NOTE: This Play Guide may contain mild spoilers about the story of the show. If you like to be completely surprised by the play, you may wish to wait until after seeing it to read the Play Guide.

Amadeus

by Angela Case

» The Story: A brief synopsis of Amadeus
» Who’s Who: Characters in the play
» Feature: Amadeus: The Real Story


The Story

Amadeus begins in 1823 in Vienna, Austria.  It opens with the two Venticelli conspiratorially whispering about rumors that Antonio Salieri, the mad, aged composer, may have been responsible for the 1791 death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  The action moves to Salieri’s apartment, where he presents his story in a flashback. 

Salieri tells the story of Mozart’s life in Vienna, beginning with his 1781 visit to Emperor Joseph II in the Palace of Schönbrunn, where Salieri served as court composer.  Salieri narrates Mozart’s triumphs and failures as a composer and expresses the feelings of jealousy he harbors toward the immensely talented man.  Salieri’s audience also gets a glimpse into Mozart’s personal life, including his tumultuous relationship with his father, Leopold, and his lively, flirtatious relationship with his wife, Constanze.  Leopold is disapproving of Constanze, but she and Mozart marry anyway, without his consent. 

The rivalry between Mozart and Salieri intensifies as Mozart’s works gain popularity in Vienna.  Salieri also feels threatened when Mozart selects Salieri’s star pupil, Katherina Cavalieri, to sing the lead part in one of his operas. Salieri, who finds Katherina quite attractive, has refrained from acting on his desires, but he fears that Mozart will not show the same restraint.  As tension between them increases, Salieri begins to question why God blessed Mozart, a man with questionable morals, with so much talent and good fortune.  He sets out to sabotage Mozart’s success as much as possible.  His efforts are eventually rewarded, when Mozart and Constanze find themselves living in poverty because Mozart’s music is no longer popular, and he has no means of making money.  Mozart is said to be wildly extravagant, and though he offers services as a teacher, he has few pupils because he is embarrassing and difficult to work with. 

It is in this impoverished state that Mozart is visited by an eerie ghostlike man who demands that he write a Requiem Mass.  Mozart, convinced that the Mass will ultimately be sung at his own funeral, falls into a deep physical illness.  Salieri visits him and is devastated with guilt, for he feels he was the cause of Mozart’s demise.

In the end, Mozart’s passing is shrouded with a mystery:  Did Salieri play a role in causing the great composer’s death?



Who’s Who?

Antonio Salieri: The moderately talented, very conceited court composer for Austrian emperor Joseph II.  Salieri is quite ambitious and jealous of anyone he feels is overshadowing his success, particularly Mozart.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: An immensely talented composer with the carefree, crude personality of an overgrown boy.  Mozart has no sense of decency and is often caught engaging in mischief at inappropriate times.

Constanze Weber: The young and energetic wife of Mozart.

Joseph II:  The cheerful, amiable emperor of Austria. 

Count Johann Kilian Von Strack:  The royal chamberlain.

Count Franz Orsini-Rosenberg:  The director of the imperial opera. He conspires with Salieri to use the emperor’s laws and requests against Mozart.

Baron Gottfried van Swieten:  The prefect of the imperial library.

The Veneticelli:  Rapidly speaking purveyors of gossip and rumors that convey the whisperings of the townspeople to the audience.

Kapellmeister Bonno: The aged predecessor of Salieri. 

Katherina Cavalieri:  A young, attractive pupil of Salieri.  Salieri is particularly fond of her, and fears that Mozart will attempt to take advantage of her.


Amadeus: The Real Story

Modern society’s perception of the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is shaped in large part by Peter Shaffer’s play, Amadeus, and the 1984 film adaptation. But is this image accurate? In Amadeus, Mozart is given the lewd, temperamental, and highly dramatic personality of an overgrown child. The first time the audience encounters Mozart, he is chasing his fiancé Constanze in a lewd, flirtatious cat-and-mouse game in the Baroness Waldstädten’s library.  Even when Constanze warns Mozart to be quiet because someone might hear him, Mozart continues to play until he is interrupted by the majordomo of the household. In the play, Mozart has no sense of decency, and engages in tomfoolery constantly, whether the setting is appropriate or not. In reality, however, this image does not paint a complete picture of Mozart’s personality.

It is certainly true that Mozart enjoyed jokes and shenanigans. In fact, Mozart’s adult personality was a contrast to his demeanor as a child. In a letter in 1778, Leopold, Mozart’s father, wrote to him, “My son! You are hot-tempered and impulsive in all your ways! Since your childhood and boyhood your whole character has changed. As a child and a boy you were serious rather than childish and when you sat at the clavier or were otherwise intent on music, no one dared to have the slightest jest with you.”

Because of the demands put on him as a child, Mozart was forced to assume an adult-like demeanor at a very young age. Thus, when he was older and more established as a composer, he longed to experience the tomfoolery and flirtatiousness that he missed as a child. Mozart’s personality was not completely naïve, though. He was serious about his relationships with his father, Constanze and other acquaintances, and he took his work very seriously. Rather than letting lighthearted, foolish jests consume his life, Mozart indulged in them only when appropriate. The mischievous antics that he loved served as a necessary diversion from his strenuous life as a composer.

The relationship between Constanze and Mozart is not portrayed with complete accuracy in Amadeus either. Mozart’s relationship with Constanze was, in reality, more than just a frivolous romp consisting of little more than lustful flirting and lewd displays of affection.

In reality, Mozart and Constanze had a relationship filled with love and respect. While he described her as “not ugly, but at the same time far from beautiful,” (another discrepancy from Amadeus, in which Constanze is portrayed as pretty), it is clear that Mozart was crazy about Constanze. Before their wedding, Mozart wrote in a letter to his father, “She understands housekeeping, and has the kindest heart in the world. I love her and she loves me with all her heart. Tell me whether I could wish myself a better wife?” Mozart loved Constanze dearly, and told her all his confidences. While their relationship contained plenty of the crude behavior that Mozart loved, it was based on a foundation of love, respect, and trust that is not completely shown in the play.
Mozart’s respect for Constanze was displayed in one particular incident where Mozart learned that Constanze had played a parlor game in which she allowed other men to measure her legs.  This incident, which is portrayed in Amadeus, also happened in real life, and Mozart was very upset upon hearing of it. He accused Constanze of being careless about her reputation, and said she would now be viewed as a loose woman. Mozart’s reaction to the incident indicated that he was obviously very jealous. He loved Constanze and, presumably for her own good, wanted to be sure that her reputation remained clean.
 
Mozart is rooted in the minds of the world as the crude, nearly mad genius portrayed in Amadeus. In reality, though, the composer’s personality consisted of more than jokes and tomfoolery. Mozart was serious about his work and his relationships, and his feisty personality was only one element that contributed to his ability to compose the timeless works of music that for which he is hailed.