Amadeus

Have you ever struggled with imposter syndrome? Did you revise like crazy to scrape a 2:1 and watch that over-achiever breeze a 1st? Do you like mind-blowingly good music and January is oh so quiet and dull? I’ve got just the ticket: Amadeus at the National Theatre.

This is Mozart like you’ve never seen him before: Punk rock-esque and impulsive in patent pink Doc Martins, shouting the c word. Throw in a few Masonic rituals, ghostly father figures and genius slipping into insanity and you’re about to witness one of the most famous love/hate relationships in history…

Plot:

[Wolfgang] Amadeus [Mozart] is the wunderkind of the world’s music scene. A prodigy. An insanely talented musician who wants to revolutionise the music scene away from tales of Gods and courts to the struggles and passions of everyday man. Mozart travels to Vienna, the culture capital of the world. Here he meets successful court composer, Antonio Salieri. Salieri is in awe of this young composer’s talent but horrified by his childish behaviour. Ensue Salieri becoming Mozart’s frenemy, plotting ruin and anonymity for his vulgar but brilliant counterpart…

Famous bits:

The play is full of famous pieces that get good airtime on Classic FM and are very often performed by choirs and companies large and small.

The Lacrimosa

This was the last piece of music Mozart put down on paper. Goosebumps! Honestly (probably), this is the most ghostly, transcendent piece of music ever written. Lacrimosa means ‘tearful/mourning’ and it’s all about the fear of death and what happens when you walk towards that light. Heavy going lyric-wise but seriously beautiful. Listen to it. Now! (Please).

Salieri’s speeches

“I speak for all mediocrities in the world.  I am their champion.  I am their patron saint.  On their behalf I deny Him, your God of no mercy.  Your God who tortures men with longings they can never fulfil.  He may forgive me:  I shall never forgive Him.”

~ The perfect rant for when you can’t reach the next level in Two Dots.

Last but not least, listen out for Così Fan Tutti’s ‘Soave il vento’!

Impress a date/ your friends:

• Mozart’s middle name is ‘Amadeus’ which literally means: ‘love of God’ in Latin. Makes complete sense why Salieri wails Amadeus throughout the play – it’s the pathos [sympathetic pity] of shouting his rival’s name and having that name almost prove that the man upstairs is playing favourites.
• So, was there this big rivalry? Was Mozart quite so childish?
• The script was written by Peter Shaffer in 1979 inspired by a short play by Alexander Pushkin from 1830.
• The 1984 film adaptation of Amadeus was (brilliant and) won 40 awards including eight Oscars.
• Listen out for when Orsini-Rosenberg says “A young man trying to impress beyond his abilities. Too much spice. Too many notes.” This was a real quote by Emperor Joseph II about Mozart’s opera The Marriage of Figaro. It was those “notes” and that “spice” that revolutionised music!
• Swot up by listening to the film soundtrack on Spotify.

Date for your diary:

Amadeus is playing at the National Theatre until the beginning of February.  Tickets are sold out BUT, BUT(!) but you can sign up for a ‘Friday rush’ where an allocation of £20 tickets can be bought online for the following week, even for sold out performances OR a £15 day ticket if you have the day off.

If you can’t get there for the run, catch it in a cinema near you on 2nd February.

“This was a music I’d never heard. Filled with such longing, such unfulfillable longing. It seemed to me that I was hearing the voice of God.”

Now, God-fearing or not, tell me you’re not a bit intrigued to hear the music that inspired this bold claim?

Treat yourself to some breath-taking music, an innovative orchestra on the move and some fabulously cathartic ranting… and let me know what you think!