Szeged Contemporary Dance Company presents Amadeus, inspired by Mozart’s life
The Szeged Contemporary Dance Company premiered its new production, Amadeus – Requiem for Love, at the National Theater of Szeged on Friday evening. The performance, created in collaboration with the Szeged Symphony Orchestra and the Viktor Vaszy Choir, presents the life and artistic legacy of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart through contemporary dance.
The production is choreographed and directed by Tamás Juronics, the company’s Kossuth Prize-winning artistic director. The first act portrays key moments and figures from Mozart’s life, while the second act offers a symbolic journey beyond earthly existence, set to excerpts from the composer’s Requiem.
“Our admiration for Mozart – his genius and his universally known music – was the foundation of this production,” Juronics said in an interview ahead of the premiere. “We didn’t want to adapt the Milos Forman film or Peter Shaffer’s play. We created our own work, showing Mozart’s talent, his creative spirit, and his relationship with life and death from a contemporary perspective.”
According to Juronics, the subtitle Requiem for Love refers not to romantic love, but to Mozart’s passion for life. “He loved every aspect of existence – success, freedom, and even challenges. He spoke of death with lightheartedness, not as something frightening but as the ultimate goal of every living being,” he said.
The production combines live music and dance, with the Szeged Symphony Orchestra performing under the baton of Sándor Gyüdi. In the second act, the 40-member Viktor Vaszy Choir joins the orchestra for a staged performance of the Requiem, transforming the theater into a space resembling a sacred setting.
Juronics said the creative team sought to capture Mozart’s spirit rather than tell a linear story. “We wear Baroque costumes and present scenes from his life, but through the eyes of contemporary people,” he said. “It’s as if we’re walking through a gallery where the figures from Mozart’s paintings step down from the canvas and come to life through us.”
The premiere marks another major collaboration between Szeged’s leading performing arts institutions. The production will be performed in Hungary and is expected to be included in the company’s upcoming international touring program.
“While this piece is about Mozart, it also says a lot about us as artists,” Juronics said. “Mozart’s works are only fragments of his spirit. I believe his genius continues to illuminate the world – even beyond.”
Photos: Szilvia Molnar / Szegedify
