Having heard many times that oft-sung phrase, “I love Paris in the springtime,” I was delighted when my inaugural trip to France’s capital city coincided with the lovely month of May. Imagining flowers in bloom and budded trees, I packed light. I wasn’t the only tourist, however, who found herself unprepared for one of the coldest May weeks in Paris history. Not even the bone-chilling cold—warded off only by my layered hoodie and Levi jacket—could stop me from falling in love with the City of Light and its centuries of history. Armed with my favorite DK Eyewitness Travel Guide, I explored the Louvre, took a guided boat tour down the Seine, mounted the Arc de Triomphe, viewed Paris from atop the Eiffel Tower at sunset, and meandered through the grounds at Versaille.
One evening after a long day of French class and sightseeing, I found myself seated at the Opera Bastille for a performance of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra. Updated to represent the Ukraine’s Orange Revolution, the minimalist set design and stage direction left much to be desired. But somehow in spite of the rather confusing and misguided plot update and against the hideous backdrop of silver lamé, one singer achieved perfect clarity. Each time Ferruccio Furlanetto took the stage as Boccanegra’s rival Jacopo Fiesco, time seemed to stand still. His stunning singing and extraordinary performance left a lasting impression on this tired tourist.
What was it about that experience that marked it as unforgettable, even historic, in my mind? Certainly, a combination of factors came into play—Furlanetto’s commanding stage presence, his physical embodiment of the character, and of course his beautiful and emotional singing. That moment was as artistic and breathtaking as any of the centuries of history I had enjoyed thus far.
Just as Furlanetto stood out on the Paris stage that night, there are those composers who stand out from the rest in a rich and full history of western music, who continue to make an impact long after they’re gone. We honor one such composer in this issue: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
What is it about Mozart’s music that has kept it alive for nearly two and a half centuries? What is it that keeps opera companies, symphonies, musicologists and music lovers returning to this man’s masterpieces? What has made Mozart an historical figure, about whom writers have penned pages upon pages? Why is everyone still talking and playing Mozart 250 years after his birth?
One reason for the years of intrigue lies in Mozart’s multi-faceted and controversial persona. Books, movies, and plays—based on both fact and fiction—depict the colorful man who was Mozart. Because wading through the vast bibliography can be daunting, in this issue Michelle Culbertson offers an annotated list of her library, including which books offer the most accurate historical accounts of Mozart’s life and personality.
Second, Dan Marek and Joseph Smith give credit, in part, to Mozart’s masterful melodies. Indeed, his simple, yet soulful, tunes make a lasting impression. How many Mozart melodies can you sing? And yet his melodies can be deceiving, as Caryn Marlowe warns in this issue. Sometimes we think we’re ready for Mozart because we can sing all of the notes on the page, only to discover that his music requires so much more.
Third, beyond the melody, Mozart paints with a surprisingly rich harmonic palette for the Classical era. Joseph Smith offers several examples of this from Mozart’s thirty-four Lieder. Lawrence Vincent also discusses how Mozart’s musical scoring provides all the stage direction a singer needs. It seems that Mozart knew how to strike the perfect balance between simplicity and complexity to give full emotional expression. It is this combination of simple, yet complex, that makes the performer’s job so challenging.
Perhaps for one reason more than any other, though, Mozart is Mozart. To make this point, I need merely refer you to the first two stories shared by CS readers in “The Mozart Year in Review” article in this issue. Their stories illustrate how Mozart’s music transcends time to touch, inspire and impact the listener. Additional readers’ stories of how they celebrated Mozart during this, his birthday year, appear throughout this issue.
So, what do Paris, Ferruccio Furlanetto, and Mozart have in common? The three have helped me understand more clearly that when beauty is expressed—whether through nature, architecture, paintings, or the human voice—time stands still for a moment and history is made.
