Posthumous Character Assassination - A Thriller on Stage and in History

Even before they appeared in Peter Shaffer's "Amadeus", Salieri and Mozart had already entered the stage. In his play "Mozart and Salieri", Alexander Pushkin presents the audience with an envy-stricken Salieri, who accuses God of failing to reward him for his musical efforts. When Mozart ponders over whether or not genius and crime are compatible, Salieri secretly drops some poison into his rival's drinking glass. Mozart drinks of it, sits at the piano to play the "Requiem", and leaves with a bad stomach. Salieri remains, resuming the thoughts about genius and crime.

Pushkin had Salieri murder Mozart since he probably believed the rumour which was circulating Europe at the time. The newspapers in particular kindled the thesis of Mozart's death through poisoning because his corpse had been found swollen. In addition, Salieri, suffering from depressions and insanity, was said to have accused himself of the crime. No one knows who had actually heard the old man blaming himself and spread the rumour. Soon after, however, Salieri must have been informed about the talk since his biographer Ignaz Moscheles quoted him as having said that "there is nothing true about the rumour. You know, Mozart, I'm said to have poisoned him. Alas no, malignity, sheer malignity, tell the world, dear Moscheles; old Salieri, who's about to die, told you so."

The usual procedure of detection is to collect hints and then arrest the murderer. In this case, however, the task was to refute a unfounded speculation without anyone asking how Salieri might have committed the crime in the first place. There is not even a proof of his profound hatred. He surely felt Mozart's musical superiority, nevertheless, he spoke of Mozart with great appreciation and admiration in the later period of his life.

Salieri alleged plotting against "Figaro" is far from being proved. Michael Kelly, an Irish singer and contemporary of Mozart's, writes that Salieri's opera, "La grotta di Trofonio", and an opera by Righini as well as "Figaro" were all about to be finished at the same time. Each of the composers claimed the right to perform first, but it was Mozart who won the race. However, Salieri's opera had its premiere when Mozart only began to work on "Figaro". Kelly must have mistaken Salieri for Gazzaniga, who was the third composer to compete with Mozart and Ringhini. There were probably intrigues against "Figaro", but it is more likely that they were initiated by Count Rosenberg than by Salieri. Rosenberg supported the librettist Casti, but Mozart was working with da Ponte.

Salieri would have had little reason to envy Mozart seriously since he achieved a position which Mozart never had: First Royal Kapellmeister. After his death, Salieri's works were not performed anymore whereas Mozart compositions grew more and more popular, but during his lifetime, Salieri saw several operas of his acclaimed in much the same manner as Mozart's were. Besides, Salieri wrote only few pieces of instrumental music, Mozart's most important domain, so the preconditions for a ruthless rivalry were simply not given. On the contrary, there is evidence that Mozart and Salieri even worked together. When one of their favourite singers fell ill, for example, they composed a cantata for her recovery.

All in all, it seems, Salieri took a cooperative stance towards Mozart. Of course, there is no way of knowing for sure how much envy there was in Salieri, but portraying him as Mozart's murderer as Pushkin did is decidedly wrong. Peter Shaffer's achievement is to remove this unjust suspicion from Salieri's shoulders, but in making him an untalented, envious, and revengeful character who accuses himself in order to be remembered, he departs from the historical Salieri. It is therefore necessary to differentiate between the characters on stage and their historic counterparts.