VIOLINIST: Do you hear that? He answers me! That's him.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the man who transcribed the music of heaven for us. What a genius! At the age of six he completed his first concerto. At eleven, his first opera. He's travelling all over the world. He is famous and praised! Now seventeen and choirmaster at the court of Salzburg, he is full of hope and plans. But suddenly his destiny is turned upside-down when the Prince Archbishop, his proctector, dies, and the terrible and austere Colloredo takes power! PAGE: People of Salzburg! Prince Sigismond is in God's hands. Pay hommage to his Serene Highness Hieronymus Colloredo, your new master! COLLOREDO: Monsieur Leopold Mozart, approach. What is this... this rag? Your son asked that the two of you might be granted a leave of absence. He wants to travel the world giving concerts. If at the age of seventeen this pretentious young man finds working at my court beneath his talent then he may as well quit. And you with him! LOPOLD: Quit, your Highness? But that's impossible! How would I feed my family? COLLOREDO: That's your problem! PENSER L'IMPOSSIBLE LOPOLD: Once more Our ideas are twisted Are strangled at dawn And our dreams Are remorselessly destroyed LOPOLD (and NANNERL): Still (Days of defeat) Their values are worth more (Keeping our heads down)

Keepers of towers (Ivory towers) Indecent (Don't see us) They have gone deaf Think first of the impossible Dare to reach for utopia until the end Only madmen have allowed us to progress Again (On bended knee) Using censorship as dcor (Ropes around our necks) They wring our minds (Magic spells) They trap us (Privileges) For the carnivores' sake Think first of the impossible Burn our gilded prisons Dare to reach for utopia until the end Only madmen have allowed us to progress They promised us easy days Poor idiots! They allowed us to lead such docile lives Without sweet madness, without poetry During the march of endless nights Boredom turned us into cheerful puppets MOZART: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, at your service! LOPOLD AND NANNERL: Think first of the impossible Burn our gilded prisons

Dare to reach for utopia until the end Only madmen have allowed us to progress COLLOREDO: The answer is no! I refuse your request for a leave of absence. I must also announce that the National Theatre of Salzburg is to close down. Now, young man, you can forget your wild dreams of an opera in German! From now on you are to be content with the work I commission from you. MOZART: Father, I have no choice. I have to leave! LOPOLD: Leave? But that's impossible. Colloredo has refused my leave of absence. I can't go with you! MOZART: I'm leaving! Alone! LOPOLD: You aren't capable of that. NANNERL: Papa, please, listen to him! MOZART: Father, it's my life! LOPOLD: I said no! ANNA-MARIA: Stop it, you two! Leopold, if need be, I-- I'll go with him. LOPOLD: What? You, leave home? But you've never even travelled! ANNA-MARIA: Well, there's a first time for everything.

NANNERL: Maman has a point. LOPOLD: Wolfgang, you will leave with your mother, but take good care of her. She's the most important thing in the world to me. And you, my child, find work, and quickly. Don't forget that a musician without a position is nothing but a vagabond, a street performer scorned by everyone. MOZART: Papa, thank you. Thank you! LOPOLD: Calm yourself. MOZART: You'll see, Papa. You'll be proud of me! I'll compose the most beautiful operas and I'll tell the whole world that they're for my father, the best of fathers! FOOTMAN: My Lord? My Lord, the Mozarts have left Salzburg. COLLOREDO: What? The father and the son? FOOTMAN: No, your Highness, only young Mozart accompanied by his mother. COLLOREDO: Oh yes? And where are they headed? FOOTMAN: It's said they're going toward Mannheim, Sire. COLLOREDO Go to Mannheim and inform the Prince of this insane behaviour on my behalf. I don't want-He mustn't--do you hear me? He mustn't find work elsewhere after having refused mine.

FOOTMAN: If you please, your Highness, you're losing the best musician in your court and more importantly, a very good composer. COLLOREDO: He can go to the devil! I hated his music. INNKEEPER: Ja ja ja ja ja, schnell, schnell, schnell! LA CHANSON DE L'AUBERGISTE INNKEEPER: Leave your troubles at the door Here we can drown all thoughts of lost loves Heart at half-mast, raise your glass To the tavern of divine art Shut up with your damned complaints And sing to the glory of absinthe Drink stubbornly and fearlessly Bacchus is my household god Einz, zwei, drei, fier, fnf, sechs! Ah, guten Tag, mein Herr! Schnes Fraulein! Cheers! Just in time to meet up with happiness You will be welcomed no matter what time it is (Join in!) Drink much more than you should (That's it!) It's good for everything that ails you Lift your elbow, hang on tightly to the bar Forgetting everything isn't so hard Drink much more than you should It's good for everything that ails you

I leave my troubles at the door I come to drown thoughts of lost loves Drink much more than you should It's good for everything that ails you Drink much more than you should It's good for everything that ails you MOZART: Good evening, everyone! PATRON 1: Hey, there's the little genius! MOZART: Musicians, here are your scores! I propose a final round! PATRONS: Alright! ANNA-MARIA: No, Wolfgang, that's enough. MOZART: But Maman, we're going to drink to my first concert here in Mannheim! PATRON 2: That'll hit the spot! PATRON 3: Long live Mozart and long live music! DRINKER 1: Hey, artist, you seem pretty sure of yourself. Isn't it you who were sent away from Salzburg? ANNA-MARIA: Monsieur, what gives you the right--?

MOZART: Maman! DRINKER 2: It's true, Monsieur Mozart. Everyone here knows that Colloredo fired you. ANNA-MARIA: But he wasn't fired, monsieur. He was the one who left. DRINKER 1: No kidding? MOZART: That's it exactly. And here in Mannheim I'm going to compose a grand opera! In German! DRINKER 2: Did you hear that? An opera in German! And why not in French? Or in Chinese? PATRON 1: Chinese! Good one! DRINKER 3: You have to learn, young man that here we have taste. Everyone knows that the only good operas... are in Italian! MOZART: And I don't care about your good taste and your judgements! LE TRUBLION MOZART: Inquisitors, citizens Docile guardians of the common good Leave your straight paths behind It's done me so much good I'm a free thinker

A troublemaker, a rabble-rouser Gentlemen, judges and prosecutors No, I don't care about your titles I don't give a damn about your honour Or these values I despise The cannons of justice Are lit by your militias For our own good Whether they ordain it or condemn it I won't surrender Gentlemen, judges and prosecutors No, I don't care about your titles I don't give a damn about your honour Or these values I despise If my folly is forbidden Then it's all the more exquisite Inquisitors, citizens Docile guardians of the common good Leave your straight paths behind It's done me so much good I am a free thinker A troublemaker, a rabble-rouser Gentlemen, judges and prosecutors No, I don't care about your titles I don't give a damn about your honour Or these values I despise DRINKER 3: I think someone needs to teach you a lesson! ANNA-MARIA:

Stay away from my son! INNKEEPER: Please, gentlemen, calm down! PATRON 2: Down with the musicians! INNKEEPER: Police! Police! FRIDOLIN: Bravo! ANNA-MARIA: What? FRIDOLIN: I said 'bravo.' ANNA-MARIA: But, who are you, monsieur? FRIDOLIN: Let me introduce myself: Fridolin Weber, copyist at the local theatre. The truth is, in town we speak often of your son, madame. His young talent seems promising, so I've decided to help him. ANNA-MARIA: To help him? FRIDOLIN: Yes. ANNA-MARIA: To help him do what, if you please? FRIDOLIN:

Well, I'd like to copy all of his compositions at no charge and of course to help distribute them. MOZART: Oh! Monsieur! How can we ever thank you? FRIDOLIN: I don't know. Just do me the honour of visiting my home! We'll have cocoa--with your Maman. It would be an honour to introduce you to my family. Then we can talk shop. ANNA-MARIA: Monsieur, I don't think that-FRIDOLIN: We live behind the church. I'm counting on you! Madame. ANNA-MARIA: Wolfgang, I don't have much confidence in this man. MOZART: Why not? ANNA-MARIA: Oh, you nave little thing! Because it's too good to be true! CCILIA: Psst! Well? FRIDOLIN: Darling! I did what you told me to-CCILIA: Is he coming? Did he accept? FRIDOLIN: Yes, my Cecilia, I'm bringing him to you! CCILIA: And his mother? Is she coming too?

FRIDOLIN: I'm afraid so. CCILIA: But I told you not to bring her the first time! She'll ruin everything! You poor thing, I really can't ask anything of you, can I? FRIDOLIN: It's your job to soften him up too! CCILIA: Exactly, my dear. And I've done my job. Look! FRIDOLIN: The invitation! It even smells good! CCILIA: A true perfume of success! Our daughter, invited to sing a week of concerts before the Princess d'Orange! "Aloysia Weber: Prima Donna"! FRIDOLIN: Yes, but now we have to convince Mozart to compose for her. CCILIA: Well then, let's get them ready for a little reception, our style. Ladies! FRIDOLIN: Come in, come on in! Thank you, thank you for coming! Let me present my wife, Cecilia. CCILIA: Enchanted, madame. ANNA-MARIA: Madame. CCILIA: Ah, here is the famous Monsieur Mozart my husband has said so much about! These are my

daughters: Sophie... Josepha... and Constance. Constance, come say hello, please. Make yourselves comfortable! Sophie! SOPHIE: Yes, Maman? CCILIA: Could you serve the cocoa to...? ANNA-MARIA: Anna Maria. CCILIA: Anna Maria! And you, uh, Wolfgang, I think? Would you like--? MOZART: No thank you. CCILIA: Constance, stop singing that stupid song right now! ANNA-MARIA: But it's charming! CCILIA: That's enough, Constance! Good. Wolfgang, dear! I've heard tell that you were a child prodigy! MOZART: Oh? CCILIA: It's even been said that your father had you play the piano with your hands tied behind your back! SOPHIE: Wow! FRIDOLIN:

No, my dear, no! Blindfolded! MOZART: Madame, I'm a musician, not a magician. BIM BAM BOUM ALOYSIA: I am a woman, half-moon, half-human An anagram, an erratum They design me, they create me I fascinate you, that astonishes you My heart constricts I'm doped by adrenaline Beating in time Bim, bam, bim, boom Bim, bam, bim, boom Bim, bam, bim, boom My heart whispers Bim, bam, bim, boom Bim, bam, bim, boom My whole being cracks I am a dream, an ectoplasm Just a lie, a redundancy Met with your spasms, I'm cold as ice I have no place in your fantasies Beneath my iron mask Tears lacerate my old wounds Bim, bam, bim, boom Bim, bam, bim, boom Bim, bam, bim, boom My heart whispers Bim, bam, bim, boom Bim, bam, bim, boom My whole being cracks

My heart whispers My soul murmurs Beneath my armour I am cracking My heart whispers (I am a woman) My soul murmurs (Half-moon, half-human) Beneath my armour I am cracking My heart whispers (I fascinate you) My soul murmurs (That astonishes you) Beneath my armour I am cracking Bim, bam, bim, boom Bim, bam, bim, boom Bim, bam, bim, boom My heart whispers CCILIA: Wolfgang, dear, let me introduce you to our daughter... Aloysia. ALOYSIA: Monsieur. Since my father first told me about you I've been dying to meet you. MOZART: Mademoiselle! Your song astounded me! Your voice is so pure! So gentle! ALOYSIA: Please don't judge me too harshly! I have much more to learn. FRIDOLIN:

Exactly, dear Wolfgang! Our Aloysia has been invited to give a few concerts for the Princess d'Orange in one week! CCILIA: And the poor thing has such a small repertoire! ALOYSIA: Monsieur, would you give me a few lessons? MOZART: Yes! I'll take the job! I'm ready to help and to compose you the most beautiful symphonies-ANNA-MARIA: Wolfgang! ALOYSIA: Papa, perhaps Monsieur Mozart could come with us to the Princess's court! FRIDOLIN: Of course! Then you could show her your music! CCILIA: What a good idea! Isn't it, madame? ANNA-MARIA: But Wolfgang, we can't leave Mannheim right now! Think of your job with the Prince and the opera that's been commissioned! MOZART: Mademoiselle! We can begin immediately! ANNA-MARIA: I'm going back to the hotel. I'm going to write to your father. And you know what he'll think of all this. Don't touch me! ALOYSIA: Constance, if you please?

CONSTANCE: I beg your pardon? ALOYSIA: Could you move? CONSTANCE: Your Highness. CCILIA: Oh, my love, she's perfect! Look how fascinated he is! CONSTANCE: Oh yes, really, she's perfect! CCILIA: No one asked you! FRIDOLIN: You don't find him a little strange, do you? CCILIA: No, no, it's-- it's nerves. That's it, nerves. Anyway, it's not like we'll ask him to marry her. AH! VOUS DIRAI-JE MAMAN CONSTANCE: Shall I tell you, Maman The cause of my torment? Since I saw Wolfgang Looking at me tenderly My heart keeps saying Can you live without a lover? He blushes and unfortunately A sigh betrays his heart The cruel girl skillfully Takes advantage of his weakness

Alas, Maman, one false step Makes him fall into her arms ANNA-MARIA: My dear husband, all our hopes were in vain. The Prince has closed his doors to us and ever since Wolfgang fell under the charm of this... Aloysia Weber... nothing else matters to him. I beg you, write to him at once and bring him back to his senses-MOZART: Good evening, my darling Maman! ANNA-MARIA: Wolfgang, my dear, I have to tell you-MOZART: We rehearsed all day, you know! And Aloysia is... amazing. She's marvellous. You know-ANNA-MARIA: Wolfgang, listen to me! MOZART: But I am listening, Maman! Hey, we have to get our trunks packed! We leave tomorrow to see the Princess d'Orange. Plus-- What is it, Maman? ANNA-MARIA: It's just that we have nothing more to do in Mannheim. The commission for your opera has been dropped and your applications for employement rejected. MOZART: Dropped? Rejected? Well, too bad! Aloysia is my future! She'll be my muse and I'll be her poet! ANNA-MARIA: You're losing your head, my poor boy. MOZART: An aria for my sublime Aloysia: Crudel periglio. FRIDOLIN:

Bravo! LA PRINCESSE D'ORANGE: Congratulations, mademoiselle. That was charming! They're a lovely pair, aren't they, my friends? CCILIA: What are you waiting for? Talk to her! FRIDOLIN: No, Cecilia, not in front of all these high society people! LA PRINCESSE D'ORANGE: My friends, after the music comes the dance! Let the ball begin! FRIDOLIN: Your Highness, I'm the father of the singer Aloysia Weber! I'd like to respectfully request a recommendation for-LA PRINCESSE D'ORANGE: Come on, Monsieur Mozart. Come see me. FRIDOLIN: Your Highness, she dreams of the Opera! If your Highness would please listen, your support would be so important-LA PRINCESSE D'ORANGE: I've heard tell that you're composing an opera in German. Tell me about it! Is it a love story about me? FRIDOLIN: Your Highness, if you would be so kind-CCILIA: A perfect chance ruined! You're terrible at this!

FRIDOLIN: You saw she wouldn't listen to me! CCILIA: Shut up, you idiot! You've never been able to do anything good for your daughter! FRIDOLIN: Oh? CCILIA: Fridolin! Come back here right now! Fridolin! ALOYSIA: You're not going to congratulate me? CONSTANCE: I'm not sure you deserve it. ALOYSIA: What has you so upset? CONSTANCE: You two get on my nerves! You, with your grand airs like a diva and Wolfgang sighing like a lovesick idiot. ALOYSIA: You're jealous. CONSTANCE: What, me? Jealous? ALOYSIA: Yes, jealous! You gaze at him so greedily! CONSTANCE: At least I don't make fun of him! ALOYSIA:

I don't make fun of anyone! We just work together. CONSTANCE: No, you use him! He's as true in his feelings as he is in his music! You aren't! SIX PIEDS SOUS TERRE ALOYSIA: But why worry about it? Tomorrow our wars CONSTANCE: Will blow over Six feet under In the meantime, you exasperate me Little bitch with grand airs Nah nah nah nah nah! ALOYSIA: You're fit to live with the nuns Look at what you call happiness! Nah nah nah nah nah! ALOYSIA AND CONSTANCE: But why worry about it? Our little wars Will blow over Six feet under CONSTANCE: You cheat with people's feelings But you're only lying to yourself Nah nah nah nah nah!

ALOYISA: With your bigoted morality Even knitting blows your mind Nah nah nah nah nah! ALOYSIA AND CONSTANCE: But why worry about it? Our little wars Will blow over Six feet under CONSTANCE: Time passes We face a dead end Before we go in We know to be wise I know how feeble my hurtful words are I'm angry at myself ALOYSIA: Time flies With no way out Encouraged by my fears I snap at you in anger One last reproach And the wall gets closer I'm just as angry with myself CONSTANCE: You've worn out so many mirrors You wear too much makeup to see yourself Nah nah nah nah nah! ALOYSIA: In your mirror you see a nobody Just the reflection of a little bitch!

Nah nah nah nah nah! ALOYISA AND CONSTANCE: But why worry about it? Our little wars Will blow over Six feet under But why worry about it? Our little wars Will blow over Six feet under Nah nah nah nah nah! MOZART: Friends, it's a triumph! CONSTANCE: Wolfgang, I'm so happy for you! MOZART: Thank you! Thank you. CCILIA: So, tell us! MOZART: Dearest Aloysia... the Princess is going to renew your engagement. That's how much your singing pleased her! FRIDOLIN: I knew she would! ALOYSIA: Thank you, Wolfgang, from the bottom of my heart.

CCILIA: You see, love? It wasn't so difficult! CONSTANCE: Wolfgang, Wolfgang! MOZART: Maman? What are you doing here? ANNA-MARIA: Here, this is for you. MOZART: Oh. For me? ANNA-MARIA: Yes. It's a letter from your father. CCILIA: Is it good news? J'ACCUSE MON PRE LOPOLD: My mistakes, my sorrows, my propriety, my regrets All for what? You mock them, you reject them all at once You sweep them away with a flick of your wrist My memories, my history Regardless, you bury my past Tomorrow you'll say "Why didn't I see the traps?" Carried away on this odious carousel Resentments, fears, and miseries At the heart of bitter love Dark nights, setbacks For the glory of fleeting pleasures

I can preach all I want into the desert How can I keep quiet? The earth turns like mankind Repeating our fathers' mistakes We always taste the same apple The serpent dances while we're ensnared In yesterday's mistakes In order to grow, to blossom And get out of the ancient round In my shadow, in the ruins of sombre days You'll find the light You're enlightened by my mistakes How can I keep quiet? The earth turns like mankind Repeating our fathers' mistakes We always taste the same apple The serpent dances while we're ensnared The earth revolves around mankind We have to undo what we are By embracing our fathers Wolfgang! Get ahold of yourself! Give up this Aloysia. Leave at once for Paris. In Paris you'll find honour and success. Make your talent known. Only then may you return to this Mademoiselle Weber. Wolfgang, obey me! MOZART: Aloysia. Aloysia, I have to leave you. ALOYSIA: Leave me? MOZART: Yes. Tomorrow.

ALOYSIA: What about our concerts? MOZART: I don't know. You'll sing without me. CCILIA: Wolfgang, what's going on? MOZART: I have to leave Mannheim and go to Paris. CCILIA: Just like that? No warning? But think! What about Aloysia and all our plans? Madame, tell us what's going on! MOZART: No, that's all there is to it. I'm leaving. Aloysia, I won't be long. A few months at most. ALOYSIA: A few months? But that's an eternity, a lifetime! No, don't go! FRIDOLIN: This time everything is ruined! CCILIA: The cretin! MOZART: Aloysia. Aloysia, no! My father is right. Today I'm nothing. In Paris I'll make a name for myself. I'll make a fortune so I can be worthy of you! ALOYSIA: I beg you! MOZART: Aloysia. I love you. Don't forget me. Adieu. Adieu.

ALOYSIA: I... hate you. I hate you. I hate you! TATOUE-MOI MOZART: Divine, candid libertine Tonight I'm inviting myself into your bed Let the husbands sleep We'll love each other right under the gentlemen's noses! I will learn your language and your accent To understand you I will be frivolous and decadent To surprise you Tattoo me on your breast With the tip of my lips I'll kiss your hands I'll make sure it pleases you Tattoo it on your walls A future for me to compose I want to carve all my lusts into your gilding Let's go out arm in arm And have no fear of their vile arrogance (Such impropriety!) Let's go visit the bourgeois Gulp down their wine and tease their consciences (You'll pay for this offense!) Why should I care about the stares and the laughter at my quirks? They are my wealth My standard They're my world Tattoo me on your breast With the tip of my lips I'll kiss your hands

I'll make sure it pleases you Tattoo it on your walls A future for me to compose I want to carve all my lusts into your gilding To tattoo you without moderation Let yourself fall into my arms Slip me beneath your sheets Let's drift away into excess Let's sing out for polite society The delights of indecency Tattoo me on your breast With the tip of my lips I'll kiss your hands I'll make sure it pleases you Tattoo it on your walls A future for me to compose I want to carve all my lusts into your gilding ANNA-MARIA Wolfgang! Wolfgang! MOZART: Maman? Maman! Maman, wake up. Wake up, Maman. ANNA-MARIA: I don't feel very well, son. MOZART: I'll go find a doctor. Help! It's for my mother! She's feeling faint. Please, I don't have any money on me, but I'll pay you. I beg you! Help us! ANNA-MARIA: Wolfgang? Where are you? Everything is so dark, I... I can't see.

MOZART: I'm here, Maman. Don't move. I called for a doctor. ANNA-MARIA: What are you going to pay him with? We have nothing left. MOZART: Yesterday one of Baron Grimm's friends commissioned a sonata from me! He promised a solid advance. You'll see, Maman. ANNA-MARIA: Oh, don't lie, Wolfgang. I know Baron Grimm hasn't done anything for you and I know Paris has closed all its doors to you. MOZART: No! ANNA-MARIA: Leave, my darling! Promise me you'll leave this awful city and go home. Take good care of your sister. MOZART: Why are you saying this, Maman? It'll be you taking care of her. ANNA-MARIA: Also promise me you'll go back to your father. He loves you, you know. Tell him-MOZART: Maman, you'll be-- why're you--? ANNA-MARIA: Tell him... MOZART: Come on, we'll go back to the hotel. We'll leave for Salzburg tomorrow, I promise, Maman! Let's go. Come on, Maman. Maman! Maman! Let me go. I beg you. I beg you. LA MASCARADE

MOZART: Aloysia! Aloysia! You don't recognise me? Wolfgang! Wolfgang Mozart! ALOYSIA: My God. Wolfgang? MOZART: Yes. I'm so happy to have found you again! I've just returned from Paris and-ALOYSIA: But what are you wearing? And you're working as a servant now? Music doesn't please you anymore? MOZART: It does! ALOYSIA: Oh, don't tell me you're wearing the latest style from Paris! MOZART: My mother is dead. These are my mourning clothes. ALOYSIA: Oh, that's too bad-- I mean, it's terrible! Either way, they're hideous. You should consider changing them. And get to a hairdresser, too! MOZART: Aloysia! While I was in Paris I thought of nothing but you! Here, I even brought you this aria. ALOYSIA: The thing is, all these months have gone by and while you were gone I was engaged at the Opera. MOZART: The Opera? ALOYSIA:

Yes, and I'm already completely buried in the best sheet music. MOZART: Aloysia, I'm here before you, ready to serve you. I want to share your life. I want to marry you. ALOYSIA: Marry me? Oh. I forgot to introduce you to Monsieur Joseph Lange. JOSEPH LANGE: Monsieur. ALOYSIA: We're going to be married. Enjoy your return to Salzburg. If you ever happen by Munich, come visit us. And say hello to your father. MOZART: I hate them all... with their pretensions, behaving like little courtiers. I'm going back to Salzburg. But... I won't give up. I'm going all the way with my music. All the way to you! Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, betrayed, humiliated, greets you. JE DORS SUR DES ROSES MOZART: Too much noise For too many pensive nights When absence waltzes In this ball Your silence is a wounding cry I can make out your face in the shadows My sombre memories assassinate me I sleep on roses That sign my cross The pain is obvious And I don't dare Miss you In my nights In the rain

In the laughter In the worst of my life Too much noise For my spirit which stumbles On my drained dreams Funny dance The memory is a well of suffering Above your defended body My love hangs Sways I sleep on roses That sign my cross The pain is obvious But I don't dare Graze against the things That bloomed without you Oh, my rose Don't fade I miss you In my nights In the rain In the laughter In the worst of my life I hate the roses As much as my sobs Life imposes I believe again In my old dreams At last I want To brave the fever Of the perfume From the roses ACT TWO

LOPOLD: Well, is that it, then? You're leaving? MOZART: Yes, Father. In Vienna I'll finally be able to live amongst musicians to play in salons, to compose for the Prince! LOPOLD: No, no, Wolfgang. You aren't going for yourself. You're just accompanying Colloredo to the new emperor's coronation. Don't forget that! Content yourself with obeying him. MOZART: But Father, Vienna is a new chance for me. LOPOLD: A chance? A chance! You've already had all sorts of chances! You ruined them all: your travels, your meetings, all of them! Even your poor mother... MOZART: That's not true! LOPOLD: You neglected her! MOZART: No! LOPOLD: You let her die! You've torn out the other half of my soul. MOZART: Father. All my life I've worked hard to make you proud of me. If I've disappointed you, I'm sorry for it! But now I can't carry on like this. LOPOLD: Wolfgang.

MOZART: I've taken bullying and humiliation from this tyrant for the past three years. LOPOLD: Wolfgang! MOZART: It's over! This time I'm going to Vienna for me. For my music. COLLOREDO: No, Mozart. You are in Vienna in my service and I forbid you to perform outside my household! MOZART: But your Highness, I just wanted to ask your permission-COLLOREDO: Return to the kitchens now. Your place is among the servants. FOOTMAN 1: If Maestro would like to have a seat... FOOTMAN 2: Dinner is served! FOOTMAN 3: You don't appreciate our company? FOOTMAN 1: Oh, the musician is so delicate! FOOTMAN 2: Now you're going to drink to our health! Go on! COMDIE-TRAGDIE

EVIL CLOWN: Little coward Wants to grow up But he keeps his seat Little buffoon Insults the sultan And he is punished Life is unfair but it depends for whom Life is especially unfair for underlings Life is unfair and that's why you laugh In the homes of high society, the powerful people The rotten parts laugh NANNERL: My dear brother, I know that your life in Vienna is hellish. But I beg you, Wolfgang, be good! LA CAVALIERI: What's going on, Monsieur Mozart? You cancelled our rehearsals! I'm speaking to you, Herr Mozart! Is he deaf? He's deaf! He's deaf! EVIL CLOWN: Let's love each other Comedy, tragedy All children are ours Comedy, tragedy The blows hardly matter You'll turn the other cheek Comedy, tragedy The wretches will be happy Raised up to the kingdom of heaven FOP:

Monsieur Mozart, what's this I hear? Colloredo forbids you to come to my salons? That's too bad! It's too bad, too bad, too bad! MOZART: Enough! Monsieur Mufti! Lord of Lesser Souls! Take one last, good look at me. Me--Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart! I'm quitting tonight! Do you hear, my Prince? I'm free! Free! PLACE JE PASSE MOZART: No disrespect to the footmen Who kiss the feet of men with better shoes I have to laugh They live the lives of crushed bugs Silence the futile commotion That glimmers in high society I'm much more at home committing the crime of lese-majesty No one on earth is master of mankind Prince of law Get back! I'm coming through! I'm the king of my dreams The monarch of liberty Take chances Pay tribute To this rising madman Get back! I'm coming through! I'm the king of my dreams The monarch of my ideas Take chances Pay tribute To this scoundrel enamoured with noble thoughts No disrespect to the highnesses Who dodge even the smallest of our desires I sit on their clay thrones like they're only my chair

No one on earth is a god among men Worthy of faith Get back! I'm coming through! I'm the king of my dreams The monarch of liberty Take chances Pay tribute To this rising madman Get back! I'm coming through! I'm the king of my dreams The monarch of my ideas Take chances Pay tribute To this scoundrel enamoured with noble thoughts GENTLEMAN: Bravo! BRAVO MOZART GUY: Bravo, Mozart! ROSENBERG: Really, my dear Stephanie, an opera in German? How inane! STEPHANIE: Well, Steward Rosenberg, I don't share your opinion! I don't-ROSENBERG: It's heresy, I tell you! I mean, are you imagining singers from the slums on the stage of the Imperial Theatre? Salieri, my friend, can you imagine it? It would be like... (He pretends to sing in German.) It doesn't mean anything. STEPHANIE: But it does--!

ROSENBERG: Yeah, what is it? FOOTMAN: His majesty Joseph II, emperor of Austria, the sun of Tyrol-EMPEROR JOSEPH: That's good, my friend, that's good. Hello gentlemen! Follow me! ROSENBERG: Your Majesty! Mademoiselle. EMPEROR JOSEPH: Alright! I'm listening. ROSENBERG: Your Majesty, allow me to introduce Monsieur Stephanie who has come to bring you the libretto to the opera you commissioned and he wrote. Go on, get to your place. STEPHANIE: Ooh, sorry! Majesty! ROSENBERG: Back here! Come on! Hurry! EMPEROR JOSEPH: "The Abduction from the Seraglio." STEPHANIE: Yes, Majesty. EMPEROR JOSEPH: What a funny title! STEPHANIE: Majesty, it's an excellent story! It's a show full of twists and turns, Sire! EMPEROR JOSEPH:

Very good. And who have we gotten to do the music to our opera? STEPHANIE: Well, I've called upon Wolfgang Mozart! He's a very promising young composer! All Vienna is talking about him! It's Mozart this, Mozart that-ROSENBERG: A young featherbrain, your Majesty, who has been spreading the word that he only wants to compose in German, in German...! STEPHANIE: Yes exactly, in German! Sire, if you think this choice is acceptable-EMPEROR JOSEPH: Tell me, my dear Salieri, what do you think of all this? SALIERI: A featherbrain... but infinitely talented. ROSENBERG: Oh, Salieri! STEPHANIE: Yes exactly! SALIERI: Even so... his youth and inexperience cannot be denied. EMPEROR JOSEPH: Gentlemen, I've heard what you have to say. We will choose--Mozart! STEPHANIE: Thank you! EMPEROR JOSEPH: Rosenberg. ROSENBERG:

Yes? EMPEROR JOSEPH: You will follow this business closely. ROSENBERG: Very well, your Majesty. EMPEROR JOSEPH: You will be in charge of it, Steward. ROSENBERG: Absolutely. EMPEROR JOSEPH: Now set the night for the premier! STEPHANIE: He chose Mozart! He chose Mozart! He chose Mozart! ROSENBERG: Are you done? Is the fat lady finished singing? STEPHANIE: Yes, I'm done! I'm done! ROSENBERG: Oh, I'll shut her up! CCILIA: Josepha! JOSEPHA: Yes? CCILIA: Will you change the sheets in the room on the second floor?

JOSEPHA: Yes, Maman. CCILIA: Constance? Constance! CONSTANCE: Yes, Maman? CCILIA: Are Monsieur Hofer's shirts ready? CONSTANCE: They're on their way! CCILIA: Okay, but hurry up! He's waiting to leave. Alright, so that's... Two, four, six, eight... good, the count is right! Well, his shirts? CONSTANCE: Look, here they are! CCILIA: Good, go, go on! Go on, you! Get out of here! Constance, what are you doing? There's work to be done. CONSTANCE: I've had enough! Enough working like a maid! Why don't you hire a governess? CCILIA: Oh yeah? And the money to pay her, where will you find that? Stupid girl! Since your father's death, now that Aloysia is married and off playing diva, I work myself to death over laundry, but you! You get so tired! You need so much rest! Sometimes I ask myself if you're soft in the head! SI JE DFAILLE CONSTANCE:

I've burned all my novels Assassinated my Prince Charmings I've erased the tracks and the regrets Bitter regrets of wounded love I made myself a promise To give up on lovers And then one night He touched me without thinking His gaze burned my skin And if I falter (And if she falters) I'll be impaled on his fangs I'm not strong enough I'll end up in his clutches And if I falter (If she falters) I'll be hurt for sure I have to go away Before that animal devours me My body and more (Her body and more) How my break-ups hold me back How my wounds remind me of it I'm headed towards a fall My demons are watching me Offered up, I throw myself in And if I falter (And if she falters) I'll be impaled on his fangs I'm not strong enough I'll end up in his clutches It has to be worth the trouble (If she falters) Without too much pain One flash in the pan

Would surely be the final blow To my body and more (Body and more) How my break-ups hold me back Oh my God! SOPHIE: Maman, it's Wolfgang! Wolfgang has come to visit us! CCILIA: My word, it's him alright! Wolfgang the runaway! The deserter! Well, I hope you regret having abandoned us in Mannheim at least! MOZART: Oh Madame Weber, I regret it profusely. CCILIA: It's forgotten! Aloysia is set up nicely, well-married, famous... and even expecting a child! MOZART: A child? CCILIA: But to what do we owe the honour of your visit, Maestro? MOZART: Right, I'd like to rent a room. CCILIA: Well, alright! But watch yourself, hm? No discrepancies. I have three more daughters, so don't try to take advantage of the situation. There won't be a second Aloysia. As for me, don't even dream of it. You aren't my type at all. SOPHIE: We know all about you!

JOSEPHA: You slammed the door in Colloredo's face! SOPHIE: The Prince has commissioned an opera from you! JOSEPHA: And you aren't married yet! SOPHIE: Oh, and--! CONSTANCE: Girls! Let him breathe! You're very pale. MOZART: Yeah... CONSTANCE: We're going to take care of you. JOSEPHA AND SOPHIE: And if she falters If she falters She'll be hurt for sure She has to go away Before that animal devours her Her body and more ROSENBERG: Alright, hurry up, Monsieur Stephanie, hurry up! Oh, I'm so bored. I'm so bored. STEPHANIE: We're getting there, we're getting there! But could you maybe come back in a second, because we-ROSENBERG: What happened now? Rehearsal hasn't begun yet?

STEPHANIE: Of course it has, but-ROSENBERG: Mozzarella? Mozart isn't here? STEPHANIE: Uh, what? (*Mozart est l, meaning 'Mozart is here', is pronounced like "Mozzarella") ROSENBERG: Mozart isn't here? That's it, isn't it? STEPHANIE: Well, yes, evidently, but-ROSENBERG: Get away. STEPHANIE: What? ROSENBERG: Get away. You're getting on my nerves. Oh my God! Oh my God, Salieri, don't look at this. I knew it. We should have come later. SALIERI: Monsieur Stephanie. STEPHANIE: Yes? That's me! SALIERI: Which is Mozart? MOZART:

Constance! You promised me a kiss! CONSTANCE: So come and get it! LA CAVALIERI: Maestro Mozart, we're ready. We're waiting for you. MOZART: Good, Mademoiselle Cavalieri, for once it's you who will wait for me! STEPHANIE: Maestro! MOZART: Silence! Get to work! ROSENBERG: Announce us, I tell you! MOZART: Alright, we'll take it from the tenth aria, please. I'll count you in. SALIERI: Mozart. The Steward Rosenberg and I are here at the Emperor's request in order to judge your work. From what I'm seeing, I think he will be concerned about the result. ROSENBERG: Thank you! MOZART: How can you judge the work without hearing the first note? ROSENBERG: Oh, oh, notes! Notes! Notes! Too many notes! It seems to me that your music is stuffed with unplayable, insurmountable difficulties. Hm? Hm? Hm? Hm? MOZART:

Too many notes? ROSENBERG: That's exactly what I said, yes. MOZART: And who has been saying these stupid things, Monsieur, if it's not your prejudgement? ROSENBERG: This is an outrage, Monsieur, and I will tolerate it no longer. So, until we meet again. Salieri? STEPHANIE: Just let me explain...! ROSENBERG: Salieri, are you coming? SALIERI: Bravo, my young friend. Bravo. Your little scene was very successful. Let's hope that your music is worthy of your pretension. MOZART: Wait! Salieri. You're a musician. Please, take this. I don't need it. LE BIEN QUI FAIT MAL SALIERI: Where is this strange feeling coming from? It fascinates me as much as it unsettles me I shiver, pierced by beauty It's like a knife in my soul The wound goes through my heart And I take joy in the pain Intoxicated by this poison Until I lose my mind It's so good it hurts When you love

Your hatred is perfectly normal Take pleasure It's so good to suffer Succumb to the spell Shed your tears It's so good it hurts (Hurts me) When you love Your sorrow is perfectly banal (It's so good it hurts) True delights Come from torture Lower your weapons Shed your tears I feel violent urges It seems like I'm slipping into the depths If I ignore the source of this curse I love letting it under my skin Bewitched by mad ideas Suddenly my urges arise Desire becomes my prison Until I lose my mind It's so good it hurts When you love Your hatred is perfectly normal Take pleasure It's so good to suffer Succumb to the spell Shed your tears It's so good it hurts (It hurts) When you love Your sorrow is perfectly banal (It's so good it hurts) True delights Come from torture

Lower your weapons Shed your tears (Shed my tears) It's so good it hurts When you love Your hatred is completely normal Take pleasure It's so good to suffer Succumb to the spell Shed your tears It's so good it hurts (It hurts) When you love Your sorrow is completely banal (It's so good it hurts) True delights Come from torture Lower your weapons Shed your tears (Shed my tears) MOZART: Well, Maestro? Too many notes? SALIERI: Mozart, listen to my advice. Remember your place and all will be well between us. MOZART: Constance! CONSTANCE: Wolfy! Oh, my love! MOZART: Constance! Are you going to give me that kiss now? CONSTANCE:

Yes! CCILIA: My God, the villain! CONSTANCE: Maman! CCILIA: Well, my little dears! Caught in the act! How shameful! MOZART: Cecilia! Maman--Madame! This is a terrible misunderstanding! CCILIA: You've said your piece. MOZART: But no, I-CCILIA: You swear, right? Wolfgang, you are our-- our ruin! Yes! Our ruin. You two have displayed such shameless behaviour in public! All of Vienna will be pointing at us! So many efforts, so many sacrifices, all to see my little Constance dishonoured! Thank God your poor father can't see this. CONSTANCE: Maman, how dare you? CCILIA: Oh, shut up! Get out of here! CONSTANCE: Never! CCILIA: You little pest!

MOZART: I think it would be best if I left. VON THORWART: Wait a minute, young man. You aren't thinking of running away? MOZART: Me, run? No, on the contrary--! VON THORWART: Because if you try to disappear I shall call the police! MOZART: The police? No! Who are you, monsieur? VON THORWART: I'm... I'm this poor girl's guardian! CCILIA: Thank you, my friend, for coming so quickly! VON THORWART: You, the debaucher, will have to repair the honour of this family after all the pain you have caused them. MOZART: How can I, monsieur? VON THORWART: By signing this. A promise to marry in good and due form. MOZART: A promise to marry? But my father will refuse. CCILIA: The cheat! He's using his father against us again! VON THORWART:

You must become engaged to Mademoiselle Constance Weber within the next three years! In the event that you don't respect this... you will have to play three hundred florins to Madame Cecilia Weber. MOZART: Oh God! CCILIA: Ah, yes, that's it. Yes. VON THORWART: Is all this clear? MOZART: What's clear is how well your trap has sprung. Madame, my compliments. VON THORWART: Alright, Mozart. Sign it. NANNERL: Papa! Listen to the news! 'At the request of his Majesty, Monsieur Mozart has begun rehearsals of The Abduction from the Seraglio. There is no doubt that this promising work will receive a warm welcome from the Viennese public.' Oh Papa! This is it! Our Wolfgang is going to be famous! Why are you making that face? LOPOLD: Your brother. He wrote asking me to allow him to marry Constance Weber, Aloysia's sister. He has been waylaid again by a girl from this evil family, but never! Never, as long as I'm alive, will I let him marry her. Never! NANNERL: But Papa, I don't understand you. I'm sure that Constance is sincere. And if Wolfgang loves her... why are you stopping them from being happy? LES SOLOS SOUS LES DRAPS NANNERL: She wants all of his talent

Grandiose flights of fancy The grand switchbacks Beneath the virtuoso's baton Whatever the musician dares CONSTANCE: I want the sacraments An aria from a romantic opera A lover from the vault of heaven And choruses on top of that In a blaze of glory LOPOLD: Such presumptuousness! NANNERL AND CONSTANCE: Goodbye Solos beneath the sheets Together We'll play scales up and down So wicked Getting off with wedding rings on Heaven Blessing all our frolics MOZART: Constance. What have you done? I can't imagine you were part of this scheme of your mother's... CONSTANCE: Do you really doubt it? MOZART: Right now I doubt everything. CONSTANCE: Wolfgang! Wolfgang, I love you more than anyone in the world. If one day you decide to marry me, I don't want it to be because of some second-rate promise signed on a contract.

MOZART: That's not good enough. CONSTANCE: Do you recognise this document? I stole it from my mother this morning. This is what I think of it. MOZART: Mademoiselle Constance Weber, will you be my wife? NANNERL: She wants a harmony His hand to conduct her To feel his ardour In a symphony of sighs Violins of desire LOPOLD: How lecherous! NANNERL: Goodbye Solos beneath the sheets CONSTANCE: Together We'll play scales up and down NANNERL AND CONSTANCE: So wicked Getting off with wedding rings on Heaven Blessing all our frolics LOPOLD: I speak in the name of the father Don't release the angel's hand

It's worth more than this vulgar comedy There is no salvation on earth In fleeting loves NANNERL: Goodbye Solos beneath the sheets Together We'll play scales up and down NANNERL AND CONSTANCE: So wicked Getting off with wedding rings on Heaven Blessing all our frolics Goodbye Solos beneath the sheets Heaven Will bless all our frolics ROSENBERG: Get that away from me at once! It's right here, look! Imbecile. Oh, I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. I should never have let this get out of hand! Tonight is the premier of Mozart's new opera and all Vienna awaits the first wave of that rowdy Mozart's batonlike it's the event of the year. And Salieri, that imbecile Who doesn't understand any of it, who tells me... "You'll see, Rosenbeeerg. This music will create confusion in the court and with the Emperor, and everything will be put back in ooooorder." What an idiot. On the other hand, this confusion he mentioned could seduce everyone! You never know! I'd never have guessed that if you listen carefully to it you can find two or three audible moments. Even effective. It's true. I admit it. For example: the overture! The exposition! Oh, it's magical! Listen to it! Here. Listen. ROSENBERG: Salieri, it's you. Oh, you scared me, Salieri, my God! SALIERI: Tell me... ROSENBERG:

Yeah? SALIERI: Rosenbeeeeerg... Mozart's music pleases you that much? ROSENBERG: On the contrary! I was cursing in rage against-SALIERI: Oh, you were cursing? ROSENBERG: Yes, I was cursing! SALIERI: In rage? ROSENBERG: In rage, yes, in rage! I was saying to myself, tonight is the premier of The Abduction from the Seraglio, and Mozart can not-- must not succeed! So...so I have some friends sitting right in front of the Emperor who are ready to hiss and boo this silly opera as much as it deserves. SALIERI: Do it, my friend. ROSENBERG: Oh yes, I'll do it! Yes! GENTLEMAN: Quiet! Quiet, please! Please! Thank you. My dear Mozart! Your opera is a triumph! MOZART: Thank you! Thanks. GENTLEMAN: Rosenberg and Salieri are humiliated! CONSTANCE: My love! I'm so proud of you!

STEPHANIE: Friends, friends! Let's raise our glasses to this lovely victory! DA PONTE: Excuse me. Excuse me! I'd like to speak to Maestro Mozart. MOZART: He is before you, monsieur. DA PONTE: My name is Lorenzo Da Ponte, author and poet of the court. MOZART: Lorenzo Da Ponte. My friends, the author of Maestro Salieri's librettos has honoured me with a visit! So what do you want from me, monsieur? DA PONTE: I would like to write a libretto for you. But clearly this is a bad time. I'll come back tomorrow. MOZART: No, Da Ponte! Stay! Stay. The great Mozart returns to his music! You can go on in; dinner is served! I think. I'm listening. DA PONTE: Well, I simply propose a light comedy taken from a play by Carlo Goldoni. It's exactly the sort of thing the Viennese enjoy. You know the limits as well as I do. MOZART: I've got something better. The Marriage of Figaro. DA PONTE: The play by Beaumarchais? But you know that the Emperor has forbidden it in Vienna. MOZART: Well, you'll convince him otherwise! DA PONTE:

How could I make him reconsider his decision? He'll never agree. This work provoked a veritable scandal in France and the rumours of revolution are echoing all over Europe. MOZART: It will be Figaro or nothing. DA PONTE: Then it will be without me! A valet who teaches a lesson to and ridicules a count! The Viennese-your public, Mozart--won't follow you. MOZART: Da Ponte! What I want to bring to life isn't the revolutionary ideals, but the rifts in human passions! Figaro touched me infinitely. His revolt is that of a free man. Your talent and my music--we'll succeed! Accept! Accept, Da Ponte! PAGE: Tonight, his Majesty the Emperor Joseph II will attend the rehearsal of The Marriage of Figaro at his Imperial Theatre an opera in four acts presented by Messieurs Mozart and Da Ponte. EMPEROR JOSEPH: What's going on? Why isn't the orchestra playing? Can someone tell me? Da Ponte, what is this play-acting supposed to mean? DA PONTE: Pardon me, your Majesty, we have done nothing but respect your will. EMPEROR JOSEPH: My will? Alright, that's enough. Stop all this. MOZART: The steward Rosenberg has censored the dance during my finale. There you go. It seems that your Majesty does not tolerate ballet in his theatre. EMPEROR JOSEPH: Rosenberg? ROSENBERG: Your Majesty?

EMPEROR JOSEPH: Where did you get this rubbish? ROSENBERG: Your Majesty, I simply remembered that tradition does not permit ballet in your theatre. That's all. EMPEROR JOSEPH: Well, all I have to do is make a new tradition. I want to see and hear this ballet. Is that clear? Salieri, I must be dreaming. SALIERI: Your Majesty, it's unacceptable. ROSENBERG: But Salieri-EMPEROR JOSEPH: That's enough, Rosenberg! Salieri! Do it. SALIERI: Mozart. MOZART: Yes? SALIERI: Resume the finale with the orchestra, if you please. MOZART: Ah, I do please, in fact! Thank you, Monsieur Salieri! ROSENBERG: What are you doing? You're completely sick! Do you want me to fail or what? SALIERI: I simply saved you from the mess you almost got the two of us into.

ROSENBERG: By making Mozart triumph in the Emperor's eyes? Thank you very much, thanks! SALIERI: You don't understand, Rosenberg. Mozart is lost. Figaro is an affront to the nobility. They will never forgive him. The scandal is so close. Now, listen to me. Spread the rumour in the salons, sow discord in the cast, bribe them if necessary. And when the fruit is ripe, we'll come back to see the Emperor and he'll listen to me. ROSENBERG: Oh yes, that's good. That's very good. SALIERI: Can I count on you? ROSENBERG: Yes. SALIERI: Go on. And yet... his music is sublime. L'ASSASYMPHONIE: SALIERI: Tonight Unbearable insomnia Madness awaits me I am what I flee I endure This cacophony That saws in my head Tedious harmony It tells me You'll pay for your offenses No matter what happens We drag our chains Our sorrows

I dedicate my nights To the assasymphony To requiems Killing out of spite Everything I create I dedicate my nights To the assasymphony And to blasphemies I admit I curse Everyone who feels love The enemy Crouched in my mind Celebrates my defeats He defies me ceaselessly I reject The inevitable heresy That gnaws at my soul I want to be reborn Reborn I dedicate my nights To the assasymphony To requiems Killing out of spite Everything I create I dedicate my nights To the assasymphony And to blasphemies I admit I curse Everyone who feels love Weep, violins of my life The violence of my jealousy Senseless symphony Disconcerting concerto I play without touching beauty

My talent sounds off-key I drown my anxiety In my love of music I kill my fears In the dissonance I dedicate my nights To the assasymphony To requiems Killing out of spite Everything I create I dedicate my nights To the assasymphony And to blasphemies I admit I curse Everyone who feels love I dedicate my nights to the assasymphony (Assasymphony, assasymphony) I admit I curse Everyone who feels love ALOYSIA: Long live Figaro! CONSTANCE: Aloysia? Aloysia! ALOYSIA: Constance! FAISONS LA NOCE ALOYSIA: Let's throw a party To celebrate Figaro Mozart is a genius!

CONSTANCE: What a tour de force To go down amidst bravos In front of so many enemies ALOYSIA AND CONSTANCE: Despite the schemers Mozart has succeeded Despite the evildoers he has triumphed Right under the courtier's noses he's done it again That viper Rosenberg has been crushed Long live Figaro! ROSENBERG: Can I join in the fun? I've come with a contribution to your little party: The Marriage of Figaro is finished. Take down the advertisements. Under the order of his Majesty. CONSTANCE: You're lying! The Emperor wouldn't betray my husband like this! ALOYSIA: No, you're the one who has been working against Mozart with your slander! CCILIA: Wolfgang is the best composer in Vienna! ROSENBERG: Who's this harpy? You can tell the best composer in Vienna that he's nothing now! By tomorrow all doors will be closed to him! No one will want him anymore, do you hear me? No one! No one! DA PONTE: No, Mozart, no, this ending doesn't work at all! Don Juan huddled in hell? It's got to end on a high note, with something positive. We've got to completely erase the disastrous effect of The Marriage of Figaro. My friend, you've got to reconcile yourself with your public. MOZART:

What public? The people who celebrate you one day and then destroy you the next? DA PONTE: I know, but rehearsals start in three months and we haven't even finished the first act! Wolfgang, you aren't with me. What's going on? MOZART: My father is ill. I have a bad feeling about it. DA PONTE: Well, what can we do? MOZART: I'll leave tomorrow for Salzburg. I'll join my sister in watching over him. DA PONTE: It's too late. You can't recapture the past. MOZART: How can you say that? It's my father! I owe him everything! DA PONTE: Surely not your genius. Come on, let's work, please. MOZART: Genius? Genius, Da Ponte? He gave me love, too. It was the care he gave me as a child and his passion for music which he gave me throughout my life. DORS MON ANGE NANNERL: Lit up with a smile A misty gaze And you go dancing off to heaven You appease me, you lie to me Then you slip softly Into the most beautiful slumber

Sleep, my angel In eternal sincerity Sleep, my angel Heaven is your home Fly, my angel Life is sweeter somewhere else Sleep (Sleep) My angel, sleep The bells ring out the Angelus Fly (Fly) It's my childhood that flies away My dreams are being violated I'm a tightrope walker Suspended in the mist I walk on the line of your steps I stagger, I fall (I dive) And I dive into the foam Of days that remind me of you Sleep, my angel In eternal sincerity Sleep, my angel Heaven is your home Fly, my angel Time will heal my sorrow MOZART: Da Ponte. My father is dead. MASKED STRANGER: Monsieur Mozart...

MOZART: What- what do you want? MASKED STRANGER: Don't ask questions. The man who sent me believes you are the most talented of composers. MOZART: And what does he want from me? MASKED STRANGER: He wants you to compose a mass for the dead. MOZART: A requiem? But... for whom? MASKED STRANGER: That's none of your concern. Here are a hundred ducats. You will have more when you've finished the music. Work with the greatest possible care. The man is a connoisseur. CONSTANCE: A hundred ducats, Wolfgang! We're saved! MOZART: No! No, Constance, no. This man is not from our world. He came from the afterlife to announce the end. ROSENBERG: You know, Madame Rosenberg told me, 'Oh, my friend, my friend'--she was talking to me--'my friend, you are a marvellous creature!' You know I love to laugh. Alright! If you please! God grant long life to he whom his Majesty has just named choirmaster of the Imperial Chapel, our friend and composer Antonio Salieri! GUESTS: Bravo, Maestro! Bravo! VICTIME DE MA VICTOIRE: SALIERI:

I thought I had been chosen When I was stealing my story But I lost myself in order to win To conquer without virtue Is to triumph without glory Honour is worth more than a trophy Ridiculous! No scruples! You must triumph! If they worship you, no scruples Let yourself be carried away But the mirror avoids my gaze So it won't have to see that I'm the Victim of my victory Yes, I admit I was overcome by the taste of power Reaching the top without being elevated I'm the unseemly prince of a pathetic talent Making others love me without actually feeling love Ridiculous! No scruples! You must triumph! If they worship you, no scruples Let yourself be carried away But the mirror avoids my gaze So it won't have to see that I'm the Victim of my victory Victim of my victory! ROSENBERG: Better to be victim of a victory than king of a delusional dream! GENTLEMAN: Alone and dishonoured like that poor Mozart! PARTYGOER: Ruined by the failure of his miserable Don Juan!

GENTLEMAN: Reduced to composing a fairy tale! ROSENBERG: Yes, The Talkative Pipe, I think. Oh, no, that's it, it's come back to me--The Corked Flute! DA PONTE: It's The Magic Flute and you know it. ROSENBERG: Yes, yes yes yes, the farce. A poor farce of a fairy tale for aphasic, disenchanted artists! How does it go again? SALIERI: The Corked Flute! The Talkative Pipe! It's Mozart they're assassinating! Victim of my victory! My glory is pathetic! ENSEMBLE: Ridiculous! No scruples! You must triumph! If they worship you, no scruples Let yourself be carried away SALIERI: But the mirror avoids my gaze So it won't have to see that I'm the Victim of my victory ENSEMBLE: Ridiculous! No scruples! You must triumph! (Why triumph?) If they worship you, no scruples Let yourself be carried away (Why carry me away?)

SALIERI: But my pride is in mourning So it won't have to see that I'm the Victim of my victory Victim of my victory I'll go down in history as the loser CONSTANCE: Wolfgang, you're going to catch cold. MOZART: No, I've got it! I've got it. Listen. Write. "Lacrimosa"... tears... Re minor, first measure, end of the "Dies Irae"... Third measure, the beginning of the theme... Legato. La fa re re do. Third measure, hope at last! The chorus comes in, di and do in natural, twelve per tone and then half-tone. Inaccessible... my music will transcend the heavens... light... SSSMAYR: Master? GENTLEMAN: Poor Mozart! They say he's become a recluse in his home while his health deteriorates. He told everyone that Death has commissioned a requiem from him for his own funeral. ROSENBERG: For his own funeral? How pretentious! Don't you think so, Da Ponte? DA PONTE: Monsieur, anything that hurts Mozart hurts me as well. Your disregard for him disgusts me. MOZART: Constance! CONSTANCE: Wolfgang! What are you doing here? Who let you in? SALIERI: Madame. I learned of your husband's illness. I wanted to offer you my assistance.

CONSTANCE: No, monsieur. After all the pain you've caused us! No! MOZART: Oh! It's you! Salieri! How are you? CONSTANCE: Wolfgang, rest! Stay in bed. Leave. Leave, I beg you! You can see that this isn't a good time! MOZART: Salieri! CONSTANCE: Leave! MOZART: You know, Salieri... I'm never going to make it to the end of my requiem. SALIERI: Yes you will, Mozart. You'll get better. MOZART: No, my friend. Death is here. CONSTANCE: Wolfgang, don't say that. You'll bring us bad luck! I'm going to find a doctor. MOZART: No! Constance! There's no point in that anymore. I only want to see Sssmayr. He'll have to be the one to finish the requiem. There, on the table, that's everything he needs--the notes, the outlines... now go! Go on now. Go. CONSTANCE: No, no! VIVRE EN CREVER MOZART:

We depart Without knowing Where the memories will die Our life goes by in the space of a sigh SALIERI: Our tears, our fears Are worth nothing now Yet we're still clinging to the thread of our desires MOZART AND SALIERI: It was only yesterday That we stopped cursing them If we must die Let's live life to the fullest Retain everything To sacrifice it all If we must die I want it carved on our tombs That our laughter Fooled death and time MOZART: We'll meet again SALIERI: We'll meet again MOZART AND SALIERI: In a place where nothing matters We'll understand Where we've come from LA CAVALIERI: If we must die Let's live to life to the fullest Retain everything To sacrifice it all

ENSEMBLE: Get up, madmen Without you the world Loses its mind Let's carry on till the end Bothersome madmen Are angels Everyone thinks of it, everyone believes in it Everyone hopes We have the choice to remake the world Why worry about it? Six feet under We'll be up above All our troubles Will seem fleeting Turned upside-down Everyone thinks of it, everyone believes in it Everyone hopes We have the choice to remake the world Let's wake up the madmen sleeping within us King of dreams Let's live till the end, live first and foremost Let the madmen rise Everyone thinks of it, everyone believes in it Everyone hopes (Everyone hopes) We have the choice to remake the world Everyone thinks of it, everyone believes in it Everyone hopes We have the choice to remake the world Everyone thinks of it, everyone believes in it Everyone hopes We have the choice to remake the world Get up Madmen

Tattoo me on your breast With the tip of my lips (My lips) I'll kiss your hands I'll make sure it pleases you Pleases you At the tip of my lips Tattoo it on your walls