Why I love Mozart l'Opéra Rock

If you're not French, you probably won't have heard of Mozart, l'Opéra Rock. If you are French, it would have been difficult for you to avoid it, given that it's toured up and down the country, the songs have been in the charts and even sung on the French versions of X Factor. The stars have become pop idols, unusually for musical theatre performers. Mozart is making musicals - and opera - cool (at least in France).

I first saw the show shortly after arriving in Paris and my French was nowhere near good enough to follow the dialogue and the lyrics but I was still totally engrossed in the music. It's a mixture of Mozart's own music, traditional musical fare from emotional ballads to rousing party scenes and more rocky music. It sounds strange, but it works perfectly. I also absolutely loved the costumes, an emo take on 18th century chic!

Over two years later, my French has significantly improved and I have listened to the show countless times, so I now appreciate the story as much as the music. It seems that Mozart not only had an incredible musical talent, but also a life that lends itself to drama. The musical chronicles his thwarted infatuation with gold-digging singer Aloysia Weber to finding true love with her sister Constance; the overwhelming presence of his father; his travels from Salzberg to Mannheim, Paris and finally Vienna, causing mischief and searching for fame; and of course his rivalry with Antonio Salieri and untimely death.

One of the main reasons that I love the show is it's a really great way to learn French. The songs are so catchy you can't get them out of your head and unless you want to walk around singing 'la la la' you will end up looking up the lyrics and searching for the meanings in dictionaries. At least that's what I did and learnt countless words that way. Much more fun than a text-book!

However, if you want to cheat, someone has kindly uploaded the show with English subtitles to YouTube: