I'll grant you that while I wasn't there, and Mozart was not known as a vocalist ala Elvis, he was quite the child star. It is generally believed that the piano and violin playing Mozart (Wolfgang Amadeus) and his older sister the harpsichordist Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia (called "Nannerl" as a nickname) worked what could be called a "vaudeville act" as children doing the German, Austrian, Parisian and Italian Royalty circuit.
She was about 5 years older than her brother and originally received top billing in the "act". Their "act" consisted of trading instruments during pieces, demonstrating their youthful compositions, singing their own songs, doing popular music of the time, and making up pieces (including songs) on the spot for the royalty that was employing them. As Nannerl grew older, the novelty of a young child performer was replaced by the repression of the time forbidding young women to have careers outside of the home and marriage. Once she reached "marriageable age, the act broke up and Wolfgang went out on his own. Mozart thought Nannerl a fantastic composer too, but because of her gender, very little of her adult music was ever performed; she far worse off professionally than her famous brother and his complaints about not getting commissions or performances. She was "banished" to an arranged marriage with a much older (twice widowed) wealthy magistrate. Perhaps Oliver Stone could set the record straight with a future film. It is worth noting that with both this topic and the Scorsese thread that no one has mentioned The Last Waltz. It was a film/documentary which was a big departure for Martin Scorsese. While it technically related to only a single concert performance, it was also biographical in the sense that it chronicled the lives of The Band and their 15 or so years as a group. All of that was interwoven into the concert footage. I written too much now and I will stop for the day. ----- Original Message ----- From: Bruce Hershenson To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, February 21, 2010 8:58 AM Subject: Re: [MOPO] What WERE the best film biographies of popular singers? You see what you can learn on MoPo? On Sun, Feb 21, 2010 at 10:40 AM, Dave Rosen <[email protected]> wrote: Mozart was a singer? Dave ----- Original Message ----- From: Phillip W. Ayling To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, February 21, 2010 11:27 AM Subject: Re: [MOPO] What WERE the best film biographies of popular singers? Yankee Doodle Dandy, The Doors, Walk the Line and Amadeus were all popular during their time ----- Original Message ----- From: Toochis Morin To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, February 21, 2010 1:02 AM Subject: Re: [MOPO] What WERE the best film biographies of popular singers? Yes! Coal Miner's Daughter is awesome!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Dave Rosen <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Sat, February 20, 2010 1:39:21 PM Subject: Re: [MOPO] What WERE the best film biographies of popular singers? Coal Miner's Daughter, Ray and...Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. ;-) Dave ----- Original Message ----- From: Doug Taylor To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, February 20, 2010 1:45 PM Subject: Re: [MOPO] What WERE the best film biographies of popular singers? The Buddy Holly Story was under-appreciated, IMHO. Regards DBT Profile From: MoPo List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Toochis Morin Sent: Saturday, February 20, 2010 1:31 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [MOPO] What WERE the best film biographies of popular singers? FUNNY GIRL with Barbara Streisand DORTHY DANDRIDGE with Holly Berry WALK THE LINE with Joaquin Phoenix LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME with Doris Day HANK WILLIAMS with George Hamilton (kind of kitchy though) ELVIS PRESLEY with Kurt Russell Toochis ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jeff Potokar <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Sat, February 20, 2010 10:14:55 AM Subject: Re: [MOPO] What WERE the best film biographies of popular singers? A few that come to mind, right off the bat-- LADY SINGS THE BLUES, with Diana Ross THE JOLSON STORY, with Larry Parks LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME, with Doris Day Jeff On Feb 20, 2010, at 10:01 AM, Bruce Hershenson wrote: > All this talk about a Sinatra movie biography got me wondering if there is really a need for more biographies of great pop singers. What WERE the best film biographies of popular singers? > > Bruce > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com > ___________________________________________________________________ > How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List > Send a message addressed to: [email protected] > In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L > The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
