The weavers
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| Title: | The weavers |
| Genus: | Musical comedy |
| Original language: | German |
| Author: | Felix Mitterer |
| Music: |
The Tiger Lillies , Martyn Jacques |
| Publishing year: | 2006 |
| Premiere: | August 29, 2006 |
| Place of premiere: | MuseumsQuartier , Hall E. |
| Place and time of the action: | Vienna |
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Die Weberischen is a musical comedy premiered in 2006 and tells the story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's wife Constanze , her mother Cilly and her sisters Sophie, Aloysia and Josepha Weber. In this humorous, biting but also coarse work, Mozart's life is staged entirely from the perspective of the Weber family with their shrill personalities.
action
Shortly after Mozart's death in Emanuel Schikaneder's Freihausheater auf der Wieden : Schikaneder organized a charity performance, the proceeds of which will be donated to the widow Konstanze. The play Die Weberischen will be performed . As always, Schikaneder chooses the most beautiful role, in this case that of mother Cilly Weber. The "piece in a piece" begins in 1777. The Weberische live in Mannheim . Cilly was left by her husband Franz . The boiled, greedy mother, thoroughly washed, tries with all means to achieve a better social position for her and her four daughters. Everything for her revolves around money and she doesn't take morals very seriously. She tries to get her two daughters Aloysia and Josepha, who are both aiming for a career as singers and are in competition with each other, as profitable as possible. You meet the 22-year-old, still unknown Mozart for the first time, when he falls in love with Aloysia and woos her. Cilly regards Mozart's advances over her daughter with suspicion, since he is penniless. Due to an acute lack of money, Sophie is urged to prostitute by mother Cilly. Sophie becomes pregnant unintentionally and Cilly urges an abortion.
In 1781 the Weberische move to Vienna, where Mozart finally goes online for women. From this point on, they are always close to him. Mozart has already achieved initial successes with his compositions in Vienna. Since Aloysia refuses Mozart's advertising, he turns to Constanze and asks her to become his wife. Mother Cilly gives the blessing to this, as she knows that, in the event of Mozart's career, she and her daughters are financially and socially secure. Mozart's father Leopold is the subject of this, who from the beginning saw through the exploitative intentions of the Weberische and is against a marriage with Constanze. Time goes by, Aloysia, meanwhile a court singer, marries the widowed court actor Joseph Lange . Mozart, inspired by Aloysia's voice, repeatedly composes works for her and arranges himself a little too intensely around his piano students and interpreters of his pieces while Constanze is pregnant. Aloysia's successes are always cause for quarrels with the unsuccessful Josepha. Aloysia and Constanze also quarrel because of Mozart's intensive collaboration with Aloysia. As a whore, Sophie despairs of constantly having to abort her children and develops an intimate relationship with the children of Mozart and Constanze. Mozart finally wrote his work The Magic Flute and Josepha, the eldest daughter, made her big appearance in the role of Queen of the Night , which helped her to break through. When Mozart was stuck in the middle of a commissioned work in 1791, for which he was paid in advance, and died, he left the weavers in poverty. But there is still the artistic legacy, which - cleverly marketed - is a gold mine for the Weberische women ...
In Die Weberischen Mozart himself is only on stage as a corpse in the form of a doll (at the beginning and at the end).
music
A singer appears after each scene and leads through the theater work with a total of fourteen highly poetic, melancholy petty songs . In the original version, Martyn Jacques sings, who interprets it in a biting, black-humored way with provocative gestures and facial movements. The effect of his appearance is supported by his falsetto and white make-up face. With its contrasting program, it fits grotesquely into the shrill staging of the Weberische Damen. He is supported by Adrian Strout on double bass and the singing saw and by Adrian Huge on drums, who together with Jacques form the band Tiger Lillies , and the orchestra under the direction of Christian Kolonovits .
Songs
- Fame
- Life's a bitch
- Mozart's in Mannheim
- Love for Sale
- Abortion The Child
- Just another loser
- Father's Song
- Never Marry A Man
- Screw you
- Lending song
- The Merry Birdcatcher
- Death song
- Murdered Mozart
- Nothing
Emergence
The work was created as a co-production between the United Bühnen Wien and the Vienna Mozart Year 2006 . The author Felix Mitterer was commissioned by the director of the Vienna Mozart Year 2006, Peter Marboe , to write a play about Mozart. Mitterer's attention was drawn to the Weber family through research into a film about Angelo Soliman , the African valet and prince tutor to Hereditary Prince Alois I of Liechtenstein, who was also a friend of Mozart. The life of these women and their essential influence on Mozart fascinated him. The director of the United Theaters in Vienna, Kathrin Zechner , suggested that the spoken theater commission be turned into a commission for a piece with music. The British band The Tiger Lillies with their singer, accordionist, songwriter and composer Martyn Jacques was commissioned to compose the music . Christian Kolonovits was commissioned to harmonize Mozart's music with the compositions of the Tiger Lillies, and Stephanie Mohr was responsible for the production .
Stephanie Mohr received the Nestroy Special Award for directing in November 2007 . This was the first award of the coveted Vienna Theater Prize for a musical theater production by the United Bühnen Wien.
Production history
Vienna
- MuseumsQuartier , Hall E, Vienna, world premiere August 29 to September 21, 2006, 20,000 visitors
- Vienna Volksoper, 2007/2008 season
Cast (world premiere and resumption of the Vienna Volksoper)
- Director: Stephanie Mohr
- Stage design: Miriam Busch
- Costumes: Alfred Mayerhofer
- Light: Nicole Berry
- Conductor: Christian Kolonovits
- Composition / vocals: The Tiger Lillies, Martyn Jacques
- Emanuel Schikaneder / Cilly Weber: Robert Meyer , director of the Vienna Volksoper
- Aloysia Weber: Anne Weber
- Josepha Weber: World premiere: Eva Maria Marold , Wiener Volksoper: Ulrike Beimpold
- Constanze Weber: Tanja Schleiff
- Sophie Weber: Ruth Brauer-Kvam
The Weberische production was broadcast on the Austrian TV broadcaster ORF in June 2008.
Switzerland
- Kino-Theater Tiffany , St. Gallen, August to September 2008
occupation
- Director: Jean Grädel
- Stage design: Lukas Furrer and Christoph Flury
- Costumes: Max Kaiser
- Conductor: Niklaus Meyer
- Musical director: Martin Gantenbein
- Singing: Peter Rinderknecht
- Emanuel Schikaneder / Cilly Weber: Matthias Flückiger
- Aloysia Weber: Dorothea Gilgen
- Josepha Weber: Marion Rosina Neubauer
- Constanze Weber: Anja Tobler
- Sophie Weber: Mandy Fabian Osterhage
Germany
- German-Sorbian People's Theater Bautzen, German premiere on March 2, 2012
occupation
- Director: Lutz Hillmann
- Musical direction: Tasso Schille
- Set design: Miroslaw Nowotny
- Dramaturgy: Eveline Günther
- Assistant director: Simone Marwitz
- Emanuel Schikaneder / Cilly Weber: Olaf Hais
- Josefa Weber: Gabriele Rothmann
- Aloisia Weber: Lilli Jung
- Konstanze Weber: Anna Marie Lehmann
- Sofie Weber: Fiona Piekarek
- Schikaneder's fact sheet: Jonas Lauenstein, Kolja Heiß, Istvan Kobjela, Thomas Ziesch, Michael Burkhardt, Christian Patzer / Thomas Seibig and Tasso Schille (lead.)