This page excerpted from the book and CDROM "Opera on Screen"

MOZART, WOLFGANG A.

Austrian composer (1756-1791)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is arguably the greatest opera composer and unquestionably the most favored by filmmakers. There are numerous screen versions of his operas and nearly as many biographies. The most impressive videos as a group are the Drottningholm Court Theater productions in which Arnold Östman and colleagues restore period charm to Mozart. Two of the truly great operas films are Ingmar Bergman's The Magic Flute and Joseph Losey's Don Giovanni; Mozart's music is also used in countless non-operatic films. The biographical films, which began as early as 1909, are romanticized but usually interesting for their music. See THE ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO, LA CLEMENZA DI TITO, COSI FAN TUTTE, DON GIOVANNI, LA FINTA GIARDINIERA, IDOMENEO, THE MAGIC FLUTE, THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, MOZART AND SALIERI, MOZART REQUIEM, MITRIDATE, IL RE PASTOR, DER SCHAUSPEILDIREKTOR, ZAIDE.

1909 Mozart's Last Requiem

French director Louis Feuillade's La Mort de Mozart, released in the U.S. with the above title, is the first film biography of the composer. Mozart feels compelled to write a Requiem Mass as he thinks death is near but his doctor orders him to rest. While listening to a student play violin, he has visions of scenes from The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute. He cannot resist working on his Requiem and when it is finished a group of friends visit him. They sing the Requiem and he dies. The film was made by Gaumont, distributed in the U.S. by George Kleine and screened with live Mozart music. French title. Black and white. About 15 minutes. Prints survive.

1921 Mozarts Leben, Lieben und Leiden

Mozart's Life, Love and Suffering is a feature-length Austrian film biography starring Josef Zetenius as Mozart and Dora Kaiser as Konstanze. The cast includes Lili Fröhlich, Alice Grobois, Käte Schindler, Paul Gerhardt and Mizzi Trentin. It was directed by Otto Kreisler and Karl Toma and premiered at the Mozart Week celebrations in Salzburg in 1921. Black and white. In German. About 75 minutes.

1936 Whom the Gods Love

Stephen Haggard portrays Mozart in this British film biography written by Margaret Kennedy. Director Basil Dean featured his wife Victoria Hopper as Mozart's wife Constance Weber. Liane Haid portrays Mozart's first love Aloysia Weber, Hubert Harben is Leopold Mozart, Jean Cadell is Mozart's mother, and George Curzon is Lorenzo Da Ponte. The film consists of sketches about Mozart's life including Constance's rejection of a prince and the recognition of Mozart's genius just before his death. Sir Thomas Beecham conducts the London Symphony Orchestra. Reissued in 1949 as Mozart. ATP. Black and white. In English. 82 minutes.

1939 Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

A Little Night Music is a German film based on a charming short novel by Eduard Mörike called Mozart on the Road to Prague. It describes an imaginary stopover the composer made in 1987 while on his way to Prague for the premiere of Don Giovanni. Hannes Stelzer stars as Mozart with a cast including Christl Mardayn, Heili Finkenzeller, Gustav Waldau and Kurt Meisel. The score consists of Mozart music arranged by Alois Melichar. Leopold Hainisch directed the film. Black and white. In German. 92 minutes.

1940 Melodie Eterne

Eternal Melodies is an Italian film biography starring Gino Cervi as Mozart and directed by opera film specialist Carmine Gallone. Luisella Beghi is Constanza, Conchita Montenegro is Aloysia, Maria Jocobini is mother Anna Maria Mozart, Jone Salina is sister Nannina Mozart and Luigi Pavese is father Leopoldo Mozart. The plot is devoted to Mozart's relationship with the Weber sisters as the film follows him from early years to great success. The voice singing Mozart arias on the soundtrack belongs to Margherita Carosio. Ernest Marischka wrote the screenplay and Achise Brizze was the cinematographer. Black and white. In Italian. 99 minutes.

1942 Wen die Götter lieben

Whom the Gods Love is an Austrian film biography starring Hans Holt as Mozart. It tells the story of the composer's life from the time he leaves Salzburg and focuses on his relationships with his wife and her sister. The cast includes Winnie Markus as Konstanze, René Deltgen as Beethoven, Paul Hörbiger, Irene von Meyerdorff and Walter Janssen. There are several opera scenes including one with Edna Berger as the Queen of the Night. There is also a non-historical visit by the young Beethoven to the dying Mozart. Karl Hartl directed from a screenplay by Richard Billinger and Eduard von Borsody. The music is played by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Black and white. 112 minutes. In German. On video.

1948 The Mozart Story

This American adaptation of the 1942 Austrian film Wen die Götter lieben is virtually a different film with an added framing structure featuring Salieri and Haydn. It is also a prototype for Amadeus as it begins with Salieri describing the events of the composer's life after his death. Envy has caused Salieri to oppose Mozart but now he wants to preserve his music and reputation. Karl Hartl directed the original film adapted for America by Frank Wisbar. Hans Holt stars as Mozart with Wilton Graff as Salieri, William Vedder as Haydn and Winnie Markus as Konstanze. The music is by the Vienna Philharmonic. Black and white. In English. 93 minutes. Opera Dubs/Video Yesteryear video.

1954 Unsterblicher Mozart

The Austrian film Unsterblicher Mozart (Immortal Mozart) features highlight version of three Mozart operas performed on stage by the Mozart Ensemble of the Vienna State Opera. They are The Abduction from the Seraglio, Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro. Details under the operas. Color. In German. 95 minutes. Taurus (Germany) video.

1955 The Life and Loves of Mozart

Reich mir die Hand, mein Leben is an Austrian film starring Oskar Werner as Mozart. It was written and directed by Karl Hartl who made the 1942 Mozart film Wen die Götter lieben. Mozart is shown at the end of his life composing The Magic Flute and having a love affair with Nannina Gottlieb who created the role of Pamina. Johanna Mata portrays Gottlieb, Gertrud Kueckelman is Konstanze, Nadja Tiller is Aloysia, Erich Kuna is Schikaneder and Albin Skoda is Salieri. Hilde Gueden, Erika Köth, Gottlob Frick, Erich Kunz, Else Liebesberg and Anton Dermota are heard on the soundtrack with Hans Swarowsky conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Oskar Schnirch was the cinematographer. Black and white. In German. 100 minutes.

1967 The Life of Mozart

Das Leben Mozarts is an exemplary non-fiction German film about Mozart by Hans Conrad Fischer. It is a finely researched and comprehensive survey of the composer's life and music using original letters, documents, paintings and buildings. There are no enactments but there are photographs of places and cities associated with the composer all over Europe. Portraits of the period alternate with performances of Mozart's music by leading singers, orchestras and conductors including Fritz Wunderlich, Erika Koth, Maria Stader, Fiorenza Cossotto, Walter Berry and Lotte Schadle. Black and white. In German. 140 minutes. Hanssler (Germany) video.

1973 The Great Composers: W.A. Mozart

The Great Composers series consists of six documentary videos designed as introductions with selections from the composer's music. Featured on the Mozart video are Nina Milkina, the London Mozart Players and the Salzburg Puppet theater. Color. In English. 25 minutes. IFB video.

1974 Mozart: A Childhood Chronicle

Mozart - Autzeichnungen einer Jugend is a remarkable German film biography by Klaus Kirschner. It pictures the composer from the age of seven to twenty using authentic letters as its off-screen narrative. Young Mozart is filmed traveling around Europe by coach and visiting various scenes of his early life. Pavlos Bekiaris portrays Mozart at seven, Diego Crovetti plays him at twelve and Santiago Ziesmer is the composer at twenty. Marianne Lowitz is his mother, Karl-Maria Schley is his father and Ingeborg Schroeder and Nina Palmers play his sister Nannerl aged eleven and seventeen. The soundtrack voices belong to Helen Donath, Eugene Ratti and Graziella Sciutti and Mozart's music is played on authentic instruments. Pitt Koch was cinematographer. Black and white. In German with English subtitles. 224 mins. Kino video and laser.

1975 Mozart in Love

Experimental American filmmaker Mark Rappaport's Mozart biography does not resemble the standard biopic but it is still intriguing, funny and sometimes inspired. The composer's intense interest in the Weber sisters Aloysia and Konstanze is a focus of the film with the actors in costume standing in front of backdrop projections and miming their roles. Arias from Mozart operas provide the basis of the soundtrack. Color. 80 minutes.

1984 The Three of Us

Noi Tre is a charming Italian film by Pupi Avati about the fourteen-year-old Mozart and the summer he spent in Bologna in 1770. He was brought there by his father to prepare for an examination at the Philharmonic Institute and stayed at the country estate of a count. He becomes friends with the count's son and a girl neighbor and enjoys non-genius life so much that he tries to flunk the exam. Christopher Davidson portrays Mozart, Lino Capolicchio is Leopoldo, Dario Parsini is the young friend and Barbara Rebeschini is the girl. Color. In Italian. 90 minutes.

1984 Amadeus

The most famous film biography of the composer and a deserved multiple Academy Award winner. Czech-born American director Milos Forman knows his Mozart and did an excellent job of recreating the period and the attitudes of the protagonists. Tom Hulce portrays Mozart, Murray Abraham is Salieri, Elizabeth Berridge is Constanze, Simon Callow is Schikaneder, Roy Dotrice is Leopold Mozart and Jeffrey Jones is the Emperor. The opera scenes, staged by Twyla Tharpe, were filmed in Prague's Tyl Theater where Don Giovanni premiered. Major scenes are devoted to The Marriage of Figaro with Samuel Ramey as Figaro, Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute. Peter Shaffer wrote the screenplay based on his own play. Color. In English. 160 minutes. HBO video/ Pioneer laser (laserdisc includes a documentary about the film called The Last Laugh and a production book).

1985 Forget Mozart

Vergesst Mozart is a German film structured like a murder mystery and set on December 5, 1791, the day of Mozart's death. When his friends gather around his deathbed, the chief of the secret police locks them in and begins to ask questions. Everyone seems to have had a motive to kill the composer and Mozart's connection with the Free Masons is particularly suspicious. There is also the idea that he committed slow suicide. Max Tidof portrays Mozart with Armin Mueller-Stahl as police chief Pergen, Catarina Raacke as Konstanze, Uwe Ochsenknecht as Schikaneder and Winfried Glatzeder as Salieri. The film features staged scenes from The Marriage of Figaro with Juraj Hrubant as Figaro and The Magic Flute with Ondrej Malachovsky as Sarastro. It was directed by Slavo Luther and written by Zdenek Mahler, Werner Uschkurat and Jirina Koenig. Color. In German with English subtitles. 93 minutes. Water Bearer Films video.

1987 Mozart

This short film about Mozart and his music, written and directed by Nicholas Vazsonyi, was made for the Klassix l3 series. It features Anthony Quayle and Balint Vazsony visiting Salzburg and Vienna and talking about the places the composer lived. There are staged enactments of scenes from his life and a good deal of Mozart music. The film was made for Canadian and Hungarian TV. Color. In English. 55 minutes. MPI video.

1991 Mozart on Tour series

The Mozart on Tour series of seven laser discs consists of thirteen documentary films about Mozart's travels in Europe and the music he composed on those trips plus fourteen piano concertos. They are presented by André Previn and were filmed in the European cities visited by the composer. Volume 1 is titled London: The First Journey, Volume 2 is Mantua: Initial Steps and Volume 3 is Milan and Bologna: Learning by Traveling, etc. The documentary films are from twenty to thirty minutes in length and are based on the letters and diaries of the Mozarts. Color. In English. Each laser disc is about 75 minutes.

1991 Following Mozart

A German film set in Mozart's era about a group of orphan musicians living near Dresden. They have entered a major competition and want to perform Mozart's famous piano rondo KV 382, "the one with the trill in it." It has not been published so the cleverest of the children, Trina (Maria Ferrens), follows Mozart around Germany trying to obtain a copy. Karl Heinz Lotz directed the film. Color. In German. 87 minutes.

1991 Mozart Gala

A three-hour celebration of Mozart's operas at the Verona Arena taped in August 1991 and released on three videos. Vol. One (63 minutes) features arias from Don Giovanni and La Clemenza di Tito, Vol. Two (72 minutes) has Così Fan Tutte, Idomeneo and The Marriage of Figaro and Vol. Three (63 minutes) features The Abduction from the Seraglio and The Magic Flute. The singers are sopranos Kathleen Cassello, Katia Ricciarelli , Anna Maria Blasi, Evelyn Holzschuh, Donna Ellen and Sona Ghzarin; mezzos Susan Quittmayer, Jutta Geister and Ann Murray; tenors Jerry Hadley, Franz Supper and Francisco Araiza; baritones Lucio Gallo, James Morris and Andrea Piccinni and bassos Evgeny Nesterenko and Hannes Jokel. The chorus came from the Linz Landestheater and the orchestra from the Vienna Mozart Academy. The conductors are Theodor Guschlbauer, Johannes Wildner and Ernst Dunschirm. Color. In Italian. 198 minutes. On video.

1992 Mozart: The Opera Experience

An instructive compilation of scenes from Mozart operas with commentary and introductions by Richard Baker. The excerpts, all from videos of performances at the Glyndebourne Festival, are from Abduction from the Seraglio, Così Fan Tutte, Don Giovanni, Idomeneo, The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro. Performers include Kiri Te Kanawa, Benjamin Luxon and Leo Goeke. Mark Gasser portrays Mozart. Bob Carruthers and Graham Holloway produced. Color. 90 minutes. Options/Cromwell video.

1994 Mozart

A biographical documentary about the composer made for the Biography series on the Arts & Entertainment cable network. Performers includes Zubin Mehta and Isaac Stern. Color. 50 minutes. A& E video.