All-female production tells the story of Mozart’s wife

An all-female production of telling the story of the final months of Mozart’s life through the eyes of his wife, Constanze, will come to West Green House Opera’s Theatre on the Lake this evening. Directed by Thomas Guthrie and starring soprano Luci Briginshaw alongside Orpheus Sinfonia and a cast of dancers and puppets, Constanze puts the composer’s wife and muse centre-stage.

The production is Guthrie’s first collaboration with West Green House Opera and draws on music composed for Constanze and her sisters, including The Queen of the Night, Schon lacht der holde Frühling, Et Incarnatus Est (premiered by Constanze herself in 1783) and Vorrei Spiegarvi as well as Serenade for Wind Instruments, which was allegedly performed at Mozart’s wedding to Constanze. Guthrie’s production combines these works with choreography by Maria da Luz Ghoumrassi and puppetry created by Ruth Paton.

Guthrie said: ‘Supporting me are six fabulous dancers, doubling as puppeteers, who continue to amaze me with their talent and professionalism. Very minimally staged using mainly our bodies/voice, and supported by eight musicians, we will tell the story of Mozart and Constanze’s romance and professional partnership and how his tragic early death was not the end of the story. All compacted into an hour-long show! It’s really like nothing I’ve ever done before’.

The new production seeks to build on the rehabilitation of Constanze’s reputation by historians in recent years. In Constanze, she is revealed, not only to have been an accomplished soprano in her own right and a valuable source of inspiration for her husband, but also to have saved the Mozart family from financial ruin.

The annual West Green House Opera festival takes place over seven nights in July at the Theatre on the Lake. As well as Constanze, Guthrie will also direct a concert staging of Offenbach’s Robinson Crusoe next week (28 July) and write, co-direct and co-produce a new documentary focusing on The Tallis Scholars celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the ensemble.