Intention of the Revision of the Work by Michael Kunze -- Libretto Analysis about Musical Mozart! --

Abstract

This paper aims to discover the uniqueness of 'drama musical' through an analysis of the libretto of the musical Mozart! written by Michael Kunze. 'Drama musical' is a genre or method of production that Kunze advocates. At present, however, several previous studies and Kunze himself have mentioned it, and while there are certain common views, the focus and interpretation differ. Therefore, it has not yet been fully clarified what a 'drama musical' is and whether it can be described as a genre in its own right. Currently, three characteristics can be identified in Kunze's works: (1) a scriptwriter-centric production process; (2) an 'alter ego' of the title character; (3) a flexible revision policy. Common to these characteristics is the extreme importance of the libretto in Kunze's musical productions. In particular, the revisions mentioned in the third characteristic above which flexibly incorporate the wishes of local production, were all made with Kunze's permission. In other words, the revised sections are not only changes made in light of the circumstances in each country, but also include not a few of Kunze's own intentions. Therefore, this paper will take the libretto of Mozart! and conduct a comparative analysis of the musical structure and libretto of the Vienna premiere (1999), the Hamburg version (2001), and the Vienna revival (2015). The repeated revisions of the play will be explored in terms of its meaning as a 'drama musical'. As a result, the revision from the Vienna premiere to the Hamburg version includes additions and revisions to numbers relating to Mozart and his father, which had been heavily emphasized since the Vienna premiere. It was a revision that emphasized a deeper portrayal of the father-son relationship and conflict. On the other hand, the Vienna revival deleted some numbers added in the Hamburg version. Instead, numbers about Mozart's girlfriend, Constanze Weber, and her mother were added to emphasize the mother-daughter relationship and the conflict between the two. With this revision, Kunze wanted to bring the conflict between mother-daughter closer to that between Mozart's father-son. As a result, in the Vienna revival, the themes of 'growth, learning, and independence' that Kunze has placed throughout his work have become more universal and not limited to the Mozart father-son relationship. In other words, Kunze's revisions are intended not only to meet the needs of local production, but also to deepen the themes that run through the entire work. This can be seen as an expression of Kunze's search for a 'drama musical'. Kunze's revisions in the Vienna revival represent an attempt to establish a 'drama musical' from a different angle than the emotional portrayal of the characters.