MILLIONS OF KISSES

Franck Krawczyk and I wanted to return to our Magic Flute — but to an adaptation of a version we made one afternoon in Santiago, Chile, in a small theatre in a Communist suburb, while at the time students were protesting in the streets. To return to Mozart and to Flute, we began by listening to his final pieces: the last laconic cantata he wrote and, of course, the Requiem — that he never finished, dying as he did at 35 years old one night in December — thinking that it was his own Requiem he was writing, not a commission. “Stay with me tonight”, he told his sister-in-law “I have the taste of death on my tongue, and who will take care of my wife when I will not be there anymore?” Deeply moved we then plunged into the huge volume of his correspondence. In it we found many extraordinary things — his sense of humor, an ever-pressing need for money, and above all a deep love for his wife Constanze, to whom he would send time and time again his affection. With the help of one of the actors of Tempest Project, Sylvain Levitte, we explored reading this correspondence with Franck on the piano. What flowed out was magnificent — a man appeared; one who is generous, wise, full of life, searching for a new path — a man who found that path with the success of The Magic Flute, and whom illness would strike down in a matter of days — W. A. MOZART! Marie-Hélène Estienne

 

For a moment there is no wall between the living and the dead - I would like to quote two anecdotes that are particularly close to my heart - Here they are: In Leipzig in April 1789, the organ of Johann Sebastian Bach - disappeared for almost 40 years - resounded again under the fingers of Mozart. "The master has returned" exclaimed a parishioner. And it was shortly after his father's death that Mozart composed the famous and joyful "little night music"! Frank Krawczyk