果冻影院

On trial: Mozart and other Pirates

The distinguished conductor and harpsichordist Christophe Rousset will be conducting Mozart鈥檚 early opera Mitridate, re di Ponto at the Royal Opera on 26 and 29 June and 1st and 7 July. Mozart was not quite 15 when he wrote it. But did he copy, borrow, quote, or plagiarise (words which mean the same but carry different overtones) too much? Maestro Rousset, who has spent 25 years with his ensemble Les Talens Lyriques exploring and championing the music of Mozart鈥檚 forgotten contemporaries (Salieri, Paisiello, Jomelli), will discuss and illustrate with examples what Mozart and others did in an age where there was no copyright.

Suppose modern copyright law had applied then. Would Mozart have been an infringer 鈥� a 鈥減irate鈥� as the old-fashioned word has it? Modern instances of infringement or alleged infringement will be played for discussion with the audience and comparison with what Mozart did.

This will be discussed by the panel, as will a further question. Suppose Mozart had embellished what he took to the point of a new creative work, should he have a defence? Do the extreme reaches of modern copyright law actually threaten the creative process? Should there be a defence of 鈥渢ransformation鈥� for artistic works 鈥� especially musical and visual works?

Speakers include:

• Christophe Rousset听(Founder and leader of Les Talens Lyriques and scholar of the Baroque and Classical pre-Romantic periods)
• Professor Sir Robin Jacob听(Hugh Laddie Professor of Intellectual Property Law, 果冻影院)
• His Honour Michael Fysh QC SC听(Former Chairman of the Copyright Tribunal and Judge of the then-called Patents County Court)

About Christophe Rousset

Christophe Rousset听who will make his debut at the Royal Opera House conducting Mozart鈥檚 early opera听Mitridate听in June, has spent 25 years with his celebrated ensemble Les Talens Lyriques exploring the music of Mozart鈥檚 overlooked contemporaries 鈥� Salieri, Paisiello, Martin y Soler, Jomelli and more.听 From rediscovering and championing this forgotten music, Rousset has been able to pin-point exact examples where Mozart copied music of his contemporaries.听 Was he copying, borrowing, quoting or plagiarising?听 If modern intellectual property laws applied then, would Mozart have been an infringer, a pirate?

From recordings of Mozart鈥檚听Mitridate,听Idomeneo听补苍诲听Don Giovanni, Rousset will compare examples from operas by Salieri, Jomelli and Paisiello.听 Judges Fysh and Jacob will present modern examples of infringement or alleged infringement to enable the audience to put Mozart on trial and pass judgement.听 Suppose Mozart had embellished what he took to the point of a new creative work, should he have a defence?

Distinguished opera critic David Cairns said of Mozart that he 鈥渉ad an extraordinary capacity鈥�for seizing on and assimilating whatever new style (was) most useful to him.鈥� Mozart claimed in a letter, 鈥渁s you know, I can more or less adopt or imitate any kind or style of composition.鈥澨� At an impressionable age Mozart travelled extensively across Europe being presented to every royal court and was exposed to the music of the greatest composers of his day.听 Not only did he had a capacity to assimilate but also to perfect and innovate.

Mozart wrote听Mitridate, re di Ponto听for Teatro Regio Ducale of Milan when he was not quite 15. He had made earlier attempts at opera with听Apollo et Hyacinthusand the German singspiel听Bastien und Bastienne听but this was his first opera commission in Italy and it has hoped that this could open doors to a permanent position.听 Wanting it to appeal to the tastes of his Italian audience, he looked to other successful operatic examples such as Jomelli鈥檚听Armide Abbandonato, which he had heard in Naples in 1770.听 鈥淏eautiful but too serious and old-fashioned for the theatre鈥� wrote Mozart to his sister so he decided to improve on that by 鈥渟tealing鈥� an idea and putting his hallmark on it. 听听Mozart perfected听Mitridate听over 5 months, writing dazzling arias for the star soloists, which tests today鈥檚 greatest singers.听 The successful premiere dispelled any scepticism about Mozart鈥檚 prodigious talents 补苍诲听惭颈迟谤颈诲补迟别听run for a further 21 performances.

25 years ago Christophe Rousset created the soundtrack to the film听Farinelli,听which sold more than a million CDs worldwide and his ensemble Les Talens Lyriques on the international stage.听听 He followed this with a critically-acclaimed recording of Mozart鈥檚听惭颈迟谤颈诲补迟别听with a then-fledgling cast including Cecilia Bartoli, Natalie Dessay, Juan Diego Florez, Sandrine Piau and Brian Asawa. For the revival of Graham Vick鈥檚 production at the Royal Opera House, which the Guardian described as a 鈥渕ilestone in the staging of 18^th听century opera鈥�, Rousset returns to Mozart鈥檚 early opera with another stunning cast including听Michael Spyres听in the title role alongside听Albina Shagimuratova, Bejun Mehta, Lucy Crowe听补苍诲听Andrew Tortoise.

This season Rousset brings his Les Talens Lyriques three times to the UK.听 The next appearances will be for听Monteverdi鈥檚 Madrigals听at Brighton Festival in May and a programme entitled听Zefiro torna听dedicated to Monteverdi鈥檚 tenor duets at St John鈥檚 Smith Square in June.

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Please email the 果冻影院 Laws events team on听laws-events@ucl.ac.uk