Mozart Odysseys II: Abendempfindung

To celebrate Mozart’s 250th birthday, the Salzburg Festival prepared a 100% Mozart lineup for new fans and seasoned experts to relish. For three weeks, audiences had the chance to discover and rediscover works from Mozart’s repertoire, spanning from his childhood to celebrity status. The Irrfahrten (Odysseys) trilogy — directed, choreographed, and co-written by the multi-talented Joachim Schlömer — highlights the lesser-known works in Mozart's repertoire: from his very first true opera buffa in three acts, La Finta Semplice (Irrfahrten I), to the unfinished Lo sposo deluso and L'oca del Cairo (Irrfahrten III: Rex tremendus), via the musical setting of the composer's epistolary correspondence (Irrfahrten II: Abendempfindung). These operas stand alongside a number of instrumental pieces, Lieder, sacred works, and other musical "odysseys". The full trilogy is available on medici.tv!

At its world premiere at Salzburg's Residenzhof, Abendempfindung takes its name after the song Mozart composed in 1787, Abendempfindung an Laura, whose melancholy tone recounts the trauma and dejection of doomed love. Juxtaposed against one of his best-known operas, Don Giovanni, this work reveals the more intimate side of the composer. And not by accident! Director Joachim Schlömer combines this pastiche of Mozart’s eclectic musical pieces with a libretto based on his epistolary correspondence, adapted by the expertise of Bettina Auer and the director himself.

For this second, more delicate portion, Joachim Schlömer takes us on a journey to meet the man behind Mozart's legendary persona in a touching work, enhanced by simple staging and three expert artists: singer Ann Murray, actress Marianne Hamre (who is in the cast of all three works in the trilogy) and dancer Graham Smith.