Mozart in Love

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("Cosi Fan Tutte"

by Wolfgang Mozart)

[Voiceover] This is

the story of three loves,

perhaps four.

The women were all sisters,

and I was the man

in their lives,

at least some of the time.

Their father was

my father's friend

and, so naturally,

when I went to Mannheim

to give concerts,

I stayed with them.

The father was a

fairly good musician.

In fact, they were all talented.

Especially the eldest, Louisa.

She had a lovely voice.

She sang like an angel.

Louisa.

Each of the daughters was

beautiful in her own way,

and I was a stranger

in a strange city.

I was young and alone, and

of course I fell in love.

It was like a tale from

The Arabian Nights,

a prince from another kingdom

and the three princesses

who vied for his love.

So, this is my story, our story,

an opera about love.

If you're not interested in love

and think you don't

like opera, well.

I'm not much for moralizing,

in my music even

less than in my life.

Music is its own meaning.

But sometimes people, you know,

are happier if they

think art is meaningful

rather than merely pleasureful.

So here it is at the beginning

for those among you

who are too impatient

to wait until the end to

find out what it's all about.

My philosophy of love.

A song, rich in intent,

profound in its implications,

as beautiful as it is deep.

("Die Entfhrung aus dem

Serail" by Wolfgang Mozart)

[Voiceover] He came

in the winter and, yes,

brought springtime

into everyone's life.

We all fell just a

little in love with him.

Of course, he was very young,

but he knew so much.

He helped me with my music

and taught me the

right way to sing.

Everyone said he was a genius.

He was certainly very gifted

and knew a great deal.

You know, he had been

performing and composing

almost from the time

he was an infant.

I became quite good.

[Voiceover] From the

first moment I saw him.

[Voiceover] I always

loved him, even as a child.

It was wonderful

loving him like that.

Knowing he could never

suspect my real feelings.

It was my secret.

("Die Zauberflote: Introduktion"

by Wolfgang Mozart)

[Voiceover] In a way, I

led a very sheltered life.

It's true, I was a raging success

in half a dozen countries

before I was 14.

I performed for the

most illustrious

crowned heads in Europe.

Women of all ages adored me.

They fussed over me.

They threw themselves at me.

It sounds like boasting, I know,

but there's no other

way to describe it.

Did you know that when

I was seven years old,

I proposed to Marie Antoinette,

who was also a child?

She agreed to marry me.

You don't believe

it, well, it's true.

I didn't lack for opportunities,

I can tell you that.

But, all the same, I

was still very innocent.

I was always falling in love.

It was like a chronic illness.

But what a delicious one.

Falling in and out of

love like a butterfly

going from flower to flower.

Every woman made my

heart beat faster.

("Le Nozze Di Figaro: Non

so piu cosa son" by Mozart)

[Voiceover] It was

perfect, the two of us.

He would write

beautiful songs for me,

and I would sing them.

His songs would become

famous through me.

I loved him, all of us did.

Under his guidance, my

voice improved tremendously.

[Voiceover] I

can hardly speak.

[Voiceover] I was always

the baby in the family.

How I hated it.

It was humiliating to be treated

like that in front of him.

Why can't time move faster,

and then the

differences in our ages

won't matter so much.

When he's 36, I'll be 28.

When he'll be 48, I'll be 40.

No, I'm not too young for him.

If only he'd wait for me.

("Cosi Fan Tutte: Ah

Guarda, Sorella" by Mozart)

[Voiceover] I'm so happy.

What do I know of love,

a strange sensation

that had no name?

Was this it?

Who could I turn to?

It's not so easy being young.

Could I trust them?

Could they tell me?

("Le Nozze Di Figaro"

by Wolfgang Mozart)

[Voiceover] I had never felt

anything like this before.

It was Louisa who touched the

most secret part of my heart.

She was my dream love.

("Cosi Fan Tutte: Un'aura

Amorosa" by Mozart)

To be in love again,

it was wonderful.

But this time it was true love.

("Die Zauberflote"

by Wolfgang Mozart)

[Voiceover] It always

happens that way.

The curse of being

the middle child.

The oldest has all

the good fortune.

The youngest is always pampered.

But what about me?

I felt as if my life were over.

("Cosi Fan Tutte: Ah, Che

Tutto In Un Momento" by Mozart)

Perhaps one has to

suffer for one's love.

To test it, to purify

it, to be worthy of it.

Perhaps agony is its

own sweet reward.

[Voiceover] There is no

reward for a troubled heart.

But who can guard themselves

against the pain of love?

We mustn't let this

come between us.

Even though we love

him, and she doesn't.

[Voiceover] I didn't

want it to happen this way.

How can I comfort

you, my dear sisters?

Would you believe

me if I told you

that your unhappiness

is only temporary?

In a month or two, you'll laugh,

thinking back on

your imagined grief.

Oh, I love you both so much.

(graceful operatic music)

I didn't ask for any of this.

It's not my fault

that he adores me.

I'm not to blame if I

can't return his love.

It's a gift I never asked for.

It was nothing more than

innocent flirtation.

I never encouraged him, never.

I didn't want it to

happen like this.

("Cosi Fan Tutte: Sento,

O Dio" by Wolfgang Mozart)

Perhaps I made a mistake

in turning him down.

Who would have thought that

he would become so famous?

That was on my mind

when I married.

That he would never

have enough money.

I wasn't mistaken, was I?

A pauper's grave.

To tell the truth, I didn't

think he was a genius.

With clever young

people, you never know

how they're going to turn out.

Maybe if I had?

What's the use of wondering?

I wouldn't have

done it differently,

even if I could.

My life is a happy one.

We became friends

again years later.

It was unavoidable.

But I think, at the time,

he took it very badly.

("Cosi Fan Tutte: Non Son

Cattivo Comico" by Mozart)

[Voiceover] I was in despair.

("Die Zauberflote" by Mozart)

I went away and didn't see

any of them for three years.

I thought that I

could learn to forget.

I threw myself into my work.

I forgot nothing.

(graceful operatic music)

[Voiceover] He left us.

He left me.

I know I'll never see him again.

How can I endure such anguish?

Can a heart withstand

such agony and not burst?

I don't know how I'll survive.

("Die Zauberflote: Ach,

ich fhl's" by Mozart)

[Voiceover] I

suffered too, my angel.

In my anguish, like a

thunderbolt from heaven,

I remembered you, my

darling Constanza.

Your name was prophetic.

How you looked at me

with love so tenderly,

with such shy modesty.

Could it be that

you loved me then,

and still love me?

Dare I hope?

Or must I continue

living in this abyss?

How could I have been so blind

as not to see what was

before me all the time?

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