Mozart and Salieri  

Length of Mozart And Salieri  5 1 hour episodes

What is the plot? It is the story of Mozart and Salieri. Court composer of the Habsburg Empire, Salieri, in the late 1700s, is driven into hatred and jealousy when a new, extremely talented musician, Mozart, arrives at court. I won’t go into details, but this hatred grows to be extremely bitter and strong.

The story is based on a stage play by the playwright Peter Shaffer

Was Sky’s version of Amadeus worth watching?

It is highly engaging. It is much better than the 80s film for one very good reason: Mozart is decadent but not an ‘arsehole’. In the first Amadeus, Tom Hulce was over the top and makes you kind of ‘understand’ where he, Salieri, is coming from.

This one is much less forgiving of Salieri than Mozart. Will Sharpe is a more rounded figure. At the same time, Paul Bettany’s Salieri becomes more and more hateful.

The story ends with him being bitter and having no proper reason to hate Mozart except his own bitterness, jealousy, and inadequacy as a musician compared to Mozart.

Would I recommend it?

The story of Mozart and Salieri is fascinating. What starts as a cordial relationship gradually deteriorates into compulsive, upsetting behaviour by Salieri. Also, Mozart’s own self-destructive behaviour was his own fate.

However, it is very compelling watching Salieri’s skill as a politician undermine Mozart’s music, making you hate him with his sheer ruthlessness . Admittedly, Mozart is one of the best musicians ever, so Salieri’s jealousy gets your sympathy initially. However it is so bitter you end up hating him rather than Mozart.

Spoiler

It does have a ‘sort of’ happy ending when Mozart and Salieri collaborate to write his sonnet as he dies of a fever.

Spoiler Ends

In Reality

In reality, Mozart and Salieri weren’t rivals, and there is no reason to suggest otherwise. They respected each other as musicians, and there may have been professional rivalry and no more. So this is just a story.

This whole conspiracy is based on Pushkin’s 1832 original play, Mozart and Salieri, and the fiction is far more exciting than the truth. Mozart died of a fever and nothing more.

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