Amadeus (play)

Playbill, 1981

This article is about the stage play. For the film based on this play, see Amadeus (film).

For other uses, see Amadeus (play) (disambiguation).

Amadeus is the title of a stage play written in 1979 by Peter Shaffer, loosely based on the lives of the composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. Amadeus was inspired by Mozart and Salieri, a short play by Aleksandr Pushkin (later adapted into an opera of the same name by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov), and was itself later adapted into the film Amadeus.

The title refers to a name that Mozart often used (he was baptized as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart) as a pen name. It is a Latinization of the Greek Theophilos, which Mozart in turn sometimes Germanized as "Gottlieb". All three names translate to "beloved of God" or "God-lover" (hence Shaffer's decision to title his play Amadeus, a reference to Salieri's relationship with God in the play and his perception of Mozart's musical gifts as a sign of divine favor).

The play makes use of Mozart's music (as well as that of a few other composers, including Salieri).

Plot

Amadeus tells Mozart's story from the point of view of the court composer Antonio Salieri, who is presented as a caricature of jealous mediocrity. Salieri speaks directly to the audience at many times during the play, his soliloquies serving to move the timeline forward and back, and to narrate the goings-on, unlike the film, which employs an interlocutor (a young priest) for Salieri to achieve this same function. Much of the play is presented in retrospective.

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At the opening of the tale, Salieri has not met Mozart in person, but has heard of him and his music. He adores Mozart's compositions, and is thrilled at the chance to meet Mozart in person, during a salon at which both of their compositions will be played. When he finally does catch sight of Mozart, however, he is deeply disappointed to find that Mozart's personality does not match the grace or charm of his compositions: Mozart is crawling around on his hands and knees, engaging in sexual talk with Constanze Weber (who later became his wife). As Mozart himself later explains: "I am a vulgar man....but I assure you, my music is not."

Salieri cannot reconcile Mozart's boorish behavior with the massive genius that God has inexplicably bestowed upon him. Indeed, Salieri, who has been a devout Catholic all his life, cannot believe that God would choose Mozart over him for such a gift. Salieri rejects God and vows to do everything in his power to destroy Mozart.

Throughout much of the rest of the play, Salieri masquerades as Mozart's ally to his face, while at the same time doing his utmost to destroy his reputation and any success his compositions may have. On more than one occasion it is only the direct intervention of the emperor himself that allows Mozart to continue (interventions which Salieri opposes, and then is all too happy to take credit for when Mozart assumes it was he who intervened). Salieri also humiliates Mozart's wife when she comes to Salieri for aid, and smears Mozart's character with the emperor and the court. A major theme in Amadeus is Mozart's repeated attempts to win over the aristocratic "public" with increasingly brilliant compositions, which are always frustrated either by Salieri or by the aristocracy's own inability to appreciate Mozart's genius. During this time Mozart also receives the services of a maid, Lorl. While this is never made fully clear in the story, the indications seem to be that she was in fact supplied to him by Salieri in order that she could spy on Mozart, reporting back to Salieri.

Only Baron van Swieten (who early in the story inducts Mozart into the Brotherhood of the Freemasons) continues to support Mozart. Indeed, by the end of the play, Mozart is surviving solely because of the charity of his brother Masons. Finally, Salieri convinces Mozart (who by this time is half-crazed from frustration and poverty) to compose an opera based on the mythos of the Masons. As a result, Mozart produces the comedy Die Zauberflöte. Van Swieten is horrified to see that Mozart has, in his opinion, parodied the venerated traditions of Freemasonry. He summarily removes Mozart from the Masons. Meanwhile, Mozart's partner in the production of Die Zauberflöte, Emanuel Schikaneder, cheats Mozart out of most of his share of the ticket proceeds.

Now thoroughly destroyed and without recourse, Mozart begins to waste away. The coup de grâce is the 'Messenger' who haunts Mozart into writing a requiem. Salieri takes advantage of Mozart's all-consuming fear of this figure by confessing his 'poisoning' of Mozart and himself. This drives Mozart further into insanity and he finally dies in the arms of Constanze, leaving his final masterpiece unfinished.

The play ends with Salieri attempting suicide in a last pathetic attempt to be remembered, leaving a false confession of having murdered Mozart with arsenic. He survives, however, and his confession is disbelieved by all, leaving him to once again wallow in mediocrity.

Historicity

It is well known that Shaffer took dramatic license in his portrayals of both Mozart and Salieri. There is some debate, however, as to just how much. Documentary evidence suggests that there was indeed some antipathy between Mozart and Salieri, but the idea that Salieri was in fact the instigator of Mozart's demise is not given academic credence. In fact, while there may have been real rivalry between Mozart and Salieri, there is also evidence that they enjoyed a relationship marked by mutual respect. For a historical re-evaluation of this rivalry as represented in the play and the film, musicologist A. Peter Brown's article "Amadeus and Mozart: Setting the Record Straight" may be more useful.

Mozart

Many classical music critics and experts feel that Shaffer's portrayal of Mozart as petulant and loutish is unfair. On the other hand, surviving letters by and about Mozart give examples of his brutal and sometimes profane sense of humor, his arrogance, his stubbornness, and penchant for juvenile indulgences. Also, extant records show Mozart was not a good money manager and suffered from large debts, as portrayed in Amadeus. Finally, Mozart's relationship with his father as portrayed in the film seems to be accurate, judging from the subtext of their letters to each other.

David Cairns called Amadeus "myth-mongering" and argued against Shaffer's portrait of "two contradictory beings, sublime artist and fool" in favour of a "fundamentally well-integrated" Mozart. He also rejects the "Romantic legend" that Mozart always wrote out perfect manuscripts of works already completely composed in his head (or "noodle," to use Shaffer's word), citing major and prolonged revisions to several manuscripts.

A major disparity between the play and real life is the fact that Mozart's mother-in-law, Caecilia Weber, is portrayed as Mozart's landlady, and her daughter Constanze as an innocent girl whom the composer casually met. In fact, Mozart was in love with one of Constanze's sisters, Aloysia, when he met Constanze for the first time, and only years later he would ask Constanze's hand in marriage. His relationship with the Webers seems to have been normal and friendly, especially with one of his sisters-in-law, Sophie, who was among his favourite singers and played one of the main roles in the debut of "The Magic Flute".

Recent studies suggest that Mozart died of some form of rheumatic fever (possibly aggravated by overwork and heavy drinking), and not from any poison. A similar fate befell Felix Mendelssohn who also demonstrated prodigal gifts for composing - and, like Mozart, did not survive to his 40th birthday.

Production

Amadeus premiered on Broadway in 1980 with Ian McKellen as starring as Salieri and Tim Curry as Mozart. It was nominated for seven Tony Awards (best actor for both McKellen and Curry, best director for Peter Hall, best play, best costume design, lighting, and set design for John Bury), of which it won five (including a best actor Tony for McKellen).

Mark Hamill was cast as Mozart in the 1983 Los Angeles production.

The play was revived in 2000, and received Tony Award nominations for best revival and best actor (David Suchet).

To celebrate Mozart's 250th birthday in 2006, BBC Radio broadcast an eight-part first-person adaptation (by Neville Teller) of Shaffer's play as read by F. Murray Abraham in the narrative role of Salieri.

The 1984 film version of Amadeus starred F.Murray Abraham as Salieri and Thomas Hulce as Mozart, with Elizabeth Berridge as Constanze. The play was thoroughly reworked for the film by Peter Shaffer in collaboration with the film's director Milos Forman, in order to make it more cinematic, and to add scenes not found in the play.

In 2004, a modified production of Amadeus premiered in Mount Gretna, PA, at the historic playhouse. This version streamlined the show's lengthy running time by a large amount while retaining the play's throughline. Audience response was excellent and the production is of particular note for its elaborate sound design and dreamlike scene shifts using minimal set pieces. The production was directed by Will Stutts, Mount Gretna Playhouse's artistic director. The show was stage managed by Joseph Borkovich and featured Robert Campbell (Asylum 11) as Mozart. Dan Olmstead (Philadelphia, The Manchurian Candidate) played Salieri. Duffey Westlake (Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Anchorman) played one of the Venticelli. Despite its use of virtual unknowns and its low-key opening in an out-of-the-way venue, this production was considered by many reviewers and analysts to be the finest American production of the play outside of the legendary original Broadway run and the 1983 Los Angleles production. The script modifications made for this production have been carried over to various regional runs as a test for future revision of the show in major cities like New York and LA.

On July 20th, 2006, the Los Angeles Philharmonic presented a production of the latest revision of the play at Hollywood Bowl. Neil Patrick Harris starred as Mozart, and Michael York as Salieri; Leonard Slatkin conducted the Philharmonic.

Differences between the play and movie

Miloš Forman and Peter Schaffer spent great amounts of time rewriting the play into a movie. While the play focuses primarily on Salieri, the movie shows both composers as full characters. Some scenes were shot for the movie, but not used. Some of these made it back into the movie in the Director's Cut.

The following is a small selection of differences between the play and the movie.

Play	Movie
Salieri doesn't attempt suicide until the end of the play.	At the beginning of the movie, Salieri attempts suicide and is brought to a mental hospital where he tells his story to Father Vogler.
The Archbishop Colloredo does not appear.	Mozart is chided by Colloredo after Salieri steals into the room and watches his and Constanze's obscene play.
Cavalieri is a silent part.	Cavalieri has lines, but her singing lesson is not in the play.
Mozart's father does not appear.	Leopold Mozart begs Colloredo to take Mozart back to his service. He later stays with Mozart and Constanze, and is shown to have a great influence on Mozart's personality, even after Leopold's death.
There is a scene where Salieri tries to seduce Constanze, with promises of a teaching position for Mozart, eventually humiliating her, as she offers herself to him.	This scene is not in the 1984 version, but the Director's Cut does contain it.
Salieri recommends a bad musician to teach the fiancée of Joseph II's nephew, Princess Elizabeth.	The scene is cut and replaced with Mozart, Leopold and Constanze going to a masquerade party.
Mozart tells Salieri about a figure in grey who has commissioned him to write the Requiem mass in D minor - it is not Salieri, though he consequently appears to Mozart in this guise.	Salieri disguises himself as the figure in grey (black, in the film version) and commissions Mozart to write the Requiem mass in D minor.

The original production and touring versions of the play did not allow for good sound reproductions of the music - it was played on tinny-sounding speakers. This was corrected in the film version, which allowed for the music to be heard in full high-fidelity.

References in popular culture

• Parodied in an episode of the HBO program Mr. Show (which depicts two marching band music composers, one of whom, Salini, is insanely jealous of the prodigious talent of the other, Philouza) and also in the Simpsons episode "Margical History Tour".
• Inspired the international hit single "Rock Me Amadeus" by Austrian pop artist Falco.
• Strongly influenced the plot of the Bollywood film Shakalaka Boom Boom, about an Indian rock star's desperate attempts to derail the career of another, far more talented singer.
• Parodied in the Family Guy episode "It Takes a Village Idiot, and I Married One".

See also

• Amadeus (film)
• Mozart's name

External links

• ​Amadeus​ at the Internet Broadway Database
• Analysis of Amadeus - the play and the film