Nannerl, sorella di Mozart (Nannerl, Mozart's Sister) 

PERFORMANCE

BY CARL G. BEUKMAN AND CECILIA BERTONI
2014

musical direction, electronics  Carl G. Beukman
performer  Cecilia Bertoni  
percussion  Antonio Caggiano  
technical direction and fittings  Paolo Morelli, Cipriano Menchini, Alice Mollica
an Associazione Culturale Dello Scompiglio production

Nannerl, sorella di Mozart (II)

Nannerl, sorella di Mozart (Nannerl, Mozart’s Sister), inspired by the dice game Mozart used for improvisation, plays between comic and tragic, sound and movement, between a brother and a sister, a male and a female.

Nannerl Mozart (1751-1829) was only a child when her ambitious father took her around the courts of Europe, together with her even younger brother, Wolfgang, gaining the public’s admiration everywhere at her astonishing talent on the piano.  However, her musical “touring” career ended when she was only 18 when it was time for her to return to the role prescribed for a woman; wife, mother, teacher.

The child prodigy, who had in her soul the restlessness of genius, was overlooked by her father in favour of her younger brother, Wolfgang Amadeus. Forced to hide her compositions from a young age, and even forced to give piano lessons to support the golden boy, her younger brother, Nannerl withdrew into herself, becoming introverted and effectively a burden on her family who, for this reason, found themselves navigating the stormy waters of social prejudice.  It was Nannerl who oversaw the publication and archiving of her brother’s work after his death.