The Mozart Question

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He put the two ideas together, recalling the camp orchestras that the Germans had formed among their captives, to amuse themselves and deceive new arrivals, Mozart being the Offizier composer of choice. What, he wondered, would have been the reaction of those musicians, had they somehow survived, to taking up their instruments in the future? Toward playing Mozart in particular? Young Paolo was often mesmerized by the violin player, Benjamin Horowitz, performing on the street of Venice. He soon became his student, playing the violin secretly, because his dad disapprove of the violin in the house. Michael Morpurgo’s stories move from happiness and joy to human catastrophe in an inkling. He tells his tales through the eyes of adults and the eyes of a child – often one and the same, simultaneously. His writing is intensely dramatic, his characters endure extraordinary psychological journeys, and he is unflinching in his pursuit of emotional truth. This, combined with characteristic exuberance and joie de vivre , is what makes his work so theatrical. Michael travels all over the UK and abroad talking to children and telling his stories and encouraging them to tell theirs. The idea of returning to a ‘normal’ life was full of all manner of challenges, and the number of survivors struggled for some time to come to terms with their experiences. The traumas of persecution, dehumanisation and witnessing the horrors of the Holocaust left deep psychological and emotional scars on many – with some never fully recovering from them. The widespread indifference of non-Jews to the events was made even harder by large numbers of perpetrators escaping justice and a frequent inability to find the right words or phrases to express wtheat survivors had been through.

This haunting novella is a Holocaust tale of trauma, strength, survival and ultimately reunion. A young journalist is given the opportunity to interview Paolo Levi, a famous violinist, but she is told that under no circumstances is she to ask him the Mozart question. If she does, he will refuse to continue the interview. Not even knowing what the Mozart question is, she opens the interview by telling him she won't ask it. Instead she asks how he started playing the violin. After a few tense moments, he decides to tell her his story, a childhood tale of finding a street musician, a wonderful violinist who begins to teach him about the instrument. He tells the musician about his father's broken violin and asks if he could practice on it if it were mended. The musician mends the violin, and the lessons start. From this beginning, the boy learns not only how to play the violin, but he also learns the story of his parents' traumatic past. This book raises many questions about what one might do to survive, the power and significance of music, and the effect of the events of one generation on the next Narrated by Michael and directed by Simon Reade, The Mozart Question is beautifully enhanced and embellished with extracts of music by Mozart, Beethoven, Bach and Vivaldi. Featuring actress Victoria Moseley, violinist Daniel Pioro and the Storyteller’s Ensemble, the performance interweaves words and music to tell this haunting tale of survival against the odds.Michael Morpurgo 'The Mozart Question', Michael Morpurgo [Online]. Available at:http://michaelmorpurgo.com/books/the-mozart-question (Accessed 8 June 2015) They did not know when they stepped forward that they would at once be separated from their families, would have to watch them being herded off towards those hellish chimneys, never to be seen again.’

To play our music and tell our story in this great building is a great honour, and in a way, utterly appropriate. The story, in a way, is one that reflects the best aspirations of man and his worst degradation. And the music in the concert reflects this too. But in both music and story, redemption wins through.’For more information about the work of Farms for City Children, please visit www.farmsforcitychildren.org Ian has performed in theatres across the UK, the West End and on Broadway for the past 25 years. This is the second time he has worked on a Michael Morpurgo adaptation, following Twist of Gold for Polka Theatre. A Barn Theatre production in association with Bob & Marianne for Anthology Theatre and The Everyman Theatre Cheltenham. Sir Michael Morpurgo OBE is one of the UK’s best-loved authors and storytellers. Appointed Children’s Laureate in 2003, he has written over 130 books, including The Butterfly Lion, Kensuke’s Kingdom, Why the Whales Came, The Mozart Question, Shadow, and War Horse. War Horse was adapted for a hugely successful stage production by the National Theatre and for a film directed by Steven Spielberg. His book Private Peaceful was adapted for the stage by Simon Reade and made into a film, directed by Pat O'Connor. He was awarded the OBE for his writing in 2006. Join us for our magnificent Festival launch night, brought to you in collaboration with York Minster and The Ebor Lectures.

It is a wonderful world out there. There are times when it can be hard to go on believing that. But always believe it, Paolo, because it is true.’ Michael Morpurgo gave some insight into his story and why the adaptation was written to be performed in cathedrals:Of course, I do not know York as well as its sister church in Canterbury. It is not familiar in the same way, but every time I have been I have been overwhelmed by its beauty and magnificence. The process of dehumanisation was an essential part of the Holocaust for the Nazis. For some, the removal of the Jews’ humanity made it easier to justify the measures that were taken against them – even when this included murder. At the same time, stripping people of their individuality, removing their identities, taking away their rights and freedoms and treating them in inhumane ways were also actions intended to break the victims’ spirits and prevent them from resisting. In many instances these aims were achieved, but remarkably a lot of people did not give up hope, they pulled together with people they might not have known and opposed the Nazis in different ways. The story of Benjamin and Paolo’s parents and their survival is a brilliant example of this. However, Paolo decided to tell her his secret, his childhood memory of how he became a professional violinist. As defeat became increasingly likely, the Nazis went to great lengths to disguise their crimes. All evidence of the death camps in Poland – Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka and Chelmno – was erased; facilities were dismantled, pits were filled in, and trees were planted. After the Soviet Red Army captured Majdanek almost intact in July 1944, the Nazis began to demolish the gas chambers and crematoria at Auschwitz-Birkenau. However, when the camp was liberated in January 1945, the ruins could still be seen.

Every performance was your best performance, not to please them, but to show them what you could do, to prove to them how good you were despite all they were doing to humiliate you, to destroy you in body and soul.’

Andrew Bridgman's performance as Paulo makes you wish that it were longer. Music is central to the piece. As Bridgemont plays the violin live or we hear recorded, music it gives an emotional lift to the production but, more than that, it makes the audience doubly aware of the 'Mozart Question' of the title: our response to music and what happens when something we love becomes associated with something horrible and brings a sense of guilt. Paulo's parents and his teacher have met before, they share an experience and a memory that is painful to live with and Mozart especially is part of it Following our successful productions of the Butterfly Lion, Private Peaceful and The Elephant in the Garden, The Barn and Michael have collaborated to bring this hugely important story to life. The subject was dealt with by Arthur Miller in Playing for Time (1980), initially a TV play, drawing on the memoir of Fania Fenelon, who played in the Auschwitz women’s orchestra. Morpurgo’s fiction, aimed at younger readers but not exclusively so, is mainly concerned with the legacy of that enforced accompaniment – how it expressed itself in guilty silence and punishing abstention from music tainted by association.