Les Petits Riens

In 1778, Mozart composed 13 small-scale movements with an overture as a ’work of friendship‘ (without payment) for the famous choreographer Jean Georges Noverre. Although his director’s book has been lost, it is still possible to make a rough reconstruction of the plot: three loosely connected pastoral scenes depict the protagonist Amor as the ringleader of a prank who subsequently becomes the victim of his own tricks. The work was only discovered around a century later in an incomplete version in the Paris Opera library. Bernhard Paumgartner has filled in the gaps with other works by Mozart and found a racy finale for the ballet which exudes an elegant and playful Roccoco flavor. The work is the quintessence of dance down to the titles of its movements such as gavotte, gigue and farandole. As the music is so loosely linked with the plot, it is perfectly feasible to become inspired by the music and use it to tell a completely different story.