If you think you understand Mozart you may, (as my Mother would say), have ‘another think coming’…

Let’s start with a question — one that is almost rhetorical in nature — namely, if anyone were to deliberately lock-out Mozart from jobs or opportunities, must not questions be asked about their credibility as a musician?  Or can we just make excuses for them, on the basis of Wolf’s being obnoxious?

In short, is there any ethical responsibility to others regarding genius or not?  Oh, I suppose we have to add into this question the axiom that everyone, even his worst detractors, consider Mozart to have been a genius. And yet, after Wolf died, didn’t the very people who agreed to his murder in the first place (perhaps through what is called an ‘evil-eye’) became the ones parading his music like a banner, pretending to be as good as Mozart — even pretending that they were him?

The “Locked-Out” Other Mozart … update…

Everyone involved with what I call “Monostatos” has all the information they need to do the right thing — to provide an apology to my three children and provide a proper introduction for me and die zauberflote, but that has not yet happened.  Why is that? Apparently, by having my credentials denied, I am supposed to become discouraged and give up. As you can see, that is not happening.  🙂

 

Comparison of a the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s last major opera, The Magic Flute and Mildred Payne in Piper to the Alternative…

Perhaps the most extraordinary role in Mozart’s beloved singspiel The Magic Flute is the star-flaming Queen of the Night.  Her arias soar with the most exquisite tenderness or viciousness.  It almost seems at times that there are two very different Queen of the Nights — the tenderhearted Queen terrified of the fate of her abducted daughter Pamina or the vengeful Queen, ordering Pamina to kill her stepfather Sarastro or be damned to hell.  Mozart, in fact, received some criticism that the character of the QOTN was not clearly defined.  Nonetheless, one way or another, everything comes to a stop when she appears on the stage. She is simply unforgettable.

Mildred Payne is the character who represents the QOTN in Piper to the Alternative.  She is not a queen by birth, but has great aspirations.  She charms everyone she meets and then manipulates them to her own ends.  She is not a great beauty, but manages to convince everyone that she is.

In TMF, the QOTN has three handmaidens.  In P2A, she has a couple of wannabees…:-0

 

Why Mozart was killed…

Yes, I do believe he was done away with.  No, I don’t think it was Salieri.  Mozart said he felt as though he was being poisoned.  He even described the type of poison he thought had been used — agua toffana.  But what possible motive would there be for getting rid of Mozart?  What threat did he present?

For one, he had an unusual gift (no, not those of musical genius per se) that caused great consternation in anyone who actually knew him.  There was something about him that was ‘different’, and it was something more or other than simply his gifts.  It is what I call a gift of “shalom”.  Someone else has labeled it in his music as “The Mozart Effect”.  We all know what that means — we listen to his music and cannot help but become at least a bit more centered and relaxed, if not happier and emotionally stronger.  This gift as we hear it in his music is what makes Mozart’s music the most exciting music there is.  In real life, however, there was more to this gift than what we can hear in his music.  There was a sort of challenge of energies, so to speak, between him and those around him.  He set people on edge.  He was disliked.  He was considered obnoxious.  He didn’t help himself because he thought he was protecting these priceless gifts of musical talent.  But this extra gift that he had managed to turn his birth family upside down and destroy his family relationships.  He was virtually disinherited by Leopold. His Mother died tragically on his watch.  His sister and his wife are buried at opposite ends of Salzburg.

This gift of “shalom” had a connection to creating substance.  Of course he thought that if he composed enough great music he would be rewarded with ample resources as a result.  That was not the case.  It was more complex than he realized, due to the unusual qualities of this gift.  This gift of ‘shalom’ could only work in his favor if he held no negative thoughts.  We can see from all his letters that he was intensely critical, at times to the point of arrogance — more of the music of others, but also, by inference or directly, of the people themselves.

So the negativity worked against Wolf, as did his arrogant assumption that he understood “God” and that he was a good servant.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  He was Catholic, indoctrinated with all the dark mysteries of that false gospel.  He became a mason — darkness and mystery to the extreme.  Spiritually speaking, he was living in a counterfeit world.  Only his music was honest.

At the same time, Wolf was an exploited child, conditioned at an early age to give adults (namely Leopold) what they wanted.  He operated on rote as an adult as a result.  So it is possible that he was too immature and frightened to analyze what was going on in his mind in regards to money.  I doubt that he did.  So here he was with this great gift, but one that could only be used for good — and his ego was weighing it down.  He lived at the center of a vortex.  Those around him realized that if they could trip him up and slander him, they could, in effect, steal money from this gift of his.  And so the noose tightened.  He became surrounded by what I would call an “evil eye” — a group of people in agreement to his murder.

And so it happened.  His music was, in effect, stolen by those who performed it pretending to be him.  And these murderers and their descendants have continued this practice for over 250 years.  They claim, because of this, that they have stolen the “Mozart G’zillions” that, had he used his gift properly, could have belonged to him.

#MinnegeddonPartDeux — Being Monostatos…

Imagine what it must feel like for “Monostatos” to go to sleep one night convinced they have succeeded in “locking out Mozart”, only to wake up the next morning to find that they are a minor character in Wolf’s last major opera…hmmm…

#MinnegeddonPartDeux — End of angst, or coming back to face the music?

The ongoing saga of “Monostatos” seems in one sense to be coming full circle — but with one curious difference — everyone has been provided with all the information they need to do the right thing in regards to yet another, other shoe that is going to fall.  Some of them may have walked into a trap of their own making without yet being aware of it.  Others are simply trying to do their best to come to grips with something out of the ordinary.  At any rate, this is a fascinating time…

The Other Side of Die Zauberflote…

It continually amazes me about die zauberflote, not the opera, the flute itself, that so many appear to take it for granted, as though there is nothing unusual.  From my standpoint, there is just nothing more powerful.  I call it a gift of “shalom” — something kind and refreshing, and this is true.  Playing the flute while keeping in mind a certain person or issue always helps to make things better.  No matter how dire a situation may appear, something wonderful seems to swoop in and turn everything for good.

There is another side of die zauberflote, however; a more enigmatic one, somewhat mystical.  It seems that it can generate a sort of energy of fire that will charge into the layers of lies or misrepresentations in a situation and pull them out.  Then it is as though a negative fog lifts and the truth becomes clear.

There seem to be a few stiffnecked people who think they can reverse the energy of die zauberflote somehow and use it to their own ends.  Many of them are now dead.  The luckier ones may be those who end up in a panic, seeking help to deal with something they find they do not understand.

#MinnegeddonPartDeux – Now what? (or, the fallout continues)

While OV begins negotiations to return in some capacity to the MO, eight board members of MOA have resigned as a result of the dismissal of Mr. Henson.  While all of this seems quite to be expected, as the chips fall from the prolonged lockout of eighteen months, we are given yet another fascinating glimpse into the innards of this organization.  

Are there underlying reasons for these events?  Are there other shoes to fall, so to speak? Will the ‘rebellion’ staged by the players in refusing to crawl back to MOA after being locked-out and the encouragement of their leader who stood up to MOA on their behalf continue to the point of trying to, in effect, clean house at MOA and, in effect, perhaps even try to take control of the endowment? Or, if they do not get their way, might they even try to form another organization and attempt to have the endowment transferred to them? 

Ironically, it may well have been the legacy of those who are leaving or who have already resigned to have managed, in their own at-times bumbling way, to keep MO from going belly-up during a time of great crisis and transition.  

Certainly, this is an interesting time…

#MinnegeddonPartDeux — What’s going on at MOA? s d reply…

I don’t live in the world of 200M organizations, but it seems to me that it would be extremely reckless for MOA to embark on a course that involves humiliating its employees and blithely waving goodbye to the conductor who brought them to world-class status, without having a “Plan B” in place prior to the lockout. Surely any of those on the Board who enabled Mr. Henson’s strategies should have realized that he, at the very least, would have to take responsibility for the consequences. My question is, ‘why have they been dragging their heels?” :-0

http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2014/02/hensons-neck-is-on-the-minnesota-block-today.html#comment-195703

“The Other Mozart” — why a blog and not the Crowned Heads of Europe? :-0

There is so much known about Wolfgang Mozart’s life, but so little valid information about what he was like as a person.  Most people end up believing a lot of misconceptions about him.  Many of them are summed up in the movie “Amadeus,” which tends to focus on and even exaggerate his character defects.  The clear implication is that he didn’t ‘deserve’ to be so richly endowed with genius because he was in fact a nasty person.

To my mind, this is both unfair and wrong.  Mozart was shot out of a cannon at an early age onto the world stage.  He didn’t have a chance to grow up normally.  He knew his gifts were extraordinary, and he knew he had to work as quickly as possible with whatever time he had.  In short, I think he knew his own shortcomings better than anyone, but was determined to fulfill the mission given to him despite them, and in spite of the backbiting and negativity of his colleagues.

Ultimately, of course, the earthly voice of Mozart was silenced.  There is ample reason to believe his untimely death was not of natural causes.  Certainly, the contempt and deceit of his contemporaries served at the least to discourage him and shorten his days on earth.  His music was stolen away from him.  It was then even paraded like a banner by some who hated him, to try to show the world that they were as good as he was.  Many counterfeit or anti-Mozarts have tried to lay claim to being another Wolf. Nobody has succeeded.  They never will.

And so, here I am.  As I said to one of the ‘professional’ players of the MO,”I feel I have a drop of what Wolf had an ocean of.” (Excuse my grammar).  I believe that I can talk about his life from the inside, not the outside.  Every mistake he made has been of benefit to me.

People tend to think of Mozart as ‘exclusive’.  They seem to think he had a gift inaccessible to anyone else, and then they hated him for it. That is false.  Unfortunately, Wolf himself contributed to that lie.  So I am speaking to you with a simple voice, in a manner intended to be inclusive.  My family and friends can verify that there is absolutely nothing extraordinary about me.  In fact, they insist on telling me that frequently. :-0

I live an ordinary life and do very mundane (compared to Wolf) things.  I live simply.  I am passionate about my family, my friends, and my horse.  And every time I pick up the flute to play I am humbled, sometimes to the extent where I am unable to accomplish much at all.  And so, before most of you hear me play, before you learn more of “P2A”, I want you to know me as a person.  What better way than a blog? :-0

In addition, though my adversaries will undoubtedly disagree, I feel that it is in Gd’s plan for me to live in an out-of-the-way town in “the Heartland” of this country.  This is a gift for the ‘salt-of-the-earth’, the ‘common people’ who are just extraordinary in their kindness.  It is these people who have supported my children and me while  “Monostatos” did its best to lock me out and target my children.