Tea at Trianon: Interlude in Prague (2017)

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Sunday, June 26, 2022

Interlude in Prague (2017)

A movie that can be watched for the spectacle alone, or even just listened to. From Chronicles of a Modern-Day Mozartian:

Interlude is historically book-ended by two performances conducted by Mozart at the Nostitz Theater (now known as the Estates Theater), although fictionally narrated. The film begins in December 1786 when Mozart is visiting Prague to conduct his opera Le nozze di Figaro and it ends with Mozart conducting the premiere of Don Giovanni on October 29, 1787. The romance and tragedy that develops during the time between these performances is what inspires Mozart's writing for Don Giovanni.
As advertised, Interlude is a fictional period thriller, so don't be surprised that the timeline, characters and script embody historical inaccuracies. Mozart, who was blonde and left-handed, is brunette and right-handed. While the Nostitz Theater is captured in the film's exterior shots, a nearby Baroque theater was utilized for the interior shots. You get the point. Although there is some historical authenticity and integrity to their approach, you'll enjoy this film best if you embrace it as entertainment and leave your historian hat at home!

With popular culture being saturated with the likes of Amadeus, its comparison to Interlude is inevitable. What binds the two is their overarching fiction sprinkled with fact along with the acute focus on an adversary. Amadeus gave us rival composer Antonio Salieri, who was a real colleague. An equally brilliant choice for Interlude is Baron Saloka, a malevolent aristocrat who although fictional, is representative of Mozart's biography.

Mozart dealt with his fair share of narcissistic and formidable members of the aristocracy who knew little about music, yet dictated his own through their wealth and influence. They were obstacles to navigate and overcome. Baron Saloka, in Interlude's fictional world, is just another pain in the Arsch for the Maestro (or is he?). While these affluent patrons were a means for his art, they were also a significant hindrance. Mozart spent most of his life creating within the framework of this patronage system, and eventually became one of the first artists to declare his independence from it. His emancipation informs part of Interlude's script. (Read more.)