In 1985, Amadeus, a Milos Forman film that swept the Oscars, catapulted the spread of the myth about the enmity between Mozart and Salieri. The film contrasts the former, a gifted and irreverent musical genius for whom music is natural entertainment, and an envious Salieri, tortured by his lack of talent and condemned to live in the Austrian's shadow.
The film is highly commendable in cinematographic terms, but highly inaccurate from a historical point of view.
As is well known, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart began his career at the age of 5, no less, playing the harpsichord and violin with his sister Nannerl. Their father, Leopold, who served as a combination teacher and manager, took them on a tour of the European courts. Wolfgang showed amazing precocity: at the age of 14 he was already daring with opera. Before even, with the symphony.
When he settled in Vienna in 1781, Antonio Salieri was already the musical star of the Austrian court, highly regarded and highly paid. There were more reasons for Mozart, with his exceptional talent, but with fewer resources and recognition, to be jealous of the Italian than the opposite.
However, the documented facts show that the two composers maintained a correct, even cordial relationship. Salieri conducted several works by Mozart. This, for his part, composed various arias tailored to the soprano Caterina Cavalieri, who was the Italian's lover. The two musicians also wrote a cantata together, which was lost for a long time and was reissued in 2016.
So how does the myth of enmity arise? Although Mozart apparently died of rheumatic fever, the poisoning theory soon made its way, insistently defended by his widow and her next husband. In addition, years later, it was reported that a Salieri affected by senile dementia had allegedly confessed to having murdered his colleague.
From there, the hoax was already unstoppable. In 1832, the Russian playwright Aleksandr Pushkin took advantage of such juicy material for his work Mozart and Salieri, with envy as a backdrop. In 1979, the British Peter Shaffer premiered Amadeus, a Tony Award-winning play that would inspire Milos Forman's film of the same name. At this point, Salieri had already become the ultimate villain.
The new episode of the Historia y Vida podcast also answers the last of the mysteries surrounding the Austrian genius: who commissioned the Requiem, which Mozart feverishly composed during his final moments as if it were for himself?
To find out more, Isabel Margarit, director of the magazine, and the journalist Ana Echeverría Arístegui recommend, in addition to a trip to Salzburg (where Mozart's birthplace is located) and Vienna (to see the Domgasse, the only home of his life surviving adult), the Mozart and Salieri Spotify playlist, which combines some of the most famous pieces by the two composers, and the Mozart or Salieri? quiz, for those who want to test their ears.
You can subscribe to the 'Historia y Vida' podcast or become a follower through platforms such as Spotify, Google Podcast or Apple Podcast, and you will receive a notification with each new episode. Thanks for listening!
