Mozart L'Opera Rock - L’Assasymphonie

Speaking of Mozart.

It is impossible to overstate the importance and impact Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had on music. The man has ascended far beyond legend, his historical existence is now wrapped up in and warped by imaginative rumors. Like any lay person I really enjoyed the movie “Amadeus” but even as I watched it for the first time, my brain was on high alert warning me that the story being told was likely rife with historically inaccuracies. From what I was able to gather, the feud between Mozart and Salieri was largely exaggerated at best, but more likely completely made up.

I had a similar experience not long ago watching “Bohemian Rhapsody” a couple years back. Enjoyable enough film, but I knew enough to know the story I was being told was artificially created for the sake of creating an entertaining movie. To the best of my knowledge Queen never put a foot forward wrong, ergo there was no conflict in build a story around, and it saddens me that people may now think that Freddie Mercury was more disrespectful to the rest of Queen then he was in reality. It is a lot easier to lie about Mozart’s life though, he lived and died a long time ago, long enough ago to enter the realm of folklore like other folk heroes throughout the ages.

The movie “Amadeus” is based off of a play by Peter Shaffer, where the conflict between Mozart and Salieri is the primary focus. Critics of “Amadeus” the movie and the play, may forever be aggravated by the unfortunate reality that the general public may now believe this folktale instead of the real history of these extremely talented men. However, Shaffer only retold the myth, which was possibly first explored in the novel “Mozart and Salieri” by Alexander Pushkin, who deliberately, and openly, fabricated the feud for the purpose of dramatic story telling. Pushkin is far from the first person to dramatize history for fictional entertainment, but even then, Pushkin was inspired by a rumor. There was a rumor that Salieri may have been responsible for Mozart’s death, though, while unfounded, apparently did haunt Salieri the rest of his life.

Historians are confident the two men were colleagues and friends, though not necessarily very close. It is believed that they may have worked together on a project, but I am not sure if that is true. Nonetheless, most of the world now casually believes Salieri is the archenemy of Mozart, and the three works fiction previously mentioned are far from the only examples of retelling this myth.

Case in point, there is a French Rock Opera based on the story from “Amadeus;” titled “Mozart, L’Opera Rock,” and while the story tells many aspects of Mozart’s life, most of them incorrectly, the climax is the Salieri feud.

The song of the hour is “L’Assasymphonie,” or “The Symphony.” This is the best song in the rock opera, and it is Salieri’s big dramatic song. The song is about Salieri’s jealousy for Mozart, and his internal strife facing the reality of his inferiority. Emotions the real Salieri probably never felt, or at least not so strongly. It is certainly possible, and understandable, that Salieri was jealous of Mozart. Hell, I am jealous of Mozart. Like so many dramatized versions of this man’s life, “L’Assasymphonie” possesses some fantastic over the top emotions allowing signer Florent Mothe to give a superb performance.

There is an irony I love with “L’Assasymphonie.” Salieri is singing about how untalented he is, meanwhile Mothe gives us the single best moment in the entire musical. Watching this play online, the crowd seems to agree with me, as they erupt with glee louder at the first note of “L’Assasymphonie” then at any other point during the play.

This somewhat reminds me of Carl Anderson in “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Wherein that musical’s quasi antagonist successfully steals the show because of the song writing and also the fantastic performance of Anderson playing Judas Iscariot. Comparably, in “Mozart L’Opera Rock” I feel stronger for Mothe’s depiction of Salieri more than anything else.

I have known about “Mozart L’Opera Rock” for many years. I stumbled across “L’Asssymphonie” while going down a French pop rabbit hole. Since my comprehension of French is poor, though improving considerably as of late, when I first heard “L’Assymphonie” I did not fully realize what I was listening to. I just thought this was a decent French pop rock song. However, it did not take me long to uncover the truth of the matter. Now here we are.

I have often thought about writing one of this music reviews about “Mozart L’Opera Rock.” Oddities like this was very much my style to write about. The fact there even exists a French rock opera about Mozart is incredible on its own, but I have mixed feelings about it.

For many of the reasons I love the Trans Siberian Orchestra, are also reasons why I enjoy “Mozart L’Opera Rock.” Blending rock and roll and classical music is one of my favorite things in the whole world, but “Mozart L’Opera Rock” is very French.

You know what I mean.

I love the French and all, but their acceptance of flamboyant cheesiness is far greater than most of the rest of the world. It is one of their weakness, but in many ways, it is also one of their charms.

Only recently did I watch the entirety of “Mozart L’Opera Rock.” I knew about a third of the songs, two thirds if you include the reworkings of classic Mozart music, and it was about everything I expected. The music was mostly great, some of the tunes were a little too pop for my liking, but overall, very good. Melissa Mars as Aloysia was very enchanting, and as already established Mothe as Salieri stole the show.

I was very happy with myself that I was able to understand a few lyrics without translation.

“Tout le monde y pense,
Tout le monde y croit,
Tout le monde espere.”

However, as I recommend “Mozart L’Opera Rock” I suspect some will be put off by just how lame it is. I mean those outfits, yeesh. Even our main man Mothe looks like how an eight-year-old would dress up as a vampire for Halloween. Having said that, I do not know how I would think to improve upon anything. The cringe is part of the charm. So, if the French sensibilities are too much for you, I would advise trying to look past it, because there is a lot to enjoy in a rock opera about Mozart.

I take some joy in knowing that we live in a world where there exists a French rock opera about Mozart.

- King of Braves

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - The Marriage of Figaro

Thirteen years I have been performing this writing excise of writing amateur reviews about music, and I am now at my three hundredth review. I should talk about something special, like maybe one of the greatest, if not the greatest song writer of all time. Let’s talk about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

My experience with Mozart is not far deeper than your average person’s. I have the advantage of having had listened to several of his symphonies and piano concertos several times, in the way back time when we used to listen to CDs. While I am confident in saying that I listen to a lot more classical music then the average person walking the street, my knowledge of Mozart is rather typical, mostly I know his music from compilations of his most famous works performed by various orchestras. I am not knowledgeable enough to inform any of you of some underappreciated masterpiece by the grand master Mozart. However, I am knowledgeable enough to fool the average person into believing I know what I am talking about, so let us see how I do.

One of my favorite single songs of Mozart’s is his overture for “The Marriage of Figaro.” To the best of my experience, this song is among Mozart’s most bombastic. Every leaping sound is alive with joy. It is fun, and an easy song for casuals like me to fall in love with. This is a song everyone knows to some degree as it has been used in countless movies, commercials and elsewhere.

As a random person writing a music blog, I have always felt it was my obligation to watch the opera “The Marriage of Figaro.” It is the least I can do right? I owe at least that much to Mozart. To date I have watched three different recorded versions of the opera, because I take my obligations seriously, this is my tale.

In my younger years I did not know that “The Marriage of Figaro” was an opera; I would have guessed as much, but part of my brain way back when thought maybe the overture was for one of Mozart’s symphonies, I did not know the name of number of. Not only is “The Marriage of Figaro” an opera; it is also a sequel.

“The Barber of Seville or the Useless Precaution” is a comedy play conceived as an opera with music created by Antoine-Laurent Baudron. A quick synopsis of the story is, The Count (sometimes names Almaviva” falls in love at first sight with Rosine, however her guardian, Doctor Bartolo, keeps her locked up in his house, with every intention of marrying her himself. Our protagonist Figaro, a former associate of The Count’s is working as a barber and he is motivated by money and friendship to help The Count. This is a happy play with a happy ending, with the aid of Figaro our star-crossed lovers marry.

Roughly ten years later Mozart was commissioned to write the music for the sequel “The Marriage of Figaro.” The shirt in the story is now about the complications Figaro must face as he and his love Susanna plan their own marriage. Seeking “sweet revenge” Dr. Bartolo interferes in every way he can think of and tragically our romantic Count is also a villain how who is attempted to invoke “droit du seigneur” (Law of the Lord); whereby the lord can bed any serving girl on her wedding night. A complicated and humour game is played by all the parties involved. We are once again met with a happy ending.

Incredibly there is a third opera, “The Guilty Mother.” This third play never received the same acclaim as the first two and has rarely been performed since it is initial inception. I do not envy Darius and Madeleine Milhaud, as they are the composures who had to follow Mozart.

All three of these operas were initially written as plays by Pieree Beaumarchais. Things get even more complicated as the characters, Figaro and company, were wildly popular. I do not understand it in full, but licence agreements prevented Beaumarchais from developing and releasing his plans as he planned them, and other playwrights were allowed to right their own sequels to “The Barber of Seville” and “The Marriage of Figaro” which means there is more a mythology to Figaro and friends then there is a continuity. What I just described feels like a very modern problem, but this all happened in the late eighteenth century. I guess copyrights and ownership of fictional works and characters has always been a challenging legal issue.

It is a little funny that the second installment of this trilogy is so much more famous than the rest of it, but we obviously have Mozart to thank for that.

The opera “The Mirage of Figaro” is approximately three hours in length, and while charming and humours, and full of fun moments and songs, the overture is the crown jewel. There is a reason why everyone knows the overture but not everyone knows the opera. I am not the biggest fan of opera, so my taste is skewed in the direction of Mozart’s symphonies, but that overture, well there is a reason why my younger less informed mind imagined entire movements following it. This is not to say I am disappointed. I like the opera enough to have watched it three different times. I am now watching an Irish production of “The Barber of Seville” because this trilogy of plays is fascinating to me now that I have forced myself to learn all of this.

Sometimes on this blog I present an introduction to music most people may not be familiar with. Sometimes I pull on a string and huge story unfolds before me as I write. Sometimes I ramble on about something everyone already knows. This time I think it is a string. I had no idea how much history and story were involved with “The Marriage of Figaro” I just believe it was a fun play Mozart did the music for. On this blog I have let slip numerous times my fondness of story telling in all its mediums, and I sense that “The Marriage of Figaro” is becoming my personal first exploration of a mythology from an opera, and that is something to be very excited about.

It is also worthwhile to listen to the classics and by deciding to showcase “The Marriage of Figaro” overture, I have given myself so much more motivation to keep pulling that string.

Until next year, keep on rocking in the free world.

- King of Braves

Edguy - Scarlet Rose

“The scarlet rose has died, lost inside the night.
Left in my mind, like a dream all full of pride.
The scarlet rose has died.”

It feels like I am working backwards when it comes to discovering the German metal/rock scene. The single best thing that happened to music in the past ten years is Avantasia, The Scarecrow Trilogy was possible the three best albums I bought in the past ten years. I really, really like Avanatasia. Through Avantasia I learned about Edguy which came first.

Tobias Sammet is the genius song writer responsible for Avantasia. He brought many of the European metal stars together to form this super group and became a huge success everywhere but here, where I live.

I have at times compared Tobias Sammet to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. At first thought, it may seem like I am proposing a zealous compliment to my main man Toby, or perhaps you might suspect I am drawing an unrealistic comparison based on weak links, like both are German, but no, I am quite sincere in this comparison.

Mozart lived fast and died young. He was a prodigy at writing music and in roughly twenty years managed to write a massive amount of music. While Mozart had skill as a technical musician, most notably as a pianist, his greatest skill was that he was a natural song writer.

Tobias Sammet decided at an early age that he wanted to be a singer and he formed his rock band Edguy. After about twenty years Sammet has written ALOT of music, and while he is talented singer and capable guitarist and bass player his true skill is that of a song writer.

Mozart wrote his first his opera “Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots” (The Obligation of the First and Foremost Commandment) at age eleven; Sammet started Edguy at age fifteen and released their first demo “Evil Minded” two years later.

After roughly two decades Mozart had written twenty-three operas, and a huge catalogue of concertos, symphonies, and sonatas that in my ignorance I am not even sure how to quantify; Sammet after roughly two decades has released nine studio albums with Edguy, five studio albums with Avanatasia, and so many demo tracks and singles that he could easily release two more full albums of Edguy material and at least one more for Avantasia. In fact the album “Avantasia Lost in Space 1 & 2” is exactly what I am describing.

Obviously comparing anyone to Mozart sounds like blasphemy, but you can probably see my point. Both men have a knack for written great music at insane speeds, and Sammet in this regard could be considered a modern rock and roll version of Mozart.

Edguy really found their footing in 1998 with their release of their second album “Vain Glory Opera.” Sammet would have been twenty one at the time.

“Vain Glory Opera,” is a great album. It was a bold move by a young man in a young band to release a operatic endeavour so early on in his career, but it worked, and if I had known about it back in 1998 I would have been able to see the seeds of style and ability that could grow into works of art like the “Scarecrow Trilogy.” Compared to the other eight albums, or at least compared to the other four albums I own, by Edguy, “Vain Glory Opera” is what it calls itself, an opera. The songs flow from one to another organically, there is a feeling of an overarching narrative, the ebbs and flows of the songs carry us through climaxes and powerful moments and all in all it feels like a one solid piece of music, not just a collection of songs. No other Edguy album has that, but all five Avantasia albums do. Since I am working backwards discovering bands like Edguy it makes sense that “Vain Glory Opera,” would be the first Edguy album I would fall in love with, it is the most like an Avantasia album.

While I do love the entire album “Vain Glory Opera” if I was pressed to pick a favourite track it would have to be “Scarlet Rose,” an operatic song as a rock song can be. “Scarlet Rose” is an emotional song about love and loss with a touch of mysticism in to make it all the more dramatic. The way Tobias sings “Scarlet Rose” and knowing his love of fantastic themed story telling it feels to me that the scarlet rose dying is not just a lost love one but a loss of a great symbol of love. Almost like love itself has passed away. It is a softer metal song to be sure but a very poetic and powerful one.

Until later this month, keep on rocking in the free world.

- Colin Kelly