"Mozart!" " 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."