Mozart in Love

("Cosi Fan Tutte" by Wolfgang Mozart)

This is the story of three loves,

perhaps four.

The women were all sisters,

and I was the man in their lives,

at least some of the time.

Their father was my father's friend

and, so naturally, when I went to Mannheim

to give concerts, I stayed with them.

The father was a fairly good musician.

In fact, they were all talented.

Especially the eldest, Louisa.

She had a lovely voice.

She sang like an angel.

Louisa.

Each of the daughters was beautiful in her own way,

and I was a stranger in a strange city.

I was young and alone, and of course I fell in love.

It was like a tale from The Arabian Nights,

a prince from another kingdom and the three princesses

who vied for his love.

So, this is my story, our story,

an opera about love.

If you're not interested in love

and think you don't like opera, well.

I'm not much for moralizing,

in my music even less than in my life.

Music is its own meaning.

But sometimes people, you know,

are happier if they think art is meaningful

rather than merely pleasureful.

So here it is at the beginning

for those among you who are too impatient

to wait until the end to find out what it's all about.

My philosophy of love.

A song, rich in intent,

profound in its implications,

as beautiful as it is deep.

("Die Entführung aus dem Serail" by Wolfgang Mozart)

He came in the winter and, yes,

brought springtime into everyone's life.

We all fell just a little in love with him.

Of course, he was very young,

but he knew so much.

He helped me with my music

and taught me the right way to sing.

Everyone said he was a genius.

He was certainly very gifted and knew a great deal.

You know, he had been performing and composing

almost from the time he was an infant.

I became quite good.

From the first moment I saw him.

I always loved him, even as a child.

It was wonderful loving him like that.

Knowing he could never suspect my real feelings.

It was my secret.

("Die Zauberflote: Introduktion" by Wolfgang Mozart)

In a way, I led a very sheltered life.

It's true, I was a raging success in half a dozen countries

before I was 14.

I performed for the most illustrious

crowned heads in Europe.

Women of all ages adored me.

They fussed over me.

They threw themselves at me.

It sounds like boasting, I know,

but there's no other way to describe it.

Did you know that when I was seven years old,

I proposed to Marie Antoinette, who was also a child?

She agreed to marry me.

You don't believe it, well, it's true.

I didn't lack for opportunities, I can tell you that.

But, all the same, I was still very innocent.

I was always falling in love.

It was like a chronic illness.

But what a delicious one.

Falling in and out of love like a butterfly

going from flower to flower.

Every woman made my heart beat faster.

("Le Nozze Di Figaro: Non so piu cosa son" by Mozart)

It was perfect, the two of us.

He would write beautiful songs for me,

and I would sing them.

His songs would become famous through me.

I loved him, all of us did.

Under his guidance, my voice improved tremendously.

I can hardly speak.

I was always the baby in the family.

How I hated it.

It was humiliating to be treated like that in front of him.

Why can't time move faster,

and then the differences in our ages

won't matter so much.

When he's 36, I'll be 28.

When he'll be 48, I'll be 40.

No, I'm not too young for him.

If only he'd wait for me.

("Cosi Fan Tutte: Ah Guarda, Sorella" by Mozart)

I'm so happy.

What do I know of love,

a strange sensation that had no name?

Was this it?

Who could I turn to?

It's not so easy being young.

Could I trust them?

Could they tell me?

("Le Nozze Di Figaro" by Wolfgang Mozart)

I had never felt anything like this before.

It was Louisa who touched the most secret part of my heart.

She was my dream love.

("Cosi Fan Tutte: Un'aura Amorosa" by Mozart)

To be in love again, it was wonderful.

But this time it was true love.

("Die Zauberflote" by Wolfgang Mozart)

It always happens that way.

The curse of being the middle child.

The oldest has all the good fortune.

The youngest is always pampered.

But what about me?

I felt as if my life were over.

("Cosi Fan Tutte: Ah, Che Tutto In Un Momento" by Mozart)

Perhaps one has to suffer for one's love.

To test it, to purify it, to be worthy of it.

Perhaps agony is its own sweet reward.

There is no reward for a troubled heart.

But who can guard themselves

against the pain of love?

We mustn't let this come between us.

Even though we love him, and she doesn't.

I didn't want it to happen this way.

How can I comfort you, my dear sisters?

Would you believe me if I told you

that your unhappiness is only temporary?

In a month or two, you'll laugh,

thinking back on your imagined grief.

Oh, I love you both so much.

I didn't ask for any of this.

It's not my fault that he adores me.

I'm not to blame if I can't return his love.

It's a gift I never asked for.

It was nothing more than innocent flirtation.

I never encouraged him, never.

I didn't want it to happen like this.

("Cosi Fan Tutte: Sento, O Dio" by Wolfgang Mozart)

Perhaps I made a mistake in turning him down.

Who would have thought that he would become so famous?

That was on my mind when I married.

That he would never have enough money.

I wasn't mistaken, was I?

A pauper's grave.

To tell the truth, I didn't think he was a genius.

With clever young people, you never know

how they're going to turn out.

Maybe if I had?

What's the use of wondering?

I wouldn't have done it differently,

even if I could.

My life is a happy one.

We became friends again years later.

It was unavoidable.

But I think, at the time, he took it very badly.

("Cosi Fan Tutte: Non Son Cattivo Comico" by Mozart)

I was in despair.

I went away and didn't see any of them for three years.

I thought that I could learn to forget.

I threw myself into my work.

I forgot nothing.

He left us.

He left me.

I know I'll never see him again.