for years, and Maria Anna, known as Nannerl, was celebrated as a brilliant musician. A contemporary account in the Augsburger Intelligenz had this to say: "Imagine an eleven-year-old girl, performing the most difficult sonatas and concertos of the greatest composers, on the harpsichord or fortepiano, with precision, with incredible lightness, with impeccable taste. It was a source of wonder to many."
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