I have a new post on the Pittsburgh Symphony Blogs: “A night in Vienna.”
I’m sorry to say that, until this weekend, my major experience of Mozart had been via the Movie and stage play Amadeus, and the soundtrack to the movie. In reading about Mozart’s shockingly productive yet short life — he died at age 35, having created over 600 works, many of which are considered pinnacles of their genres — I’ve come to understand just how far the movie and play stray from the facts of Mozart’s life.
Still, the movie is so entertaining it’s easy to over look its faults. Plus, it seems faithful in depicting Mozart’s talent, especially for improvisation and for performing. Here’s an edited clip of one of my favorite sequences from the film: Mozart plays the music of his rival, Salieri.
Amadeus is one of my favorite movies. Sure, it was based on theory and conjecture, but it did make for a great drama. Today we know much more about Mozart’s life and contemporaries than in 1984 and now know that Salieri was not the mysterious man in the cloak. Perhaps the movie sparked this renewal in Mozart? The man certainly, as you said, wr0te some of the best pieces in many different genres, including my favorite clarinet piece. In fact, the Mozart Clarinet Concerto (K. 622) is required in the repertoire of all clarinetists.