Amadeus

There has been much speculation about the relationship between the 18th-century composers Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It is said that the mediocre Salieri felt nothing but envy and bitterness toward the brilliant Mozart. In 1830, the Russian writer Alexander Pushkin wrote a short play about it titled Mozart and Salieri, which nearly seventy years later would form the basis for the libretto of Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera of the same name. In 1979, British playwright Peter Shaffer used this story for his play Amadeus, which was adapted into a film by Miloš Forman five years later. Forman turned it into a dazzling visual spectacle starring F. Murray Abraham and Tom Hulce in the lead roles. The film won a slew of awards, including eight Oscars.

At the end of his life, the elderly composer Salieri begs for forgiveness, confessing that he poisoned Mozart. A priest is summoned to hear his confession, and Salieri recounts the entire story to him. His frustration is palpable: why did God bestow so much talent on the superficial, carefree Mozart?