"Forgive your assassin!" "I confess, I killed you!" "Sí, I killed you, Mozart." "Pietá!" "Mozart, pietá!" "Forgive your assassin!" "Forgive me, Mozart!" "Signore Salieri, open the door, be good now!" "Signore, we have something special for you." "Something you're going to love." "Is that good!" "Signore, believe me this is the most delicious thing I ever ate in my life!" "Really, you don't know what you're miss" "All right, that's enough, open the door." "Signore, if you don't open this door we're going to eat everything and leave nothing for you." "And I'm never going to come and see you again!" "Good morning, Father." "Herr Salieri?" "Leave me alone." "I can't leave alone a soul in pain." "Do you know who I am?" "That makes no difference." "All are equal in God's eyes." "Are they?" "Offer me your confession." "I can offer you God's forgiveness." "How well are you trained in music?" "I know a little." "I studied it in my youth." "Where?" "Here in Vienna." "Then, you must know this." "I can't say that I do." "What is it?" "It was a very popular tune in its day." "I wrote it." "Here, how about this?" "This one brought down the house." "I regret it is not too familiar." "Can you recall no melody of mine?" "I was the most famous composer in Europe." "I wrote forty operas alone." "Here!" "What about this one?" "Yes, I know that!" "That's charming!" "I'm sorry, I didn't know you wrote that." "I didn't." "That was Mozart." "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart." "The man you accuse yourself of killing." "You've heard that?" "Is it true?" "For God's sake, my son if you have something to confess do it now." "Give yourself some peace." "He was my idol." "Mozart." "I can't think of a time when I didn't know his name." "I was playing childish games  when he was playing music for kings and emperors." "Even the Pope in Rome." "I admit, I was jealous  when I heard the tales they told about him." "Not of the brilliant little prodigy but of his father, who had taught him everything." "My father, he did not care for music." "When I told him how I wished I could be like Mozart he would say, "Why?" "Do you want to be a trained monkey?" "You'd like me to drag you around Europe, doing tricks like a circus freak?"" "How could I tell him what music meant to me?" "While my father prayed earnestly to God  to protect commerce I would offer up secretly  the proudest prayer a boy could think of." ""Lord make me a great composer." "Let me celebrate your glory through music and be celebrated myself." "Make me famous through the world, dear God." "Make me immortal." "After I die let people speak my name with a love for what I wrote." "In return I will give you my chastity my industry my deepest humility, every hour of my life." "Amen."" "And do you know what happened?" "A miracle!" "My life changed forever." "Of course I knew God had arranged it all." "That was obvious." "One minute I was a frustrated boy in an obscure little town the next I was here in Vienna, city of musicians and Emperor Joseph, the musical king." "In a few years, I was his court composer." "Isn't that incredible?" "Every night I sat right next to the Emperor of Austria playing duets with him correcting the royal sight-reading." "Actually, the man had no ear at all." "But what did it matter?" "He adored my music." "Everybody liked me." "I liked myself." "Until he came." "He came to Vienna to play some of his music at the residence of his employer, the Prince Archbishop of Salzburg." "Eagerly, I went there to seek him out." "That night changed my life." "As I wandered through the salon I played a little game with myself." "This man had written his first concerto at the age of 4 his first symphony at 7 a full-scale opera at 12!" "Did it show?" "Is talent like that  written on the face?" "Which one of them could he be?" "Mozart is not here." "Stop it!" "I am." "I am stopping it." "I'm stopping it." "Slowly." "There." "You see?" "I've stopped." "Now we're going back." "No!" "You don't know where you are." "Here, everything goes backwards." "People walk and dance and sing backwards and even talk backwards." "That's stupid." "Why, people fart backwards." "Say I'm sick!" "Say I'm sick!" "Yes, you are." "You are very sick." "Say it backwards, shit-wit!" "Saa-I'm-sick...." "Sick...kiss." "I'm...my saa." "Kiss my ass." "Eem-iram!" "Eem-iram!" "I'm not playing this game!" "Say it, it's serious." "It's very serious." "Iram." "Marry-eem...marry me." "I'm not going to marry you." "You're a fiend." "Ooy-vol-l-tub...." "Tub but I...." "Volv..." "love." "But I love you?" "Tish I'm tee." "What?" "Tee...eat." "Eat." "I'm." "My." "Tish." "Eat my shit." "You filthy fiend!" "My music." "They've started without me." "That was Mozart!" "That giggling, dirty-minded creature I'd just seen crawling on the floor...." "I think that went off remarkably well." "Don't you?" "These Viennese know good music when they hear it, don't you think?" "Certainly." "Your Grace." "Why?" "Why what, sir?" "Why must I be humiliated in front of my guests, by one of my own servants?" "The more license I allow you, the more you take." "If His Grace is not satisfied with me, he can dismiss me." "I wish you to return immediately to Salzburg." "Your father is waiting for you there." "No, Your Grace!" "With all humility, I prefer you dismiss me." "Obviously, I don't satisfy." "I have no intention of dismissing you." "You will remain in my service and learn your place." "On the page it looked nothing!" "The beginning, simple almost comic." "Just a pulse." "Bassoons, basset horns like a rusty squeezebox." "And then, suddenly high above it an oboe." "A single note, hanging there, unwavering." "Until a clarinet took it over sweetened it into a phrase of such delight." "This was no composition by a performing monkey." "This was a music I had never heard." "Filled with such longing, such unfulfillable longing." "It seemed to me that I was hearing the voice of God." "Excuse me." "But why?" "Why would God choose an obscene child to be his instrument?" "He's remarkable, majesty." "I heard an extraordinary opera of his last month." "Idomoneo, King of Crete." "That?" "A most tiresome piece." "I heard it too." "Tiresome?" "A young man trying to impress beyond his abilities." "Too much spice." "Too many notes." "Majesty I thought it the most promising work I've heard in years." "Well then, we should make some effort to acquire him." "We could use a good German composer in Vienna, surely?" "I'm sure he could be tempted with the right offer." "Say, an opera in German for our National Theatre." "Excellent, sire!" "But not German." "I beg Your Majesty." "Italian is the proper language for opera." "All educated people agree on that." "What do you think, Chamberlain?" "In my opinion, sir, it's time we had a piece in our own language." "Plain German for plain people." "Kapellmeister ?" "Majesty I must agree with Herr Direktor." "German is too brute for singing." "Court Composer what do you think?" "I think it's an interesting notion to keep Mozart in Vienna." "It should infuriate the Archbishop beyond measure if that is Your Majesty's intention." "You are cattivo, Court Composer." "I want to meet this young man." "Chamberlain, arrange a welcome for him." "Well...there it is!" "This is a beautiful wig for you." "It looks so marvelous and I love it." "The other one." "Here is the other one." "I think you will love it." "Here's the third one." "So?" "Here we go." "How do you like it?" "They're all so beautiful." "Why don't I have three heads?" "This is funny!" "Three heads!" "Gentlemen good morning." "What do you have for me today?" "Your Majesty, Herr Mozart." "Yes, what about him?" "He's here." "Well, there it is." "Good!" "Your Majesty, I hope you won't find it improper but I've written a little march of welcome in his honor." "What a charming idea, Court Composer." "May I see?" "Just a trifle." "May I try it?" "Let's have some fun." "Delightful, Court Composer!" "May I play it when he enters?" "You do me too much honor." "Bring in Herr Mozart." "But slowly, slowly." "I need a minute to practice." "Good." "Continue." ""G," Majesty." "Excellent!" "Very good." "Very good, Majesty." "Tempo!" "Up!" "Lightly, then strongly!" "The march, Majesty." "Again." "Bravo, Majesty!" "Gentlemen, please." "A little less enthusiasm, I beg you." "No, please." "Please!" "It's not a holy relic." "You know, we have met before." "In this very room." "Perhaps you don't recall." "You were only 6." "He was giving a most delightful concert!" "As he got off the stool, he slipped and fell." "My own sister Antoinette helped him up." "And do you know what he did?" "He jumped into her arms and said, "Will you marry me?" "Yes or no?"" "You know all these gentlemen, I'm sure." "The Baron Van Swieten." "I'm a great admirer of yours." "Thank you." "Kapellmeister Bonno." "The Director of Opera, Count Orsini-Rosenberg." "Sir, yes." "The honor is mine, absolutely!" "Here is our illustrious court composer Maestro Salieri." "At last, such immense joy!" "Diletto straordinario !" "I know your work well, signore." "You know, I actually composed some variations on a melody of yours." "Really?" "Which one?" "Mio caro Adone." "I'm flattered." "A funny little tune, but it yielded some good things." "And now he has returned the compliment." "Herr Salieri composed this little march of welcome for you." "Really?" "Well, there it is." "Down to business." "Young man we're going to commission an opera from you." "What do you say?" "Did we vote in the end for German or Italian?" "Actually, sire, if you remember, we did finally incline to Italian." "Did we?" "I don't think it was really decided, Your Majesty." "Please let it be German!" "Why so?" "Because I've already found the most wonderful libretto." "Have I seen it?" "I don't think you have, Herr Direktor." "Not yet." "It's quite new." "I'll show it to you immediately, of course." "I think you'd better." "Tell us about it." "Tell us the story." "It's quite amusing." "The whole thing is set in a...." "Yes?" "Where?" "In a harem, Majesty." "In a seraglio." "You mean in Turkey?" "Yes, exactly." "Then why especially does it have to be in German?" "It doesn't, especially." "It could be in Turkish if you really want." "No, dear fellow the language is not finally the point." "Do you really think that subject is appropriate for a national theatre?" "Why not?" "It's charming." "I won't actually show concubines exposing their...." "It's not indecent." "It's highly moral, Majesty." "It's full of proper German virtues!" "Excuse me, Majesty, but what do you think these could be?" "As a foreigner, I'd love to learn." "Tell him, Mozart." "Name us a German virtue." "Love, Sire." "Love!" "Of course, in Italy we know nothing about love." "No, I don't think you do." "I mean, watching Italian opera, all those male sopranos screeching fat couples rolling their eyes about." "That's not love." "It's rubbish!" "Majesty, you choose the language." "It will be my task to set it to the finest music ever offered a monarch." "Well, there it is." "Let it be German." "This is yours." "Keep it, if you want." "It's already here in my head." "What?" "On one hearing only?" "I think so, Sire." "Show us." "The rest is just the same, isn't it?" "Doesn't really work, does it?" "Did you try...?" "Shouldn't it be a bit more...?" "Or this?" "Yes." "Better?" "What do you think?" "All I ever wanted  was to sing to God." "He gave me that longing and then made me mute." "Why?" "Tell me that." "If He didn't want me to praise Him with music why implant the desire like a lust in my body?" "And then deny me the talent?" "Madame Cavalieri is here for her lesson." "Maestro!" "How do you like it?" "It's Turkish." "My hairdresser said that everything this year's going to be Turkish." "Does he?" "What else did he tell you today?" "Come, come!" "Give me some gossip." "I heard you met Herr Mozart." "News travels fast in Vienna." "And he's been commissioned to write an opera." "Is it true?" "Yes." "Is there a part in it for me?" "No." "How do you know?" "Do you know where it's set, my dear?" "Where?" "In a harem." "What's that?" "A brothel." "Come!" "Let's begin." "What does he look like?" "Mozart?" "You might be disappointed." "Why?" "Looks and talent don't always go together, Caterina." "Looks don't concern me, Maestro." "Only talent interests a woman of taste." "Shall we continue?" "There she was!" "I don't know where they met or how." "There she stood!" "On stage, for all to see." "Showing off like the greedy songbird she was." "Ten minutes of ghastly scales." "Arpeggios!" "Whizzing up and down like fireworks at a fairground." "Understand, I was in love with the girl." "Or at least in lust." "I swear, I never laid a finger on her." "All the same I couldn't bear to think of anyone else touching her least of all, the creature." "Brava, madame!" "You are an ornament to our stage." "Your Majesty." "Well, Herr Mozart!" "A good effort." "Well, decidedly that!" "An excellent effort." "You have shown us something quite new tonight." "It is new." "It is, isn't it, sire?" "Yes, indeed." "So then, you liked it?" "You really liked it, sire?" "Well, of course I did!" "It's very good!" "Of course, now and then..." "just now and then it seemed a touch...." "What do you mean?" "Well, I mean, occasionally, it seems to have..." "How shall one say...." "How shall one say, Direktor ?" "Too many notes, Your Majesty?" "Exactly." "Very well put." "Too many notes." "I don't understand." "There are just as many notes as are required, neither more nor less." "My dear fellow, there are in fact only so many notes one can hear in an evening." "I'm right in saying that, aren't I, Court Composer?" "Yes." "On the whole, yes, Majesty." "This is absurd!" "My dear young man, don't take it too hard." "Your work is ingenious." "It's quality work." "There are simply too many notes." "Just cut a few and it'll be perfect." "Which few did you have in mind, Majesty?" "Wolfgang, my dear!" "Majesty, this is Frau Weber." "She is my landlady." "Enchanted, madame." "Sire...such an honor!" "This is my dear daughter, Constanze." "She is the fiancée of Herr Mozart." "How charming." "Please." "When do you marry?" "We haven't exactly received my father's consent yet." "Not entirely." "Not altogether." "Excuse me but how old are you?" "26." "My advice is for you to marry this charming young lady and stay with us in Vienna." "You see!" "I told him that, Majesty, but he won't listen to me." "Your Majesty, you give such wonderful such royal advice." "May I...." "Well there it is." "Get some water!" "Will you get some water, please?" "At that moment I knew he'd had her." "The creature had had my darling girl." "It was incomprehensible!" "What was God up to?" "My heart was filling up with such hatred for that little man." "For the first time in my life I began to know really violent thoughts." "I won't have him back." "Your son is an unprincipled, spoiled, conceited brat!" "Yes sir...that is the truth." "But don't blame him." "The fault is mine entirely." "I was too indulgent with him." "Please Your Grace?" "One more chance?" "You have leave to try." "God bless, Your Grace!" "I thank Your Grace." "I thank you." "I write to you with urgent news." "I'm coming to Vienna." "Take no further steps towards marriage until we meet." "As you honor the father who has devoted his entire life to yours do as I bid, and await my coming." "I now join you in the holy bonds of matrimony." "Those whom God hath joined together let no man put asunder...." "Most beloved father." "Remember how you told me Vienna is the city of musicians?" "To conquer here is to conquer Europe?" "With my wife I can do it." "And one day soon, when I'm wealthy  you'll come and live with us and we'll be so happy." "Good morning." "This is my niece, Princess Elizabeth." "Your Highness." "She has asked me to advise her on a suitable musical instructor." "I think I've come up with an excellent idea." "Your Majesty!" "It would be a tremendous honor!" "I was thinking of Mozart." "What is your view?" "It's an interesting idea, Majesty." "But my concern is to protect you from any hint of favoritism." "Favoritism." "What is this?" "What is what?" "Why must I submit samples of work to a committee to teach a 13-year-old girl?" "His Majesty wishes it." "Is he angry with me?" "Quite the contrary." "Then why not appoint me to the post?" "You're not the only composer in Vienna." "No." "But I'm the best." "Some modesty might suit you better." "Who is on this committee?" "Kapellmeister Bonno, Count Orsini-Rosenberg and of course, Court Composer Salieri." "Naturally the Italians!" "Of course, always the Italians!" "Musical idiots!" "And you want them to judge my music." "Young man the issue is quite simple." "If you want this position you must submit your stuff along with all your colleagues." "Must I?" "Well, I won't." "How can I help you?" "Frau Mozart?" "I've come on behalf of my husband." "I brought samples of his work so he can be considered for the appointment." "How charming, but..." "why did he not come himself?" "He's terribly busy, sir." "I understand." "I will look at them, of course, the moment I can." "It will be an honor." "Please give him my warmest regards." "Would it be too much trouble to ask you to look at them now?" "While I wait." "I'm afraid I'm not at leisure at this precise moment." "Leave them." "I assure you, they will be safe." "I really cannot do that." "He doesn't know I'm here." "Then he didn't send you?" "No, sir." "This was my own idea." "I see." "Sir, we're desperate." "We really need this job." "My husband spends far more than he can ever earn." "I don't mean he's lazy, because he works all day long...." "It's just that he's not practical." "Money simply slips through his fingers." "It's ridiculous." "Let me offer you some refreshment." "Do you know what these are?" "Capezzoli di Venere!" "Nipples of Venus." "They're Roman chestnuts in brandied sugar." "Try one." "Go on, try one!" "They're quite surprising." "They're wonderful!" "Thank you, Your Excellency." "Don't call me that!" "Keeps me at a distance." "I wasn't born a court composer, you know." "I'm from a small town." "Just like your husband." "Are you sure you can't leave this and come back again?" "It's very tempting, sir." "But it's impossible, I'm afraid." "Wolfgang would be frantic if he knew those were missing." "You see, they're all originals." "Originals?" "Yes, sir." "He doesn't make copies." "These are originals?" "Astounding!" "It was actually beyond belief." "These were first and only drafts of music...." "But they showed no corrections of any kind." "Not one." "He had simply  written down music already finished in his head." "Page after page of it as if he were just taking dictation." "And music finished as no music is ever finished." "Displace one note and there would be diminishment." "Displace one phrase and the structure would fall." "It was clear to me  that sound I had heard in the archbishop's palace had been no accident." "Here again  was the very voice of God." "I was staring through the cage of those meticulous ink strokes at an absolute beauty." "It's not good?" "It's miraculous!" "He's very proud of his work." "You will help us?" "From now on we are enemies You and I." "Because You choose for your instrument, a boastful lustful, smutty, infantile boy and give me for reward only the ability  to recognize the incarnation." "Because You are unjust unfair unkind I will block You." "I swear it." "I will hinder and harm Your creature on earth as far as I am able." "I will ruin Your incarnation." "You're thin." "Doesn't that wife of yours feed you?" "Feed!" "Of course she feeds me." "She stuffs me like a goose, all day!" "Is she not here?" "No, she had to help her mother." "She's like that." "Her mother's a very sweet woman." "I didn't know you were home." "My father." "We'll wait." "Why don't you get up now?" "She's very tired, poor creature." "You know me." "I'm such a pig." "It's not easy cleaning up after me." "No maid?" "No." "We could if we wanted but Stanzi wouldn't hear of it." "She insists on doing everything." "How is your financial situation?" "Couldn't be better." "That's not what I hear." "What do you mean?" "It's wonderful." "Really, it's marvelous!" "People love me here." "They say you have debts." "Who?" "Who says that?" "A malicious lie!" "You have pupils?" "I don't want pupils!" "They get in the way." "I have to have time for composition." "Composition doesn't pay." "You know that." "That one will." "What's that?" "It's a secret." "You don't have secrets from me." "No!" "No!" "Please!" "I don't want you to see it." "I don't want anyone to." "But you'll be so proud of me, Papa." "It's going to be the best thing that I've ever done." "There she is!" "Look at her!" "Isn't she beautiful?" "Confess it." "Could you want a prettier daughter?" "Stop it, Wolfie!" "I look dreadful." "Are you expecting?" "Yes, I am." "Isn't it marvelous?" "We're delighted." "May I offer you some tea?" "Who wants tea?" "Let's go out!" "This calls for a feast." "You don't want tea, do you?" "I know!" "Let's go dancing." "Papa loves parties, don't you?" "How can you be so boring?" "Tea!" "I name the penalty!" "And the penalty is...." "Give her a good one!" "Show your legs!" "Come on, come on!" "It's just a game." "Herr Mozart!" "Name your son's penalty!" "Yes, Papa." "Name it." "I'll do anything you say." "Anything." "I want you to come back to Salzburg with me, my son." "You can only give a penalty that can be performed in the room!" "I'm tired of this game." "But my penalty!" "I've got to have a penalty!" "I name a penalty!" "The penalty is you can play our little tune in the manner of Johann Sebastian Bach!" "Turn him over!" "Now you play it backwards!" "Another one!" "Give me another one!" "Play like Gluck!" "Boring!" "Another!" "Handel!" "I don't like him!" "Another one!" "Salieri." "A challenge!" "That is a challenge." "Please!" "Please!" "Go on!" "Mock me!" "Laugh!" "That was not Mozart laughing, Father." "That was God." "That was God laughing at me through that obscene giggle." "Go on, Signore, laugh." "Show my mediocrity for all to see." "One day I will laugh at you." "Before I leave this earth I will laugh at you." "There's a young girl here to see you." "What's she want?" "She won't talk to me." "She says she has to speak to you." "Are you Herr Mozart?" "That's right." "My name is Lorl, sir." "I'm a maidservant." "I was asked to come here and offer my services to you." "They'll be paid for by a great admirer of yours who wishes to remain anonymous." "Is this your idea, Papa?" "Mine?" "Are you playing a trick on me?" "I've never seen her." "This a joke?" "Not at all!" "Young woman, this won't do." "My son can't possibly accept such an offer, no matter how generous unless he knows who's behind it." "I really can't tell you that, sir." "This is ridiculous!" "What is ridiculous?" "Wolfie has many admirers in Vienna." "They love him here." "People send us gifts all the time." "But you cannot possibly accept her without references." "This is none of your business." "Whoever sent you is going to pay?" "That's right, ma'am." "Splendid!" "So, now we're going to let a stranger into our house." "Who is we?" "Who is letting who?" "Could you wait outside?" "Yes, ma'am." "Look, old man!" "We spend a fortune on you, and you just criticize, morning to night." "No!" "It's right that he should hear!" "I'm sick to death of it." "We can't do anything right for you, can we?" "You won't have to do anything for me ever again." "I'm leaving." "I won't stay and be a burden to anyone." "No one calls you that." "She says I sleep all day." "And so you do!" "The only time you come out is to eat." "But what do you expect?" "Do you expect anyone to walk out into a mess like this every day?" "So, now I'm a bad housekeeper!" "So you are!" "The place is like a pigsty all the time." "Parties every night." "Parties all night!" "Thank you, sir." "Do any pupils come to the house?" "Not that I've seen." "Then how does he pay for all this?" "Does he work at all?" "Yes, sir." "All day long." "He never leaves the house until evening." "He just sits there writing and writing." "Really!" "What is he writing?" "I wouldn't know that, sir." "Of course not." "You're a good girl." "You're kind to do it." "Next time they're out of the house let me know." "Thank you, sir." "I think I found out about the money." "Yes?" "What?" "He kept seven snuff boxes in here." "I could swear they were all gold." "And now look." "There's only one left." "Where does he work?" "I have just heard some news that may be of interest to you." "What?" "Mozart is writing a new opera." "An Italian opera." "Italian?" "That's not all." "He has chosen for his subject, Figaro." "The Marriage of Figaro." "He is setting that play to music?" "Yes." "What is this Marriage of Figaro ?" "It's a French play, Kapellmeister." "It has been banned by the emperor." "You're absolutely sure?" "Gentlemen, sit down." "Are you aware that I have declared the French play of Figaro unsuitable for our theatre?" "Yes, sire." "Yet we hear you're making an opera from it." "Is this true?" "Who told you?" "It is not your place to ask questions." "Is it true?" "Yes." "I admit it is." "Would you tell me why?" "Majesty, it is only a comedy." "What you think is scarcely the point." "It's what His Majesty thinks that counts." "I am a tolerant man." "I do not censor things lightly." "When I do, I have good reason." "Figaro is a bad play." "It stirs up hatred between classes." "In France it has caused nothing but bitterness." "My sister Antoinette writes me that she is beginning to be frightened of her own people." "Sire, I swear to you, there's nothing like that in the piece." "I took out everything that could give offense." "I hate politics." "I'm afraid you're rather innocent, my friend." "In these dangerous times I cannot afford to provoke our nobles or our people simply over a theatre piece." "Majesty, this is just a frolic." "A piece about love." "Love." "Again!" "And it's new!" "It's entirely new." "It's so new that people will go mad for it." "I have scenes...." "The end of the second act, for example...." "It's a simple duet just a husband and a wife quarreling." "Suddenly the wife's scheming little maid comes in." "It's a very funny situation." "Duet turns into trio." "The valet enters." "He's plotting with the maid." "Trio turns into quartet." "Then a gardener comes in." "Quartet becomes quintet, and so on and on sextet, septet, octet." "How long do you think I can sustain that?" "I have no idea." "Guess." "Guess, Your Majesty." "Imagine the longest it could be sustained then double it." "Well 6?" "7 minutes." "8 minutes?" "20, sire!" "20 minutes!" "20 minutes of continuous music." "No recitatives!" "Only opera can do this." "In a play, if more than one person speaks at once it's just noise." "No one can understand a word." "But with opera, with music...." "With music you can have 20 individuals all talking at the same time." "And it's not noise." "It's a perfect harmony!" "Music is not the issue." "No one doubts your talent." "It's your literary judgment that's in question." "Even with the politics taken out of it, it would still remain a vulgar farce." "Why waste your spirit on such rubbish?" "Surely you can choose more elevated themes." "Elevated!" "What does that mean, elevated?" "I am fed to the teeth with these elevated things." "Old dead legends." "Why must we go on forever writing only about gods and legends?" "Because they do." "They go on forever." "At least what they represent:" "the eternal in us." "Opera is here to ennoble us, Mozart." "You and me, just the same as His Majesty." "Come on now, be honest!" "Who wouldn't rather listen to a hairdresser than Hercules?" "Or Horatius or Orpheus." "So lofty, they sound as if they shit marble!" "What!" "Govern your tongue, Mozart, how dare you!" "Forgive me, Majesty." "I'm a vulgar man." "But, I assure you, my music is not." "You are passionate, Mozart but you do not persuade." "Sire, the whole opera is finished." "You know how much work I did?" "His Majesty has been more than patient." "How can I persuade you if I can't show it?" "That will do." "Let me tell how it begins." "May I just do that?" "Show how it begins?" "Please." "There's a servant down on his knees." "And do you know why?" "Not from any oppression, no." "Because he's measuring a space." "Do you know what for?" "His bed." "His wedding bed." "To see if it will fit!" "Late!" "On the beat." "Good!" "Yes!" "Early!" "Mozart is already rehearsing." "In that case, gentlemen, I think we should help him all we can." "And do our best to protect him against the emperor's anger." "What anger?" "About the ballet." "What ballet?" "Excuse me but didn't His Majesty specifically forbid the ballet at his opera?" "A word with you." "Certainly, Herr Direktor." "Now, Herr Mozart!" "Five minutes, please." "Do you not know that His Majesty has expressly forbidden ballet in operas?" "It's not a ballet, it's a dance at Figaro's wedding." "Exactly." "A dance." "Surely, His Majesty didn't mean no dancing when it's in the story." "It is dangerous to interpret his edicts." "Give me your score, please." "Thank you." "What are you doing?" "What are you doing?" "Taking out what you should never have put in." "Please." "I have no one else to turn to." "What is it?" "It's unbelievable." "The Direktor has actually torn up a huge section of my music." "They say I have to rewrite the opera." "But it's perfect as it is." "I can't rewrite what's perfect." "Please." "Can't you talk to him?" "Why bother with Rosenberg?" "He's no friend of yours." "I could kill him." "I mean, really!" "Kill him!" "I threw the entire score into the fire, he made me so angry." "You burned the score?" "No, my wife took it out in time." "Thank God." "It's unfair that a man like that should have power over our work." "But others have power over him." "I think I'll take this up with the emperor." "Excellency would you?" "With all my heart, Mozart." "Thank you." "Please, Herr Mozart." ""Please, it's not a holy relic."" "I don't need to tell you I said nothing whatever to the emperor." "I went to the theatre to tell Mozart something, anything  when suddenly in the middle of the third act  to my astonishment, the emperor  who never attended rehearsals suddenly appeared." "What is this?" "I don't understand." "Is it modern?" "The Herr Direktor he has removed un balletto that would have occurred at this place." "Why?" "It's your regulation." "No ballet in your opera." "Do you like this?" "It's not a question of liking." "Your own law decrees it, I'm afraid." "Look at them!" "This is nonsense!" "Let me see the scene with the music." "Oblige me!" "Can we see the scene with the music, please?" "Certainly!" "Certainly, Herr Direktor." "Bring the palace set back in, please." "The restored third act was bold, brilliant." "The fourth was astounding." "I saw a woman disguised in her maid's clothes hear her husband speak the first tender words he'd offered her in years." "Simply because he thinks she is someone else." "I heard the music of true forgiveness filling the theatre conferring on all who sat there perfect absolution." "God was singing through this little man  to all the world." "Unstoppable." "Making my defeat more bitter with every passing bar." "And then..." "do you know what happened?" "A miracle!" "With that yawn I saw my defeat turn into a victory." "Mozart was lucky The emperor yawned only once." "Three yawns and the opera would fail the same night." "Two yawns  within a week at most." "With one yawn the composer could still get...." "nine performances!" "Nine, that's all it's had...and withdrawn." "I know, I know." "It's outrageous." "Still, if the public doesn't like one's work one has to accept the fact gracefully." "But what is it they don't like?" "I can speak for the emperor." "You make too many demands on the royal ear." "He can't concentrate over an hour." "You gave him four." "What did you think of it?" "Did you like it at all?" "I thought it was marvelous." "Of course." "It's the best opera yet written!" "I know it." "Why didn't they come?" "I think you overestimate our dear Viennese, my friend." "You didn't even give them a good bang at the end of songs to tell them when to clap." "I know." "You should give me lessons in that." "I wouldn't presume." "Nevertheless, at the risk of imposing I'd like you to see my new piece." "It would be a tremendous honor for me." "No, the honor would be all mine." "I believe I believe it is the best opera yet written, my friends." "You are the brightest star in the musical firmament." "You do honor to Vienna and to me." "It was good of you to come." "How could I not?" "Bravo, maestro." "Did my work please you?" "I never knew that music like that was possible." "You flatter me." "One hears such sounds and what can one say but Salieri!" "Everybody's here and we've got guests." "I've got some more." "You remember my good friend Schikaneder." "Come in!" "Don't be shy." "This is a very nice girl, and this is too...." "Yes, my love?" "These gentlemen are from Salzburg." "We were just talking about Salzburg." "Your father is dead." "So rose the dreadful ghost, from his next and blackest opera." "There, on the stage, stood the figure of a dead commander." "And I knew only I understood  that the horrifying apparition was Leopold raised from the dead!" "Wolfgang had summoned up his own father to accuse his son before all the world!" "It was terrifying and wonderful to watch." "And now the madness began in me." "The madness of a man splitting in half." "Through my influence, I saw to it Don Giovanni was played only five times in Vienna." "But, in secret, I went to every one of those five." "Worshipping sound I alone seemed to hear." "As I stood there, understanding how that bitter old man still possessed his poor son even from beyond the grave I began to see a way a terrible way I could finally triumph over God." "I have come to commission work from you." "What work?" "A Mass for the dead." "What dead?" "Who's dead?" "A man who deserved a Requiem Mass and never got one." "Who are you?" "I am only a messenger." "Do you accept?" "You'll be well paid." "Do you accept?" "Work fast." "And be sure to tell no one what you do." "You will see me again soon." "My plan was so simple that it terrified me." "First, I must get the death Mass, and then I must achieve his death." "What?" "His funeral!" "Imagine it!" "The cathedral all Vienna sitting there." "His coffin Mozart's little coffin in the middle." "And then in that silence music!" "A divine music bursts out over them all." "A great Mass of death." "Requiem Mass for Wolfgang Mozart." "Composed by his devoted friend Antonio Salieri." "What sublimity!" "What depth!" "What passion in the music!" "Salieri has been touched by God at last and God forced to listen." "Powerless to stop it!" "I, for once, in the end, laughing at Him!" "The only thing that worried me was the actual killing." "How does one do that?" "How does one kill a man?" "It's one thing to dream about it." "Very different when you when you have to do it with your own hands." "Come in!" "I've come to dinner." "Dinner!" "Are you mad?" "I'm a nobleman." "I only ever dine with people of my own height." "Stop it!" "Be careful!" "Be careful!" "Hold tight!" "I'm a famous horseman" "And we're a famous horsie" "Give me a hoof, my darling" "And I'll give you my heart" "Take me to your stable" "And never more we'll part" "Kill me!" "Kill me!" "We're going to make a soprano stew" "And when you make a soprano stew" "Shut up!" "I'm sick to death of that tune!" "Give him some hay, my darling" "And I'll give you my heart" "Leporello!" "Some hay!" "We hope You're contented" "With what We've presented" "And love our dove of peace" "What did you think?" "Wonderful!" "He liked the little people." "It's all in good fun." "I liked the horse." "I tell you, if you played Don Giovanni here you would have had a wonderful success." "You belong here!" "Not at the snobby court." "You could do anything you like." "The more fantastic, the better." "That's what people want: fantasy!" "You write a proper part for me and a couple of catchy songs I guarantee you a triumph deluxe!" "What do you say?" "How much will you pay him?" "I see you brought your manager with you." "Well, madame how about half the receipts?" "Half the receipts!" "I'm talking about now." "How much will you pay him now?" "Down payment." "Down payment?" "Who do you think I am, the emperor?" "I have to go." "Stay, you'll enjoy this." "You won't do this." "Why not?" "Half the house!" "When?" "We need money now!" "Either he pays you now, or you don't do it." "I don't trust that man." "And I don't like what he did with your opera." "It was common." "You liked it." "Monkey, punky, flunky!" "Half the house!" "You'll never see a penny." "I want it here in my hand." "I'll put it here in your hand." "You won't put a thing in my hand until I see some money!" "Don't answer it." "Why?" "Tell him I'm not here." "Tell him I'm working on it." "Come back later." "Am I interrupting something?" "No." "Good." "Where's our friend?" "He's not here." "But he said he's working on it." "Is that it?" "Is he happy with it?" "What's this?" "Requiem Mass?" "You think I'm in the funeral business?" "Put it down!" "Put it down!" "Put it down, it's nothing for you!" "I'm sorry." "What have you got for me?" "Finished?" "What?" "The vaudeville, what do you think?" "Yes." "Can I see it?" "No." "Why not?" "Because there's nothing to see." "I asked you if we could start rehearsals next week and you said yes." "We can." "So let me see it." "Where is it?" "Here." "It's all right here in my noodle." "The rest is just scribbling." "Scribbling and bibbling, bibbling and scribbling." "Want a drink?" "Do you know how many people I've hired for you?" "Leave him alone!" "I'm paying these people!" "He's doing his best." "I'm paying them to wait for you." "It's ridiculous!" "You know what's ridiculous?" "Your libretto's ridiculous!" "Only an idiot would ask Wolfie to work on that!" "12-foot snakes, magic flutes?" "What's so intelligent about a Requiem?" "Money." "You're mad." "She's mad." "Wolfie, write it down." "Just write it down." "On paper." "It's no use to anybody in your head." "To hell with your death Mass!" "Calm yourself." "What's the matter with you?" "I'm not working there anymore." "What has happened?" "You don't know what it's like." "Herr Mozart frightens me." "He drinks all day then takes all that medicine and it makes him worse." "Is he working?" "I'm frightened, sir, really!" "When he speaks he makes no sense." "Is he working?" "I suppose so." "He sits there all the time, doing some silly opera." "Please, don't ask me to go back again." "I'm frightened." "I'm very, very frightened!" "Are you sure it's an opera?" "I don't have it yet." "Are you neglecting my request?" "I promise you." "I'll give you the best piece I ever" "This is my wife." "I've been sick but I'm all right now, aren't I?" "Yes, sir." "He's all right." "And he's working on it very hard." "Two more weeks." "Please." "The sooner you finish, the greater your reward." "Work!" "I think you really are going mad." "You work like a slave for that idiot actor who won't give you a penny!" "And here...." "This is not a ghost!" "This is a real man who puts down real money." "Why on earth won't you finish it?" "Can you give me one reason I can understand?" "It's killing me." "You're drunk, aren't you?" "Be honest, tell me." "You've been drinking." "It's not fair." "I worry about you all the time." "I do everything I can to help you." "And all you do is drink and talk nonsense, and frighten me." "Go to bed!" "Please." "Let me sit here." "Let me stay here with you." "I did it!" "And I was proud to do it." "Leave, I said!" "Right away!" "And take the child with you!" "Here's the money!" "Go to the spa and get your health back." "I was shocked shocked to my foundation when I saw her." "I couldn't believe my eyes, poor little thing." "You monster!" "No one exists but you, do they?" "You and your music." "I warned her." ""Choose a man, not a baby," I said." "You marry him, you won't have a pot to piss in." "You selfish thing!" "Selfish, that's what you are." "Selfish." "Simply selfish!" "Do you hear me?" "Pick him up." "Be careful!" "Come with me!" "You!" "Follow me." "Is it over?" "Yes, it's over." "It's over." "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Where is your wife?" "Where is your wife?" "She's not well either." "She went to the spa." "You are so good to me." "Truly." "Thank you." "Please!" "No, I mean, to come to my opera." "You are the only colleague of mine who came." "I would never miss anything you had written." "It's just a vaudeville." "It's a sublime piece." "The grandest operone!" "I tell you you are the greatest composer known to me." "Do you mean it?" "It's him!" "Who?" "The man." "He's here." "Tell him to go away." "Tell him I'm still working on it." "Don't let him in." "Wait!" "Ask him if he would give me some money now." "Tell him it will help me finish." "Can we come in?" "Better not." "He's sleeping." "He's all right?" "Yes, he's just exhausted." "He became dizzy." "That's all." "Tell him we came by, won't you?" "Of course." "Give him this." "That's his share." "That should cheer him up." "Indeed!" "And now good night to you all." "It was perfection." "Truly!" "Thank you." "What happened?" "He said to give you this." "And if you finish by tomorrow he'll pay 100 ducats more." "That's too soon!" "Tomorrow night...." "It's impossible!" "Did he say 100?" "It's too soon!" "Could I help you?" "Would you?" "Actually, you could." "I want to go!" "Where?" "Back to Vienna." "Now?" "Yes." "Why?" "I feel wrong." "I feel wrong being here." "Where did I stop?" "The end of the Recordare." "So." "Now, confutatis when the wicked are confounded." "How would you translate that?" ""Consigned to flames of woe."" "You believe in it?" "A fire which never dies, burning you forever." "Yes." "Is it possible?" "Let's begin." "We ended in F-major." "So now A-minor." "Confutatis." "A-minor." "Start with voices." "Basses first." "Second beat of the first" "Time?" "Time?" "Common time." "Second beat of the first measure." "On "A."" "Second measure, second beat." "You see?" "Yes." "D-sharp?" "Of course." "Second beat of the third measure, on "E."" "Do you have me?" "Show me!" "Good." "Now the tenors." "Fourth beat of the first measure." "On "C."" "Second measure." "Fourth beat. "D."" "Yes, continue!" "Second beat of the fourth measure, on "F."" "Now the orchestra." "Second bassoon and bass trombones with the basses." "Identical notes and rhythm." "First bassoon, tenor trombones, with the tenors." "You go too fast." "Too fast!" "Do you have it?" "Trombone with what?" "Tenors." "Identical?" "The instruments doubling the voices!" "Trumpets and timpani." "Trumpets in "D."" "Listen!" "Trumpets in "D," tonic and dominant." "First and third beats." "It goes with the harmony!" "Yes, I understand." "Yes!" "And that's all?" "No." "Now for the real fire." "Strings in unison." "Ostinato on "A."" "Like this!" "Next measure is rising." "Do you have it?" "Show me!" "Wonderful!" "Yes." "Yes." "Go on." "Write that down!" "Call me among the blessed." ""C" major." "Sopranos and altos in thirds." "Altos on "C," sopranos above." "Sopranos up to "F" on the second voca ?" "And on dictus !" "And underneath, just violins." "Arpeggios." "Descending scale in eighth notes, then back to the ostinato." "That's it." "You have it?" "You go too fast." "One moment, please!" "One moment!" "Good!" "Show me!" "The whole thing!" "From the beginning!" "Want to rest?" "No, I'm not tired at all!" "We'll stop for a moment." "Then we'll finish the lacrimosa." "I can keep going, I assure you!" "Stay with me while I sleep a little?" "I won't leave you!" "I'm so ashamed." "Of what?" "I was foolish." "I thought you did not care for my work or me." "Forgive me." "What are you doing here?" "Your husband took sick." "I brought him home." "Why you?" "Because Madame, I was at hand." "Thank you very much, you can go now." "He needs me." "No, he doesn't and I don't want you here." "Just go, please." "He asked me to stay." "And I'm asking" "I'm back." "I missed you so much." "If you'd just show me that you need me." "And I'll try to do better, too." "What is this?" "No, Wolfie, not this." "You're not to work on this ever again." "I've decided." "It's not his handwriting." "No, it's mine." "I was assisting him." "He's not to work on this anymore." "It's making him ill." "Good night." "I regret we have no servants to show you out, Herr Salieri." "Respect my wish and go." "I will respect his." "Your merciful God." "He destroyed his own beloved rather than let a mediocrity share in the smallest part of his glory." "He killed Mozart." "And kept me alive to torture." "32 years of torture." "32 years of slowly watching myself become extinct!" "My music growing fainter." "All the time fainter till no one plays it at all." "And his...." "Good morning!" "Time for the water closet." "Then we have your favorite breakfast." "Sugar rolls!" "He loves those." "Fresh sugar rolls." "I will speak for you, Father." "I speak for all mediocrities in the world." "I am their champion." "I am their patron saint." "Mediocrities everywhere I absolve you." "I absolve you." "I absolve you all." "Subtitled by:" "GELULA  CO., INC."