NPR World of Opera: Mitridate, by W. A. Mozart

Show Biz is certainly a glamorous, potentially lucrative way to make a living. But it can also be a cut-throat affair. Everyone "in the business" is also in constant competition - for the best scripts, the best parts, the hottest stars, and the biggest box-office. But of course it's always been that way.

In Milan, in 1770, Mozart was the new kid in town - literally. He was only 14. He'd been commissioned to write an opera for the festival season, to be performed in the city's most prestigious theater - the one we now call La Scala. Naturally, local composers and theater people tried to undermine his efforts. One composer sent the lead soprano arias he had written, using the same verses Mozart was setting, and urged her to sing his stuff, instead. The lead tenor demanded one of his arias be recomposed five times in two days. Another male lead purposely showed up so late that the composer had to write all of this singer's music at the very last minute - no time to spare.

You won't be surprised to learn that none of this had much effect on Mozart, even as a young teenager. When he was finished, the soprano preferred Mozart's arias to the other guy's; Mozart was able to pump out as many different arias as the tenor could ask for; and the late-arriving male lead was so pleased with Mozart's music that he made a startling promise. He vowed that if his big, Act II duet went badly, he'd have himself castrated. OK, so this guy was already a castrato and he didn't have much to lose. His heart, at least, was in the right place.

The opera Mozart composed? It was the hit of the season. That won't surpise you either, at least once you've heard it. So listen in, this week on NPR World Of Opera with host Steve Curwood. It's a first-rate production of Mozart's Mitridate, from the Theatre du Chatelet, in Paris.

LINKS:

Theatre du Chatelet

NPR's At the Opera

COMING NEXT WEEK: Falstaff, by Giusseppe Verdi