Amadeus
Book description
0riginating at the National Theatre of Great Britain, Amadeus was the recipient of both the Evening Standard Drama Award and the Theatre Critics Award. In the United States, the play won the coveted Tony Award and went on to become a critically acclaimed major motion picture winning eight Oscars, including…
- Coming soon!
Why read it?
2 authors picked Amadeus as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Of course, the entire notion of a ferocious enmity between Mozart and Salieri is fiction. They were actually friends and once even collaborated on a short cantata, Per la ricuperata salute di Ofelia [On the Recovery of the Health of Ofelia].
However, the story is a marvelous conception, seasoned by the central idea that the envious Salieri somehow ruined Mozart and drove him to his death (from overwork — also quite fictitious!). It truly “works” literarily. The play goes even further, accentuating the overbearing political influence of Italian musicians in the court.
I recommend the script of the play (from…
From Lenny's list on historical fiction about classical musicians.
“What the American public wants in the theater is a tragedy with a happy ending.”
- William Dean Howell
Not so much the British public, I guess. Years ago, I found this play in the remainder bin of a book store and bought it because I’d enjoyed Sleuth, not realizing there were two Schaffer brother playwrights…who, it turns out, had a major sibling rivalry thing going on. The movie was remarkable but the play really drives home Salieri’s fury at God. Resilience, it turns out can be effectively weaponized: especially when you’re the director of the Italian opera, a court-savvy…
From Mike's list on with characters who find their resilience.
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