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Amadeus
0riginating at the National Theatre of Great Britain, Amadeus was the recipient of both the Evening Standard Drama Award and the Theatre Critics Award. In the United States, the play won the coveted Tony Award and went on to become a critically acclaimed major motion picture winning eight Oscars, including Best Picture.
Now, this extraordinary work about the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is available with a new preface by Peter Shaffer and a new introduction by the director of the 1998 Broadway revival, Sir Peter Hall. Amadeus is a must-have for classical music buffs, theatre lovers, and aficionados of historical fiction.
Now, this extraordinary work about the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is available with a new preface by Peter Shaffer and a new introduction by the director of the 1998 Broadway revival, Sir Peter Hall. Amadeus is a must-have for classical music buffs, theatre lovers, and aficionados of historical fiction.
156 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
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About the author
Peter Shaffer
59books176followersSir Peter Levin Shaffer was an English dramatist, author of numerous award-winning plays, several of which have been filmed.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 416 reviews
November 18, 2024
I saw a production of the brilliant play Amadeus in London's West End, where it moved to in 1981, after its initial stunning and masterly debut at the National Theatre in 1979. The production was the same, with Peter Hall directing, starring Frank Finlay as the tortured Salieri, and Richard O'Callaghan as the manic and crassly inappropriately behaved Mozart. It also starred Morag Hood as Constanze Weber.
The film a couple of years later became a well-deserved favourite, but this was a breathtaking introduction to what has become a famous story about the tragically short life of the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The young composer's sheer genius surpassed anything the established Viennese court composer Salieri could possibly create. Salieri was an established figure; a much celebrated conductor and composer of operas and other works. He did not welcome a rival - especially such a one as Mozart. This uncouth insolent lad displayed all the anti-social behaviour associated with Tourette's syndrome.
An arrogant, lazy, buffoon of a boy, vulgarities spewing from his mouth, strutting around the stage offending all he met is seared into my memory. Is this the composer who created such sublime music? And did the composer Salieri, despairing of possibly competing with such talent, really ? Did Mozart, shortly before he died, know that the Requiem Mass he was writing would be his own?
The idea that has intrigued people ever since Mozart's death. Pushkin wrote a short play entitled "Mozart and Salieri" five years after Salieri's death, and later the composer Rimsky-Korsakov set it to music as an opera. Even the major composer Ludwig van Beethoven, in his "Conversation Books" of 1823 said,
The facts of the matter are lost in the annals of history, but it is an intriguing idea - and makes a compelling tragic, powerful yet witty and blackly hilarious play. Amadeus has won thirteen awards, and is, like Mozart's music, simply sublime.
The film a couple of years later became a well-deserved favourite, but this was a breathtaking introduction to what has become a famous story about the tragically short life of the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The young composer's sheer genius surpassed anything the established Viennese court composer Salieri could possibly create. Salieri was an established figure; a much celebrated conductor and composer of operas and other works. He did not welcome a rival - especially such a one as Mozart. This uncouth insolent lad displayed all the anti-social behaviour associated with Tourette's syndrome.
An arrogant, lazy, buffoon of a boy, vulgarities spewing from his mouth, strutting around the stage offending all he met is seared into my memory. Is this the composer who created such sublime music? And did the composer Salieri, despairing of possibly competing with such talent, really ? Did Mozart, shortly before he died, know that the Requiem Mass he was writing would be his own?
The idea that has intrigued people ever since Mozart's death. Pushkin wrote a short play entitled "Mozart and Salieri" five years after Salieri's death, and later the composer Rimsky-Korsakov set it to music as an opera. Even the major composer Ludwig van Beethoven, in his "Conversation Books" of 1823 said,
The facts of the matter are lost in the annals of history, but it is an intriguing idea - and makes a compelling tragic, powerful yet witty and blackly hilarious play. Amadeus has won thirteen awards, and is, like Mozart's music, simply sublime.
December 11, 2020
ما هردو آدمهای معمولی هستیم، اما اون از چیز های معمولی افسانه می سازد و من از افسانه ها چیزهای معمولی
نویسنده داستانش را از زبان آنتونیو سالی یری آهنگساز ایتالیایی دربار اتریش بیان می کند. وی بشدت به موتسارت حسادت دارد. (البته نمی‌دان� چقدر واقعیت داشته است.) اما بیان زندگی یک نابغه از زبان دشمنش بسیار جالب از آب در آمده است. او حیله‌باز� را در دربار آموخته و بارها به چشمانش دیده است که چطور بدخواهان یک انسان بزرگ را به راحتی زمین می‌زنن�...برای آنکه وجدانش آرام گیرد نبوغ موتسارت را غیرطبیعی و شیطانی می‌دان� چون برای خلق شاهکارهایش آنقدرها هم تلاشی به خرج نمی‌ده�. نبوغ او چیزی است فراتر از توانایی‌ها� شناخته شده� انسانی.
میگن موتسارت اولین کنسرتشو در چهارسالگی نوشته.پنج سالگی یک سمفونی
ساخته،چهارده سالش بوده که اپرایی کامل نوشته که همه رو متحیر کرده
سالی یری می گوید: موسیقی موتسارت را مردم نمی‌فهمن�. او برای اهالی وین همینطور که از دیدن یک کلاه مُد روز به هیجان می آیند از کنسرت های موتسارت هم استقبال می کنن ولی من ارزش کارش را تشخیص میدم، آثارش شاهکار قرن هیجده اس
سالی یری در مورد خود و موتسارت می گوید: مفهوم زندگی رو نشناختم.فکر می کردم چون نمیتونم موتسارت باشم پس هیچی نیستم
موسیقی من کم کم خاموش شد، تا جایی که خودم هم از یادها رفتم
اما صدای موسیقی موتسارت دم به دم بلند و بلندتر می شد و در سراسر دنیا به گوش رسید
اینم یکی از آهنگ هایی که در سراسر دنیا به گوش می رسد:
حرف آخر:
سالی یری در زمان خودش بر تمام برنامه های موسیقی نظارت داشت و حتی سمفونی نبرد بتهوون را هم رهبری کرد (که نتیجه این یکی، کَر شدن گوشش بود!) و این کتاب و حتی ریویوی بنده را هم ایشان باز رهبری کردند و باز ایشان‌ان� که حرف آخر را می‌زنن�
ما موسیقیدان‌ها� قرن هیجده خدمتکاران دربار هستیم، برده هایی که انجام وظیفه می کنن، برده های آگاه و عالم که علم خودشون رو در خدمت سیاست مداران می ذارن. خب به نظر شما چه کسی برده نیست؟ آیا در آینده دیگه کسی برده نخواهد بود؟ هان، نمی دونم
البته برای همه ی مردم موسیقی می سازیم، از طریق موسیقی زندگی و مرگ را جاویدان می کنیم.
می دونم...می دونم موسیقی همیشه به یاد می مونه. اما سیاست مداران از بین میرن
نویسنده داستانش را از زبان آنتونیو سالی یری آهنگساز ایتالیایی دربار اتریش بیان می کند. وی بشدت به موتسارت حسادت دارد. (البته نمی‌دان� چقدر واقعیت داشته است.) اما بیان زندگی یک نابغه از زبان دشمنش بسیار جالب از آب در آمده است. او حیله‌باز� را در دربار آموخته و بارها به چشمانش دیده است که چطور بدخواهان یک انسان بزرگ را به راحتی زمین می‌زنن�...برای آنکه وجدانش آرام گیرد نبوغ موتسارت را غیرطبیعی و شیطانی می‌دان� چون برای خلق شاهکارهایش آنقدرها هم تلاشی به خرج نمی‌ده�. نبوغ او چیزی است فراتر از توانایی‌ها� شناخته شده� انسانی.
میگن موتسارت اولین کنسرتشو در چهارسالگی نوشته.پنج سالگی یک سمفونی
ساخته،چهارده سالش بوده که اپرایی کامل نوشته که همه رو متحیر کرده
سالی یری می گوید: موسیقی موتسارت را مردم نمی‌فهمن�. او برای اهالی وین همینطور که از دیدن یک کلاه مُد روز به هیجان می آیند از کنسرت های موتسارت هم استقبال می کنن ولی من ارزش کارش را تشخیص میدم، آثارش شاهکار قرن هیجده اس
سالی یری در مورد خود و موتسارت می گوید: مفهوم زندگی رو نشناختم.فکر می کردم چون نمیتونم موتسارت باشم پس هیچی نیستم
موسیقی من کم کم خاموش شد، تا جایی که خودم هم از یادها رفتم
اما صدای موسیقی موتسارت دم به دم بلند و بلندتر می شد و در سراسر دنیا به گوش رسید
اینم یکی از آهنگ هایی که در سراسر دنیا به گوش می رسد:
حرف آخر:
سالی یری در زمان خودش بر تمام برنامه های موسیقی نظارت داشت و حتی سمفونی نبرد بتهوون را هم رهبری کرد (که نتیجه این یکی، کَر شدن گوشش بود!) و این کتاب و حتی ریویوی بنده را هم ایشان باز رهبری کردند و باز ایشان‌ان� که حرف آخر را می‌زنن�
ما موسیقیدان‌ها� قرن هیجده خدمتکاران دربار هستیم، برده هایی که انجام وظیفه می کنن، برده های آگاه و عالم که علم خودشون رو در خدمت سیاست مداران می ذارن. خب به نظر شما چه کسی برده نیست؟ آیا در آینده دیگه کسی برده نخواهد بود؟ هان، نمی دونم
البته برای همه ی مردم موسیقی می سازیم، از طریق موسیقی زندگی و مرگ را جاویدان می کنیم.
می دونم...می دونم موسیقی همیشه به یاد می مونه. اما سیاست مداران از بین میرن
February 7, 2017
I had to update one more time because I found the soundtrack online: (excitement overload!!!!)
Imagine that you are the most successful musician of the age. You’re the court composer. You’ve worked so hard for your role, and every action you take is dignified and intelligent. You act sophisticated and regal, as an attempt to match your persona to the music. Everyone respects your opinion and trusts you on all matters music.
Your name is Antonio Salieri, and you’re about to meet your reckoning.
“I looked on astounded as from his ordinary life he made his art. We were both ordinary men, he and I. Yet from the ordinary he created Legends--and I from Legends created only the ordinary!�
One day you hear rumours of a new composer. He is said to be brilliant in his vibrancy. You go and watch him perform an opera and you collapse. You fall to your knees and you weep. You weep like you’ve never have before because you know that this man is better than you. He has a gift, a talent sent from god, one you wish for and one that you are mightily jealous of. Nobody else quite understands his brilliance. Everyone is dumb to music. But you know. You have to live with the knowledge that this man is the best musician of the age and nobody else knows.
So what do you do with this brilliant man called Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? This man who is a complete natural?
"I pay no attention whatever to anybody's praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings.�
Do you serve the music and help this man better himself? Or do you think about your own vain image and try to destroy him so you can remain in your roles? Despite your assertions Salieri of being wronged by this man’s existence, you’re the villain of this play. You ruin him. You destroy him. And you break him. You turn the individualistic Mozart, he who is essentially a mad genius, into a blubbering wreck. Mainly because your stupid sense of self image is insulted that a man such as him, one who acts like a child and is loud and obnoxious, could be better than you.
But, as hard as it is for me to say it, this is only one reading of this play. In a weird sort of way, you could argue that Salieri’s actions bring the best out of Mozart. He pushes him to the depths of despair and depravity, and although he is destroyed in the process, he produces some wonderful music pieces in the journey. Had this never happened he would still have created fine music, but it wouldn’t have been the same music. His later pieces in the play were fuelled by woe and misery; they took on a different shape and form.
The two men become bound together through the jealously of the lesser. He tails on Mozart’s achievements with the ultimate goal of being remembered as a shaping form in his destiny even if it is for baser reasons. At the core of things Salieri is very human, though a greater man would have realised his folly and acted in the benefits of the arts first. This is a beautifully conflicted play, and whist it is enjoyable to read, it is best to be seen. The version I watched last night in a live screening (the images I have included in this review are from the version) was stunning. Hearing the music alongside the performance is essential.
Imagine that you are the most successful musician of the age. You’re the court composer. You’ve worked so hard for your role, and every action you take is dignified and intelligent. You act sophisticated and regal, as an attempt to match your persona to the music. Everyone respects your opinion and trusts you on all matters music.
Your name is Antonio Salieri, and you’re about to meet your reckoning.
“I looked on astounded as from his ordinary life he made his art. We were both ordinary men, he and I. Yet from the ordinary he created Legends--and I from Legends created only the ordinary!�
One day you hear rumours of a new composer. He is said to be brilliant in his vibrancy. You go and watch him perform an opera and you collapse. You fall to your knees and you weep. You weep like you’ve never have before because you know that this man is better than you. He has a gift, a talent sent from god, one you wish for and one that you are mightily jealous of. Nobody else quite understands his brilliance. Everyone is dumb to music. But you know. You have to live with the knowledge that this man is the best musician of the age and nobody else knows.
So what do you do with this brilliant man called Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? This man who is a complete natural?
"I pay no attention whatever to anybody's praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings.�
Do you serve the music and help this man better himself? Or do you think about your own vain image and try to destroy him so you can remain in your roles? Despite your assertions Salieri of being wronged by this man’s existence, you’re the villain of this play. You ruin him. You destroy him. And you break him. You turn the individualistic Mozart, he who is essentially a mad genius, into a blubbering wreck. Mainly because your stupid sense of self image is insulted that a man such as him, one who acts like a child and is loud and obnoxious, could be better than you.
But, as hard as it is for me to say it, this is only one reading of this play. In a weird sort of way, you could argue that Salieri’s actions bring the best out of Mozart. He pushes him to the depths of despair and depravity, and although he is destroyed in the process, he produces some wonderful music pieces in the journey. Had this never happened he would still have created fine music, but it wouldn’t have been the same music. His later pieces in the play were fuelled by woe and misery; they took on a different shape and form.
The two men become bound together through the jealously of the lesser. He tails on Mozart’s achievements with the ultimate goal of being remembered as a shaping form in his destiny even if it is for baser reasons. At the core of things Salieri is very human, though a greater man would have realised his folly and acted in the benefits of the arts first. This is a beautifully conflicted play, and whist it is enjoyable to read, it is best to be seen. The version I watched last night in a live screening (the images I have included in this review are from the version) was stunning. Hearing the music alongside the performance is essential.
December 3, 2021
Peter Shafer was not so famous playwright. However, he has written so many plays that provide him critical acclaim among the intellectuals. Amadeus is a kind of psychological drama. He has mastery over playing with words. That's why he has created so many plays that are full of powerful dialogues.
March 16, 2025
ON MY AMADEUS (with apologies to Milton):
When I think how my Amadean Mania is spent,
Through Neuroleptic black magic at the end of my life,
And that sense of haha's which is death to kill
Lodged in me useless, well, a pox on it!
But Patience speaks: "God does not consider
Man's work or crazy gifts. They serve Him best
Who bear His Mild Meds! They also serve
Who only Squirm and Wait -
For a Speedy Peace from this far too frantic Age."
When I think how my Amadean Mania is spent,
Through Neuroleptic black magic at the end of my life,
And that sense of haha's which is death to kill
Lodged in me useless, well, a pox on it!
But Patience speaks: "God does not consider
Man's work or crazy gifts. They serve Him best
Who bear His Mild Meds! They also serve
Who only Squirm and Wait -
For a Speedy Peace from this far too frantic Age."
March 3, 2022
I was looking for something entirely different than I had been reading, and hit on this much awarded play by Peter Shaffer, Amadeus about Wolgnag Amadeus Mozart, one of the great musical geniuses of all time, and Antonio SAalieri, who is not one of the great musical geniuses of all time. I read the play before and also saw productions of the play and the much-lauded musical version. I am told Shaffer was inspired to write the play after reading Alexander Pushkin’s short 1830 play Mozart and Salieri.
Shaffer also did a lot of additional research into the composers, their music and related issues. I am also told that musical historians do not appreciate the broad semi-comical caricatures Saffer created of Mozart as a kind of obscene immature buffoon who could compose whole pieces after we night’s driving and canoodling, and Salieri as talent-less stuffy and jealous enemy, but there are elements that make Shaffer’s fiction plausible on some levels. Mozart did have a reputation for wine and women as well as song; he did compose quickly and brilliantly. Salieri was famous in his day as a court composer, but no one knows his work anymore. Jealously mediocre, vs genius. Too conventional, Shaffer says, and history agrees. It is less clear that Salieri, who may indeed have been jealous of Mozart’s genius, might have plotted his demise. Though I read that Mozart's admirer Beethoven claimed he was told Salieri was involved in Mozart's death.
The play is both funny and finally profoundly moving, and Shaffer’s use of the music throughout, connecting it to Mozart’s life, is wonderful. Shaffer, who also wrote Equus and other plays, is known for the theater of “spectacle,� plays that highlight sudden dramatic moments, with lots of flash, clearly meant to be entertaining. I was entertained and have put on my to-do list re-viewing the movie version. It’s been decades.
Here’s a clip from that movie:
.
Shaffer also did a lot of additional research into the composers, their music and related issues. I am also told that musical historians do not appreciate the broad semi-comical caricatures Saffer created of Mozart as a kind of obscene immature buffoon who could compose whole pieces after we night’s driving and canoodling, and Salieri as talent-less stuffy and jealous enemy, but there are elements that make Shaffer’s fiction plausible on some levels. Mozart did have a reputation for wine and women as well as song; he did compose quickly and brilliantly. Salieri was famous in his day as a court composer, but no one knows his work anymore. Jealously mediocre, vs genius. Too conventional, Shaffer says, and history agrees. It is less clear that Salieri, who may indeed have been jealous of Mozart’s genius, might have plotted his demise. Though I read that Mozart's admirer Beethoven claimed he was told Salieri was involved in Mozart's death.
The play is both funny and finally profoundly moving, and Shaffer’s use of the music throughout, connecting it to Mozart’s life, is wonderful. Shaffer, who also wrote Equus and other plays, is known for the theater of “spectacle,� plays that highlight sudden dramatic moments, with lots of flash, clearly meant to be entertaining. I was entertained and have put on my to-do list re-viewing the movie version. It’s been decades.
Here’s a clip from that movie:
.
September 20, 2017
I can’t believe ... this book is a so great masterpiece!!!
این کتاب یکی از بهترین شاهکارایی بود که خونده ام... اینقدر خوب بود که وقتی 10-20 صفحشو خونده ام متوجه شدم با اثر فوق العاده ای روبرو هستم...کم کم از بس دوسش داشتم نمیخواستم بخونمش...و وقتی تموم شد واقعا توی بهت بودم.
البته بیشتر به خاطر خود داستان و موضوع اون. نمیدونم موضوع مرگ موتسارت چقدر حقیقت داره. توی کتاب "تراژدیهای کوچک" پوشکین اولین بار بود که این موضوع رو خوندم...اینکه سالیری آهنگساز برجسته ایتالیایی از سر حسادت و طمع، موتسارت رو مسموم میکنه و موتسارت در اوج جوانی در 35 سالگی از دنیا میره و البته سالیری 30 سال بعدش در 74 سالگی میمیره. قبلا نقاشی تشیع جنازه موتسارت رو دیده بودم. الان متوجه میشم چرا توی تشیع جنازه اش هیچ کس نبود!
توی این کتاب شخصیت موتسارت بی پروا و گاهی کاملا مثل یه فرد عامی نشون داده شده بود و واقعا برای من عجیب بود... ما همیشه از شخصیتهای
برجسته جهانی بت می سازیم.البته همه انسانیم... (توی ویکی پدیا نوشته بود که شفر بخاطر نشون دادن چنین شخصیتی از موتسارت شدیدا نقد شده)
این کتاب یکی از بهترین شاهکارایی بود که خونده ام... اینقدر خوب بود که وقتی 10-20 صفحشو خونده ام متوجه شدم با اثر فوق العاده ای روبرو هستم...کم کم از بس دوسش داشتم نمیخواستم بخونمش...و وقتی تموم شد واقعا توی بهت بودم.
البته بیشتر به خاطر خود داستان و موضوع اون. نمیدونم موضوع مرگ موتسارت چقدر حقیقت داره. توی کتاب "تراژدیهای کوچک" پوشکین اولین بار بود که این موضوع رو خوندم...اینکه سالیری آهنگساز برجسته ایتالیایی از سر حسادت و طمع، موتسارت رو مسموم میکنه و موتسارت در اوج جوانی در 35 سالگی از دنیا میره و البته سالیری 30 سال بعدش در 74 سالگی میمیره. قبلا نقاشی تشیع جنازه موتسارت رو دیده بودم. الان متوجه میشم چرا توی تشیع جنازه اش هیچ کس نبود!
توی این کتاب شخصیت موتسارت بی پروا و گاهی کاملا مثل یه فرد عامی نشون داده شده بود و واقعا برای من عجیب بود... ما همیشه از شخصیتهای
برجسته جهانی بت می سازیم.البته همه انسانیم... (توی ویکی پدیا نوشته بود که شفر بخاطر نشون دادن چنین شخصیتی از موتسارت شدیدا نقد شده)
March 12, 2021
نمایشنام
تجسمی کامل از عنصر حسادتِ آهنگسازِ ایتالیایی به اسم آنتونیو سالی‌یر�!
نمایشنام روایت حسادت وکینه‌توز� آنتونیو سالی‌یر� به ولفگانگ آمادئوس موتسارت نابغه ,از زبان خود سالی‌یر�!
سالی‌یر�:
"از حالا به بعد هرکسی راجع� به موتسارت حرف بزنه,از من به نفرت یاد میکنه وبرای همیشه این دروغ رو باور می‌کن� ,ولی مهم اینه که اسم من همراه اسم اون میاد و من اینطوری جاودانه می‌ش�.
مفهوم زندگی رو نشناختم .فکر میکردم چون نمی‌تون� موتسارت باشم پس هیچی نیستم.
اقرار می‌کن� من آنتونیو سالی‌یر� «قدیس حامی آدم‌ها� کم‌مایه� "
ومظلومیت موتسارت ,نابغه� دوران خود و رکوئیم مرگبار . .
نمایشنام با قطعه بسیار زیبای Lacrymosa به پایان میرسه
فیلمی هم براساس همین نمایشنام,در سال 1984ساخته شده است.
تجسمی کامل از عنصر حسادتِ آهنگسازِ ایتالیایی به اسم آنتونیو سالی‌یر�!
نمایشنام روایت حسادت وکینه‌توز� آنتونیو سالی‌یر� به ولفگانگ آمادئوس موتسارت نابغه ,از زبان خود سالی‌یر�!
سالی‌یر�:
"از حالا به بعد هرکسی راجع� به موتسارت حرف بزنه,از من به نفرت یاد میکنه وبرای همیشه این دروغ رو باور می‌کن� ,ولی مهم اینه که اسم من همراه اسم اون میاد و من اینطوری جاودانه می‌ش�.
مفهوم زندگی رو نشناختم .فکر میکردم چون نمی‌تون� موتسارت باشم پس هیچی نیستم.
اقرار می‌کن� من آنتونیو سالی‌یر� «قدیس حامی آدم‌ها� کم‌مایه� "
ومظلومیت موتسارت ,نابغه� دوران خود و رکوئیم مرگبار . .
نمایشنام با قطعه بسیار زیبای Lacrymosa به پایان میرسه
فیلمی هم براساس همین نمایشنام,در سال 1984ساخته شده است.
May 7, 2017
I've never personally watched an Aleta before and hence, this review is solely based on my limited grasp of the play.
Where do I start! The play is more than just about rivalry or envy, it is about love and compassion. Love that is destructive and compassion that burns ones own soul. Both Salieri and Mozart love their work, to an extent that destroyed them. Salieri destroyed himself not just out of envy for Mozart's talent but despise for his own limits.
"Yet he from the ordinary created legends- and I from legends created only the ordinary."
There are moments of joy, and moments of cruel defeat right in the immediate. There is love and there is envy bordering on hatred. The play is awfully dark, and yet funny. It's a whole lot of paradoxes. There is expected mortality, yet immortality coming out of it.
"Something immortal- yet stinking of death. Indestructible- and yet rotting!"
The play is unbearably human. You feel disgust, pity and love, all the same.
It's beautiful. Give it a read.
Where do I start! The play is more than just about rivalry or envy, it is about love and compassion. Love that is destructive and compassion that burns ones own soul. Both Salieri and Mozart love their work, to an extent that destroyed them. Salieri destroyed himself not just out of envy for Mozart's talent but despise for his own limits.
"Yet he from the ordinary created legends- and I from legends created only the ordinary."
There are moments of joy, and moments of cruel defeat right in the immediate. There is love and there is envy bordering on hatred. The play is awfully dark, and yet funny. It's a whole lot of paradoxes. There is expected mortality, yet immortality coming out of it.
"Something immortal- yet stinking of death. Indestructible- and yet rotting!"
The play is unbearably human. You feel disgust, pity and love, all the same.
It's beautiful. Give it a read.
August 14, 2023
The only thing sadder than being mediocre is being mediocre in the presence of genius. Do not confuse AMADEUS the play with the Milos Foreman film, although both were written by Peter Shaffer. The play concentrates much more on Salieri, and the plight of being gifted talent by God only to have that talent taken away when a man-god steals your spotlight. The tragedy of Salieri is that while everyone else at the court of the Emperor Joseph thinks Salieri is a genius he knows Mozart is the real thing, and fame, and worst still, artistic immortality, has been granted to a lout. "Mediocrities everywhere, ego te absolvo!"
October 11, 2022
A magnificent play that serves as a semi-fictional biography of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, from the perspective of Antonio Salieri.
The play, based on an infamous rumor, mainly focuses on the downfall and death of Mozart, as conjured by Salieri. The characters feel life-like, the readers will detest their faults, but also feel their loss. The dialogues are fluid, although there are a couple of instances when they feel utterly ridiculous.
All in all, Amadeus is a play of a grand scope, and despite its very few shortcomings, it succeeds in doing what it is meant to; celebrate the genius that is Mozart.
The play, based on an infamous rumor, mainly focuses on the downfall and death of Mozart, as conjured by Salieri. The characters feel life-like, the readers will detest their faults, but also feel their loss. The dialogues are fluid, although there are a couple of instances when they feel utterly ridiculous.
All in all, Amadeus is a play of a grand scope, and despite its very few shortcomings, it succeeds in doing what it is meant to; celebrate the genius that is Mozart.
November 18, 2015
The best play ever about envy and talent. I loved the movie, but the dialogue in Peter Shaffer's 1981 stage classic is just wonderful, and Salieri's fury at God for imbuing Mozart with unappreciated talent is a great observation of human character and the unequal balance of musical gifts.
October 3, 2017
این نمایشنام ، داستان آهنگسازی ایتالیایی به نام "آنتونیو سالیری" را روایت می کند که در آخرین سال های عمرش مدعی می شود که آهنگسار معروف ، "موتزارت" را به قتل رسانده است
صرفنظر از این واقعیت که چقدرِ این ماجرا حقیقت داشت یا نه ، این طور مبتذل جلوه دادن "موتزارت" اصلا منصفانه نبود . یعنی تمام تصورات شیرین و شاعرانه ای که از خدا بیامرز "موتزارت" در ذهنم باقی مونده بود رو این اثر بر باد داد
صرفنظر از این واقعیت که چقدرِ این ماجرا حقیقت داشت یا نه ، این طور مبتذل جلوه دادن "موتزارت" اصلا منصفانه نبود . یعنی تمام تصورات شیرین و شاعرانه ای که از خدا بیامرز "موتزارت" در ذهنم باقی مونده بود رو این اثر بر باد داد
December 11, 2024
لو كنت سأختار أكثر شخصية حقودة قابلتها اثناء قراءة الأعمال الأدبية فسوف يحتل "أنطونيو سالييري" المركز الأول بكل جدارة.
اتفهم عندما يحقد الفقير على الغني أو الضعيف على القوي لكن سالييري كان يمتلك كل شيء وله سيط فني لدى البلاط الملكي من قبل أن يحترف موزارت العمل الموسيقي.
إنه الحقد الدفين على الموهبة الربانية، المنحة الإلهية التي امتلكها موزارت ولم يكن لسالييري نصيبًا منها. ولا يمكن إغفال الرمزية الدينية الظاهرة بقوة في هذا النص على عكس الفيلم المقتبس عن المسرحية.
ولكن المسرحية عرضت نقطة هامة أيضًا وهي أن اعتراف سالييري لا ينبع من تأنيب الضمير بل من البحث عن الخلود كي يلتصق اسمه دومًا بموزارت بوصفه الرجل الذي قتله باستخدام السم، وهي مجرد إشاعة اطلقها سالييري عندما اكتشف بعد رحيل موزارت بثلاثين عامًا أن اسمه ما زال محفورًا في وجدان الشعب بوصفه من اعظم الموسيقيين الذين ظهروا على مر التاريخ.
كنت أتمنى لو قُدمت القصة كرواية قصيرة وليست مسرحية.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
اقتباسات:
� يكمن سر نجاح العيش في مدينة كبيرة دوماً في معرفة ما يدور خلف ظهرك حتى التفاصيل الدقيقة. �
� وخلال سماع الموسيقى فقط أعرف أن الله موجود، وخلال كتابة الموسيقى فقط أقدر على عبادته. �
� وعندما يُذكر اسم موزارت بمحبة سيُذكر اسم سالييري باشمئزاز� سوف أُخلّد على كل حال وهو عاجز من منع ذلك، لذا، سينيور، انظر الآن إن كان الإنسان مهزلة. �
�
�
#أبجد
#أماديوس
#بيترشافر
اتفهم عندما يحقد الفقير على الغني أو الضعيف على القوي لكن سالييري كان يمتلك كل شيء وله سيط فني لدى البلاط الملكي من قبل أن يحترف موزارت العمل الموسيقي.
إنه الحقد الدفين على الموهبة الربانية، المنحة الإلهية التي امتلكها موزارت ولم يكن لسالييري نصيبًا منها. ولا يمكن إغفال الرمزية الدينية الظاهرة بقوة في هذا النص على عكس الفيلم المقتبس عن المسرحية.
ولكن المسرحية عرضت نقطة هامة أيضًا وهي أن اعتراف سالييري لا ينبع من تأنيب الضمير بل من البحث عن الخلود كي يلتصق اسمه دومًا بموزارت بوصفه الرجل الذي قتله باستخدام السم، وهي مجرد إشاعة اطلقها سالييري عندما اكتشف بعد رحيل موزارت بثلاثين عامًا أن اسمه ما زال محفورًا في وجدان الشعب بوصفه من اعظم الموسيقيين الذين ظهروا على مر التاريخ.
كنت أتمنى لو قُدمت القصة كرواية قصيرة وليست مسرحية.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
اقتباسات:
� يكمن سر نجاح العيش في مدينة كبيرة دوماً في معرفة ما يدور خلف ظهرك حتى التفاصيل الدقيقة. �
� وخلال سماع الموسيقى فقط أعرف أن الله موجود، وخلال كتابة الموسيقى فقط أقدر على عبادته. �
� وعندما يُذكر اسم موزارت بمحبة سيُذكر اسم سالييري باشمئزاز� سوف أُخلّد على كل حال وهو عاجز من منع ذلك، لذا، سينيور، انظر الآن إن كان الإنسان مهزلة. �
�
�
#أبجد
#أماديوس
#بيترشافر
October 17, 2014
جنون، نبوغ و هنر، سه ضلع مثلثی را تشکیل می‌دهن� که در مرکز آن تنها یک واژه جا خوش کرده است؛ ویرانی.
April 23, 2023
1/2 star
Unpopular opinion alert!!!
Amadeus is very much inaccurate, immensely immature, incredibly inconsistent, and a hot mess that has had a negative impact on how we perceive the legacies of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. Salieri's reputation was perhaps far more shattered, because he is viewed as an envious murderer, where as we still see Mozart as a renowned and brilliant composer and not the incompetent man-child that this play depicts his having been.
This play is told from the perspective of Antonio Salieri, an Italian composer that moved to Austria to teach and compose music. It starts with his recollecting the events in a wheelchair on his last leg in life, having lost his mind and being placed in a sanitorium (these details are true) and recalling how he met Mozart and the work in which they engaged. Mozart is depicted as being brilliant with music, but he is portrayed in such a deprecating way that makes him out to be childish. It has been said that some of his actions WERE childish, but not in the way that he would randomly make fart noises at inappropriate times and spout the names of child's terms for bodily fluids. He did have a scatological sense of humor, but this was mainly depicted in his letters and in musical numbers that he only shared with friends (such as one that translated to "lick my arse").
The major inaccuracies within this play, aside from what is mentioned above, were that:
1.) There is no evidence that Salieri murdered Mozart or engaged in anything that can be viewed as foul play involving his death.
2.) The two were rivals, but in a professional sense. If anything, Mozart was likely more jealous of Salieri because...
3.) Salieri was actually more successful than Mozart during their lifetimes, especially as a teacher. As per Fandex, Salieri was in great demand as a teacher and Beethoven was one of his students. Schubert and Liszt studied under him as well. Mozart, on the other hand, had issues keeping a stable job and had to make ends meet by selling his music, give lessons, and borrow money from his friends.
4.) Mozart's laugh was created by Tom Hulce for the 1984 film adaptation.
I do not have an issue with blowing characters out of proportion as long as it does not defame or create a dishonest view of who they are as people. For instance, the way Kenny Rogers was depicted on MAD TV was hysterical, but we all know that he was not a bumbling, loud, raunchy alcoholic. When approaching this play, the intent is that we view them as actually being like this in real life. The worst part is that it is incredibly inconsistent. The one moment Mozart is having a serious discussion with Salieri and in the next he is making fart noises. The same can be said about Constanze being concerned about what others think of the game of "cat and mouse" she is playing with Mozart, but in the next, she "shrieks with amusement" (page 15). The way the Venticello were inserted was incredibly annoying. They reminded me of the anchovies in Spongebob. Speaking of which, an episode of Spongebob has a more consistent storyline and is more bearable than this play. Peter Shaffer does admit that this play was intended to be written as a drama rather than solely on fact and I give him credit for incorporating fact to some extent. It is still inaccurate in a deprecating way, though, and the fact that he wrote this six times is very telling.
It is an absolute sin that this renowned play was written about a fictional, deadly jealousy that Salieri had for Mozart rather than the potential eccentricities that Mozart may have possessed, incorporating what is primarily actual information. A play based around Mozart may have been a safer option with Salieri in a supporting role, but this is what we get.
The most helpful thing that this play did for me was remind me that I need to make my way through the Mozart content that is part of my book collection. I own a few books about composers in general and the Mozart biography written by Maynard Solomon. Reading a biography about Antonio Salieri may also be in demand as well. This is a prime example as to why I am hesitant when it comes to historical fiction. Of course, some historical fiction is bound to be inaccurate, but this play was grossly so and did so much harm to the way that we look back on Mozart and Salieri.
Unpopular opinion alert!!!
Amadeus is very much inaccurate, immensely immature, incredibly inconsistent, and a hot mess that has had a negative impact on how we perceive the legacies of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. Salieri's reputation was perhaps far more shattered, because he is viewed as an envious murderer, where as we still see Mozart as a renowned and brilliant composer and not the incompetent man-child that this play depicts his having been.
This play is told from the perspective of Antonio Salieri, an Italian composer that moved to Austria to teach and compose music. It starts with his recollecting the events in a wheelchair on his last leg in life, having lost his mind and being placed in a sanitorium (these details are true) and recalling how he met Mozart and the work in which they engaged. Mozart is depicted as being brilliant with music, but he is portrayed in such a deprecating way that makes him out to be childish. It has been said that some of his actions WERE childish, but not in the way that he would randomly make fart noises at inappropriate times and spout the names of child's terms for bodily fluids. He did have a scatological sense of humor, but this was mainly depicted in his letters and in musical numbers that he only shared with friends (such as one that translated to "lick my arse").
The major inaccuracies within this play, aside from what is mentioned above, were that:
1.) There is no evidence that Salieri murdered Mozart or engaged in anything that can be viewed as foul play involving his death.
2.) The two were rivals, but in a professional sense. If anything, Mozart was likely more jealous of Salieri because...
3.) Salieri was actually more successful than Mozart during their lifetimes, especially as a teacher. As per Fandex, Salieri was in great demand as a teacher and Beethoven was one of his students. Schubert and Liszt studied under him as well. Mozart, on the other hand, had issues keeping a stable job and had to make ends meet by selling his music, give lessons, and borrow money from his friends.
4.) Mozart's laugh was created by Tom Hulce for the 1984 film adaptation.
I do not have an issue with blowing characters out of proportion as long as it does not defame or create a dishonest view of who they are as people. For instance, the way Kenny Rogers was depicted on MAD TV was hysterical, but we all know that he was not a bumbling, loud, raunchy alcoholic. When approaching this play, the intent is that we view them as actually being like this in real life. The worst part is that it is incredibly inconsistent. The one moment Mozart is having a serious discussion with Salieri and in the next he is making fart noises. The same can be said about Constanze being concerned about what others think of the game of "cat and mouse" she is playing with Mozart, but in the next, she "shrieks with amusement" (page 15). The way the Venticello were inserted was incredibly annoying. They reminded me of the anchovies in Spongebob. Speaking of which, an episode of Spongebob has a more consistent storyline and is more bearable than this play. Peter Shaffer does admit that this play was intended to be written as a drama rather than solely on fact and I give him credit for incorporating fact to some extent. It is still inaccurate in a deprecating way, though, and the fact that he wrote this six times is very telling.
It is an absolute sin that this renowned play was written about a fictional, deadly jealousy that Salieri had for Mozart rather than the potential eccentricities that Mozart may have possessed, incorporating what is primarily actual information. A play based around Mozart may have been a safer option with Salieri in a supporting role, but this is what we get.
The most helpful thing that this play did for me was remind me that I need to make my way through the Mozart content that is part of my book collection. I own a few books about composers in general and the Mozart biography written by Maynard Solomon. Reading a biography about Antonio Salieri may also be in demand as well. This is a prime example as to why I am hesitant when it comes to historical fiction. Of course, some historical fiction is bound to be inaccurate, but this play was grossly so and did so much harm to the way that we look back on Mozart and Salieri.
November 14, 2022
به نظرم دیدن این نمایش و فضای مختلف از جمله اپرای به کار رفته در اون با همراهی موسیقی این اثر رو تاثیر گذار تر میکنه از تنها خوندنش ، اما خب بازم راضیم .
February 13, 2016
A long time ago, in a high school library far, far away ... I judged Peter Shaffer's "Equus" by its vague title and its enticing cover. An unnatural and dangerous flirtation with playwriting and Latin pronunciation caused me to crack open the spine of this book that day, but Shaffer's fascinating writing style sent me back to it multiple times throughout my time at Douglas Anderson. I'd never experienced a playwright like Shaffer before, and I haven't experienced a playwright like Shaffer since.
For years, "Equus" has steadfastly remained my favorite play. When director Thea Sharrock revived the play for production in London and, later on, in New York, my boyfriend and I traveled the East Coast to see it. With this being said, I can't believe it took me so many years to read "Amadeus," a Shaffer play which has competed vigorously and perhaps successfully for the title of Shaffer's greatest work.
"Amadeus" immediately impressed me. It was a powerfully successful decision on Shaffer's part to frame the entire work's structure around the destruction of the fourth wall. He less frequently but just as powerfully used the same technique in "Equus." This proved essential to the audience's omnipresence. I understood. I cared for. I despised. I revolted. Though shocked, nothing came as a shock. Shaffer's intimate writing brought flat characters of an indistinguishable society into my bedroom, mind, and heart. I've taken both lower level and upper level music appreciation college courses, but only through the lens of "Amadeus" was I able to clearly see Mozart's plight for the first time. I also, for the first time, gandered at the possible effect Mozart's talent must have had on the professional musicians around him. Shaffer's writing allowed me to see these historical figureheads as people. Just people. With lives full of catastrophe and wonder--the evil and good we all battle and strive for through (forgive me) tears and years of struggle.
For years, "Equus" has steadfastly remained my favorite play. When director Thea Sharrock revived the play for production in London and, later on, in New York, my boyfriend and I traveled the East Coast to see it. With this being said, I can't believe it took me so many years to read "Amadeus," a Shaffer play which has competed vigorously and perhaps successfully for the title of Shaffer's greatest work.
"Amadeus" immediately impressed me. It was a powerfully successful decision on Shaffer's part to frame the entire work's structure around the destruction of the fourth wall. He less frequently but just as powerfully used the same technique in "Equus." This proved essential to the audience's omnipresence. I understood. I cared for. I despised. I revolted. Though shocked, nothing came as a shock. Shaffer's intimate writing brought flat characters of an indistinguishable society into my bedroom, mind, and heart. I've taken both lower level and upper level music appreciation college courses, but only through the lens of "Amadeus" was I able to clearly see Mozart's plight for the first time. I also, for the first time, gandered at the possible effect Mozart's talent must have had on the professional musicians around him. Shaffer's writing allowed me to see these historical figureheads as people. Just people. With lives full of catastrophe and wonder--the evil and good we all battle and strive for through (forgive me) tears and years of struggle.
May 10, 2019
My appreciation of Milos Forman certainly grew upon reading this play. Certainly Loves of a Blonde is a milestone in the Czech New Wave but his apparent four month involvement with Peter Shaffer resulted in something new, a probing course elevating Amadeus above the coloratura of the stage play. I think I would have preferred the Pinter vision of Mozart, especially the ragged vaudeville years with nary a Freemason in sight.
November 11, 2014
A brilliant dramatic, whirlwind-like treatment of genius and the desire for glory, _Amadeus_ is a fictionalized portrayal of the rivalry between the prodigy that was Mozart and the merely talented and inexorably envious composer, Salieri. The play starts with Salieri making a bargain with God (always a bad idea): 'make me the most amazing composer who has ever lived and I will sacrifice my life to you - not commit adultery (but just fantasize about it), deprive myself of pleasures, and glorify You through my music.' But when someone more gifted than Salieri appears (i.e. Mozart!), Salieri declares war on God.
The playwright, Peter Shaffer, put it best in his postscript: 'To me there is something pure about Salieri's pursuit of an eternal Absolute through music, just as there is something irredeemably impure about his simultaneous pursuit of eternal fame.'
The playwright, Peter Shaffer, put it best in his postscript: 'To me there is something pure about Salieri's pursuit of an eternal Absolute through music, just as there is something irredeemably impure about his simultaneous pursuit of eternal fame.'
October 28, 2019
آمادئوس نوشته پیتر شفر یکی از پرافتخارترین نمایشنام‌ها� تاریخ که رکورد بیش از ۱۰۰۰ اجرای تاتر را دارد، داستان زندگی ولفگانگ آمادئوس موتسارت است که از زبان یکی از آهنگ‌سازا� درباری هم‌دور� او، سالیری می‌شنوی�. کسی که خود را قاتل موتسارت می‌نام� و داستان زندگی خود را برای‌ما� تعریف می‌کن�.
زمانی که سالیری که با مصیبت فراوان و به سختی جایگاهی را یافته است ولی ناگهان در زندگی‌ا� سر و کله جوانی بااستعداد جایگاه او را متزلزل می‌کن� و او نمی‌توان� این را تحمل کند و در صدد از بین بردن موتسارت برمی‌آی�.
آمادئوس داستانی‌س� درباره شک و یقین و جبر و البته داستانی امروزی که همه ما دیده‌ای� و در زندگی حس کرده‌ای�. داستان توطئه و کسانی که دست به هرکاری می‌زنن� تا جایگاه خود را حفظ کنند حتی اگر به قیمت جان دیگری باشد.
زمانی که سالیری که با مصیبت فراوان و به سختی جایگاهی را یافته است ولی ناگهان در زندگی‌ا� سر و کله جوانی بااستعداد جایگاه او را متزلزل می‌کن� و او نمی‌توان� این را تحمل کند و در صدد از بین بردن موتسارت برمی‌آی�.
آمادئوس داستانی‌س� درباره شک و یقین و جبر و البته داستانی امروزی که همه ما دیده‌ای� و در زندگی حس کرده‌ای�. داستان توطئه و کسانی که دست به هرکاری می‌زنن� تا جایگاه خود را حفظ کنند حتی اگر به قیمت جان دیگری باشد.
March 12, 2021
I had pretty much avoided this for so many years, probably because I came across one short piece which made Mozart out to be a totally childish buffoon. My Mozart could never have been so buffoonish, could he? On reading it, however, I realized how much this is really about Salieri, his envy, and his response to seeing his importance being slowly destroyed by the up and coming maestro. Excellent play!
September 16, 2018
I watched the movie when it first came out, so I was familiar with this story. It is a fictionalized account of the death of Mozart. I read this play in one sitting, I could not out it down. It tells the story of envy one man had for a true genius of music. The envy of Mozart's talent drove Salieri to madness. This play is one I would love to see performed live.
September 11, 2024
O Amadeus do Forman está completando 40 anos por esses tempos, então resolvi ler a peça do Shaffer antes de rever o filme.
Particularmente não gosto muito de ler peças, gosto de vê-las encenadas no palco ou no cinema, mas é bom ler pra ver o que é do autor original e o que é do diretor da peça/filme, por exemplo, aqui a risada excêntrica do Mozart já está marcada no texto, então uma das características mais marcantes do Tom Hulce no filme já fora pontuado pelo Shaffer.
Particularmente não gosto muito de ler peças, gosto de vê-las encenadas no palco ou no cinema, mas é bom ler pra ver o que é do autor original e o que é do diretor da peça/filme, por exemplo, aqui a risada excêntrica do Mozart já está marcada no texto, então uma das características mais marcantes do Tom Hulce no filme já fora pontuado pelo Shaffer.
February 8, 2019
Difficult to approach this after having seen the movie so many times.
Very much Salieri's confession to the theatre audience, rather than F. Murray Abraham talking to a priest.
Salieri "heard the voice of God" in both versions (27). Court philistines think that Mozart's work has "too many notes" (37) in both. The music is "completely finished in his head" and "finished as most music is never finished" (54) in both. Salieri's declaration of war against God is in both: "we are enemies, You and I" (56). Mozart is a petulant child in both, though it is difficult to think that anyone could take this role any better than Tom Hulce. And the stage directions include soundtrack notes. So, a complete experience, like the film. And yet there are salient differences, worthy of one's attention--this one rushes through the end parts in a way the film does not: Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflote. The fucking Requiem--all there, but very quick--the emphasis here is distinguishable.
Well, there it is.
Very much Salieri's confession to the theatre audience, rather than F. Murray Abraham talking to a priest.
Salieri "heard the voice of God" in both versions (27). Court philistines think that Mozart's work has "too many notes" (37) in both. The music is "completely finished in his head" and "finished as most music is never finished" (54) in both. Salieri's declaration of war against God is in both: "we are enemies, You and I" (56). Mozart is a petulant child in both, though it is difficult to think that anyone could take this role any better than Tom Hulce. And the stage directions include soundtrack notes. So, a complete experience, like the film. And yet there are salient differences, worthy of one's attention--this one rushes through the end parts in a way the film does not: Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflote. The fucking Requiem--all there, but very quick--the emphasis here is distinguishable.
Well, there it is.
October 22, 2016
Such rich writing and depth of personality insights from Shaffer's script, which I've enjoyed as a London stage productions and from reading. Fortunately I can also recommend Malkovich's film Amadeus; he had the sense to avoid that usual Hollywood saccharine.
March 9, 2017
The movie adaptation of Peter Shaffer’s “Amadeus� by Milos Foreman is one of my all-time-top-5-favorite-movies. It is powerful, breathtaking, hilarious, deeply touching and thought-provoking. I went looking for the original play a few years ago, because I loved the story and the dialogue so much.
Shaffer’s play about talent, jealousy, faith and guilt is an incredible work of historical fiction. Antonio Salieri, the court composer of Emperor Joseph II of Austria, is the only one capable of truly understanding the genius of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s music. Salieri has dedicated his life to music and has vowed to God to live a good, devout and chaste life if He would only give him the gift of musical talent. So when he realizes that the miraculously gifted composer Mozart is a vulgar, arrogant, over-indulging buffoon, he is understandably appalled, and begins to hatch a horrible plan to get this musical rival out of his way.
Shaffer’s pen turned an old theory about Mozart’s tragically premature death into an extravagant, poetic and devastating play. I would love to see this on the stage someday: in the meantime, I will simply watch the director’s cut DVD of the Foreman movie, laugh and cry myself silly and be awed at the beauty of this very crass man’s art.
Shaffer’s play about talent, jealousy, faith and guilt is an incredible work of historical fiction. Antonio Salieri, the court composer of Emperor Joseph II of Austria, is the only one capable of truly understanding the genius of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s music. Salieri has dedicated his life to music and has vowed to God to live a good, devout and chaste life if He would only give him the gift of musical talent. So when he realizes that the miraculously gifted composer Mozart is a vulgar, arrogant, over-indulging buffoon, he is understandably appalled, and begins to hatch a horrible plan to get this musical rival out of his way.
Shaffer’s pen turned an old theory about Mozart’s tragically premature death into an extravagant, poetic and devastating play. I would love to see this on the stage someday: in the meantime, I will simply watch the director’s cut DVD of the Foreman movie, laugh and cry myself silly and be awed at the beauty of this very crass man’s art.
January 11, 2016
From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
Dying composer Salieri is fiercely jealous of his young rival. F Murray Abraham reads the play about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
2/8: Salieri's jealousy of Mozart ignites a plot for revenge.
3/8: Salieri wrestles with his conscience over seducing Mozart's wife.
4/8: Will Salieri finally take his revenge on Mozart? Or is his quarrel really with God?
5/8: Salieri is seething when Mozart writes an Italian opera, so he plots to stop it.
6/8: Salieri plots to ensure Mozart falls out of favour with the Masons.
7/8: Will Salieri's plan to scupper 'The Magic Flute' work? And who is Mozart writing a Requiem for?
8/8: Did Salieri really poison his rival? And who was Mozart's mysterious visitor? All is revealed.
Dying composer Salieri is fiercely jealous of his young rival. F Murray Abraham reads the play about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
2/8: Salieri's jealousy of Mozart ignites a plot for revenge.
3/8: Salieri wrestles with his conscience over seducing Mozart's wife.
4/8: Will Salieri finally take his revenge on Mozart? Or is his quarrel really with God?
5/8: Salieri is seething when Mozart writes an Italian opera, so he plots to stop it.
6/8: Salieri plots to ensure Mozart falls out of favour with the Masons.
7/8: Will Salieri's plan to scupper 'The Magic Flute' work? And who is Mozart writing a Requiem for?
8/8: Did Salieri really poison his rival? And who was Mozart's mysterious visitor? All is revealed.
December 28, 2019
We are working on the production of this play at the moment and I really enjoy it. The material is fun, same at is profound. Do not expect historical accuracy, since the story is told out of Salieris mind and memories. Unreliable, jealous and maybe the murderer of Mozart?
December 5, 2023
۱۳. اتاق سالیِری پیر در بیمارستان - داخلی - غروب
یکی از بهترین اتاق های موجود در بیمارستان عمومی که نسبتا خالی است. اثاث آن شامل یک تخت خواب، یک میز با شمع هایی روی آن، چند صندلی و یک پیانوی کوچک متعلق به اوایل قرن نوزدهم است. فگلر داخل می شود. سالیری پیر روی صندلی چرخدار نشسته و از پنجره بیرون را نگاه می کند. کشیش، در را به آرامی پشت اش می بندد.
فگلر: سالیری؟
سالیِری پیر برای دیدن او به اطراف سر می گرداند. می بینیم گلویش با مهارت باند پیچی شده است. او لباس مخصوص بیمارستان را به تن دارد و بر روی آن مدال غیر نظامی به همراه زنجيرش، که بعدها خواهیم دید امپراطور به او اعطا می کند.
سالیری پیر: چی می خواید؟
فگلر: من پدر فگلر هست ام، کشیش اینجا.
فکر کردم ممکنه شما دوست داشته باشید با کسی صحبت کنید.
سالپری پیر: درباره ی چی؟
فگلر: شما می خواستید خودکشی کنید. به خاطر می یارید، نه؟
سالیری پیر: خب؟
فگلر: این کار از نظر خدا گناه محسوب میشه.
سالیری پیر: چی می خواید؟
فگلر: آیا می دونید به شدت مرتکب گناه شدید؟
سالیری پیر: تنهام بذارید.
فگلر: من نمی تونم روحی که در عذابه تنها بذارم.
سالیری پیر: می دونید من کی هست ام. تا حالا چیزی درباره ی من شنیدید؟
فگلر: فرقی نمی کنه. تمام انسان ها در پیشگاه خداوند یکسان اند.
سالیری پیر: یکسان اند؟
فگلر: نزد من اعتراف کنید. می تونم برای شما طلب آمرزش کنم.
سالیری پیر: من پی آمرزش نیستم.
فگلر: فرزندم، چیزی وحشتناک بر روح تو سنگینی می کنه. با اعتراف بار خودت رو سبک کن. من فقط برای تو اینجام. خواهش می کنم با من حرف بزن.
سالیری پیر: چقدر از موسیقی سررشته داری؟
فگلر: یه کم می دونم. جوونی هام یاد گرفتم.
سالیری پیر: کجا؟
فگلر: همین جا در وین
سالیری پیر: پس باید اینو بشناسی.
او صندلی چرخدارش را جلوی پیانو می برد و آهنگی ناآشنا مینوازد.
فگلر: نمی شناسم. چی هست؟
سالیری پیر: تعجب می کنم نمی شناسی. این یه آهنگ خیلی محبوب در زمان خودش بود. من ساختم اش. این یکی چی؟
او آهنگ دیگری می نوازد.
سالیری پیر: این یکی رو وقتی برای بار اول اجرا کردیم، جایگاه تماشاچیارو ترکوند.
او با وجد رو به افزایش، آهنگ را می نوازد.
۱۴. صحنه ی یک اپرا - داخلی - شب - سالهای ۱۷۸۰
کاترینا کاوالیری که سوپرانویی زیبا و اکنون حدود بیست و چهار ساله است، لباسی پر نقش و نگار به سبک اساطیر ایرانی به تن دارد و روی سن آواز می خواند. او تقریبا در پایان یک تکخوانی بسیار سلیس است که توسط سالیری رهبری می شود. تماشاچیان به شدت کف می زنند.
۱۵. اتاق سالیری پیر در بیمارستان - داخلی- غروب - سال ۱۸۲۳
سالیری پیر: (در حالی که دست هایش را از روی کلیدهای پیانو برمی دارد) خب؟
فگلر: متأسفم که برام چندان آشنا نیست.
سالیری پیر: نمی تونی هیچ کدوم از آهنگای منو به خاطر بیاری؟ وقتی تو هنوز به پسر بچه بودی من مشهورترین آهنگساز در اروپا بودم. من به تنهایی چهل اپرا نوشتم. این چیز کوچیک رو چطور؟
موذیانه، قسمت آغازین Eine Kleine Nachtmusik را مینوازد. کشیش سر تکان می دهد، سریع لبخند می زند و با دهان کمی از موسیقی را همراهی می کند.
فگلر: اوه، می شناسم اش! آهنگ دلنشینی یه! نمی دونست ام شما اونو ساختین.
سالیری پیر: من نساخت ام. کار موتسارت بود.
یکی از بهترین اتاق های موجود در بیمارستان عمومی که نسبتا خالی است. اثاث آن شامل یک تخت خواب، یک میز با شمع هایی روی آن، چند صندلی و یک پیانوی کوچک متعلق به اوایل قرن نوزدهم است. فگلر داخل می شود. سالیری پیر روی صندلی چرخدار نشسته و از پنجره بیرون را نگاه می کند. کشیش، در را به آرامی پشت اش می بندد.
فگلر: سالیری؟
سالیِری پیر برای دیدن او به اطراف سر می گرداند. می بینیم گلویش با مهارت باند پیچی شده است. او لباس مخصوص بیمارستان را به تن دارد و بر روی آن مدال غیر نظامی به همراه زنجيرش، که بعدها خواهیم دید امپراطور به او اعطا می کند.
سالیری پیر: چی می خواید؟
فگلر: من پدر فگلر هست ام، کشیش اینجا.
فکر کردم ممکنه شما دوست داشته باشید با کسی صحبت کنید.
سالپری پیر: درباره ی چی؟
فگلر: شما می خواستید خودکشی کنید. به خاطر می یارید، نه؟
سالیری پیر: خب؟
فگلر: این کار از نظر خدا گناه محسوب میشه.
سالیری پیر: چی می خواید؟
فگلر: آیا می دونید به شدت مرتکب گناه شدید؟
سالیری پیر: تنهام بذارید.
فگلر: من نمی تونم روحی که در عذابه تنها بذارم.
سالیری پیر: می دونید من کی هست ام. تا حالا چیزی درباره ی من شنیدید؟
فگلر: فرقی نمی کنه. تمام انسان ها در پیشگاه خداوند یکسان اند.
سالیری پیر: یکسان اند؟
فگلر: نزد من اعتراف کنید. می تونم برای شما طلب آمرزش کنم.
سالیری پیر: من پی آمرزش نیستم.
فگلر: فرزندم، چیزی وحشتناک بر روح تو سنگینی می کنه. با اعتراف بار خودت رو سبک کن. من فقط برای تو اینجام. خواهش می کنم با من حرف بزن.
سالیری پیر: چقدر از موسیقی سررشته داری؟
فگلر: یه کم می دونم. جوونی هام یاد گرفتم.
سالیری پیر: کجا؟
فگلر: همین جا در وین
سالیری پیر: پس باید اینو بشناسی.
او صندلی چرخدارش را جلوی پیانو می برد و آهنگی ناآشنا مینوازد.
فگلر: نمی شناسم. چی هست؟
سالیری پیر: تعجب می کنم نمی شناسی. این یه آهنگ خیلی محبوب در زمان خودش بود. من ساختم اش. این یکی چی؟
او آهنگ دیگری می نوازد.
سالیری پیر: این یکی رو وقتی برای بار اول اجرا کردیم، جایگاه تماشاچیارو ترکوند.
او با وجد رو به افزایش، آهنگ را می نوازد.
۱۴. صحنه ی یک اپرا - داخلی - شب - سالهای ۱۷۸۰
کاترینا کاوالیری که سوپرانویی زیبا و اکنون حدود بیست و چهار ساله است، لباسی پر نقش و نگار به سبک اساطیر ایرانی به تن دارد و روی سن آواز می خواند. او تقریبا در پایان یک تکخوانی بسیار سلیس است که توسط سالیری رهبری می شود. تماشاچیان به شدت کف می زنند.
۱۵. اتاق سالیری پیر در بیمارستان - داخلی- غروب - سال ۱۸۲۳
سالیری پیر: (در حالی که دست هایش را از روی کلیدهای پیانو برمی دارد) خب؟
فگلر: متأسفم که برام چندان آشنا نیست.
سالیری پیر: نمی تونی هیچ کدوم از آهنگای منو به خاطر بیاری؟ وقتی تو هنوز به پسر بچه بودی من مشهورترین آهنگساز در اروپا بودم. من به تنهایی چهل اپرا نوشتم. این چیز کوچیک رو چطور؟
موذیانه، قسمت آغازین Eine Kleine Nachtmusik را مینوازد. کشیش سر تکان می دهد، سریع لبخند می زند و با دهان کمی از موسیقی را همراهی می کند.
فگلر: اوه، می شناسم اش! آهنگ دلنشینی یه! نمی دونست ام شما اونو ساختین.
سالیری پیر: من نساخت ام. کار موتسارت بود.
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