Amadeus Live

There were a number of rumours circulating after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s (1756–1791) early death. A few decades later, the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin wrote the play Mozart and Salieri, based on one of these rumours: that the composer Antonio Salieri (1750–1825) had poisoned Mozart, spurred on by an intense jealousy of the latter’s prodigious talent.

The play later became an opera, to music by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov. In the 1970s, the English writer Peter Chaffer stretched the theory further in his play Amadeus. The play formed the basis for Milos Forman’s award-winning film, which was released in 1984, collecting eight Oscars.

There are countless theories revolving around Mozart’s demise, and death by poison is no longer considered a credible explanation. Salieri was likely to be telling the truth as he desperately denied the rumours. While its historical precision may be somewhat in doubt, the storytelling and performances in Amadeus are first rate, and the soundtrack is nothing less than authentic!

(Translation from Norwegian: Sarah Osa)