The Practicalities of Producing the Play Mozart, with Music by Franz von Suppé

Book excerpt: In 1854, the originator of Viennese Operetta, Franz von Suppé created the music for a new play by Leonhart Wohlmuth. It is part of a forgotten art form where the music underlines and accompanies the action on stage in a similar way to a soundtrack for a film. While the music works very well in the present day, the real challenge is to modernise the script to make it relevant and interesting for a modern audience. Originally written in early 19th century German, the script sounds outdated and received a less than positive reception at its original outing. Its dialogue is more in keeping with Opera and required significant work to make it palatable to a contemporary audience. The project on which this book is based maintained the music by Suppé as indicated in the manuscript score, while translating and adapting the German script by Wohlmuth into a version more interesting in the present day.