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INACCURACIES The conflict that AMADEUS is based around is a common theme used throughout history. One that is told in numerous different ways, one of which is a verse written by Pushkin in 1830 (40 years following Mozart's death) entitled Mozart and Salieri. It depicts the conflict between the two composers. This conflict however in the film grows to astronomic proportions, fantasized for the screen and no other reason. In reality, historical questioning of this jealous conflict was raised as a result of an aging and mentally deteriorating Salieri who did make a claim to have killed Mozart. There was no ground for any truth to this claim, but a myth arose from it, one that was exciting, filled with passion, jealousy and violence, the very basis upon which a successful film could be based. SHAFFER'S COMMENTS (click on to view) (Playwright of original Amadeus drama upon which film is based) Mozart is portrayed as having a quick and inexpensive burial in a common grave. In this sense there is some confusion. There are those who claim that Mozart was in fact buried along with four or five others in a grave that was later emptied and reused. However there are others who maintain that Mozart was buried in a "normal single grave": This was only temporary, as the practice for those not of the nobility was to have a "lease" on their burial site, which was plowed over and reused later, but both accounts leave Mozart's final resting place a mystery. The film concludes that it was Salieri from one perspective who killed Mozart. This differs to the conclusions of historians and modern physicians who claim that Mozart died of rheumatic fever which he had often suffered from as a young child, nothing to do with alcohol excess or over exertion. (Angermueller, R. (1980). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians) The death scene of Mozart never happened in reality, nor did Mozart's collapse on the premiere night of "The Magic Flute". Therefore, he was never brought home by Salieri. In reality Mozart conducted several performances of "The Magic Flute" until his health refused to permit him beyond the constraints of his bed. Constanza had also suffered from poor health, yet never left for the "spa" once her husband became seriously ill. In this way it would have been impossible for Salieri to have attended upon Mozart during his final days. There was a continuous presence of family, close friends and even several singers whom Constanza called forward to sing a few completed passages of "The Requiem". (Eliade. M. 1963. Myth and Reality) Amadeus is beautifully photographed and the costumes and art design are ravishing. The film centers around Prague, when in reality it should have been in Vienna. The film itself was shot in Prague rather than Vienna (actual setting of final ten years of Mozart's life). This was mainly the result of limited expenses, and although a historical break with accuracy, proved successful with the use of the Tyl Theatre and the 16th century Gryspek Palace. (http://www.fask.uni-mainz.de) Mozart is quickly taken into royal service in the film, but he really had little to do with the court and wasn't offered an official position there until 1787. The language is also another inaccuracy. One only hears English throughout the film, rather than the native German . This is a strong, but unconscious break with realism. Yes, it is a historical inaccuracy, but the exact words of the past may not be enacted anyway, thus the very nature of the words is pure fiction to begin with. This is something that is not remarked upon because it is not the words, but the over all atmosphere and character that is created by them that touches the audience. The film is yet another interpretation of a somewhat fabricated conflict, a conflict that may also be seen in Pushkin's poem (click on to view) that was published long before the drama of AMADEUS was even a thought and upon which both Shaffer and Forman based their interpretations. Mozart Myths Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is legendary. That is, while he was a real person, well-documented in many sources, we can also find stories about him that are somewhat removed from fact. Amadeus Myths The play and movie Amadeus started a fresh wave of Mozart mania—and popularized the following myths about Mozart’s life: Did Salieri kill Mozart? In real life, Salieri was not the jealous rival of Mozart and did not plot out his demise—he was an esteemed musical colleague of Mozart’s who later taught music to Mozart’s son. Toward the end of his life Salieri confessed to murdering Mozart—which might have been believable had Salieri not been confined to an insane asylum at the time of his confession. Did Salieri scare Mozart into writing his own Requiem? The origin of the Requiem does have an interesting story, but it does not involve a feverish obsession by Mozart with the ghost of his father. Mozart was commissioned anonymously to compose the Requiem by intermediaries acting for Franz Count of Walsegg, who hoped to pass it off as Walsegg’s own work. Was Mozart a silly, vulgar idiot with an annoying laugh? Mozart had to retain a degree of dignity when working at court and therefore could not have acted as he did in Amadeus. His entertaining letters, however, do reveal that he was playful and wonderfully quick-witted. He could sometimes have a vulgar sense of humor, but only showed that to his family and close friends— and, accidentally, to us when we read his letters (see Resources). The laugh in Amadeus might be based on his sister’s comment, in a letter, that Wolfgang’s laugh sounded like metal scraping glass. Did Mozart write “too many notes”? Emperor Joseph II’s reaction to Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio in 1782 is…true! Or at least, widely believed to be so. The complete quote was,“Too many notes, my dear Mozart, and too beautiful for our ears.” The Emperor may have beenechoing a sentiment felt by many regarding Mozart’s music: that it was so complex and sublimethat it sometimes overwhelmed the senses of his eighteenthcentury audience. Or he may havesaid, “An extraordinary number of notes,” and been mistranslated from German. How did Mozart die? Nobody knows for certain how Mozart died. Theories include: A sudden attack of rheumatic fever, from which he had often suffered as a child Kidney failure Trichinosis—a parasitic disease caused by undercooked pork Fever and stroke caused by too much bloodletting Mercury poisoning What most people do agree on is that Mozart’s final illness came upon him suddenly and included fever and rashes. How poor was Mozart? Mozart’s career is often romanticized today by the belief that Mozart lived in poverty and struggled desperately to make ends meet with his compositions, unable even to afford a private funeral. In truth he was well paid for his work but probably spent beyond his budget. He was given a small funeral service and buried in an unmarked grave—typical of Vienna at the time. Was Mozart divinely inspired? A forged letter describes how Mozart’s inspiration descended upon him as if from a lightning bolt from God, and supports a common misconception that Mozart was able to compose music in his head and notate it perfectly afterwards. This myth both belittles Mozart’s struggles and efforts as a composer, and gives undue importance to a skill that many composers have. In truth Mozart did have an uncanny ability to hear music in his head and write it down perfectly—probably more so than most composers—but that is not to say that he did not have to work through multiple drafts. In the 1790s Constanze burned all of her late husband’s working drafts of completed works, further perpetuating this myth. What didn’t Mozart write? Quirino Gasparini’s sacred choral piece Adoramus te was erroneously attributed to Mozart for many years. Mozart met Gasparini, who was music director of the cathedral in Turin, when he visited that city during his European tour as a child. Mozart’s father admired Gasparini’s piece and copied it down, and the work later got mixed in with Mozart’s own collection. —Pamela Feo, 2006-2007 Education Intern