Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...RIP


Tomorrow, Dec 5th, is the 212 th anaversary of his death. Only 35 years old.

Another thread recently got sidelined into a stupid comparison of Beethoven vs Mozart, as if it was a zero sum game where one had to be downgraded so as to elevate the other. Tomorrow we should remember him, without question the greatest natural musical genius that ever lived. Truly Amadeus.
eldartford
The movie “Amadeus” is entertaining. But manipulating historical information so intentionally to mistakenly portray Mozart and other related figures in order to simulate the interests of audiences is an act of moral unconsciousness and rather irresponsible.

Here is the detail information regarding the controversial subjects in the movie.

Title: “Amadeus” and Mozart Setting the Record Straight

http://www.mozartproject.org/essays/brown.html

It is a 17-page long essay written by Dr. A. Peter Brown who teaches in the School of Music at Indiana University.

If you are true Mozart fans, please do review it and share it with people who enjoy the movie “Amadeus”.

Happy Listening.

Otto
Yu11375...I read the essay. Thanks for the reference. It is packed with great detail about Mozart, far too much to be incorporated in a Play or movie. It is exactly what one would expect from a historian (my dad was one).

For example: Why did the movie leave out their children, who mostly died? Because that aspect, while historically true, had no bearing on the overall story, and would only weaken the dramatic impact. A very reasonable artistic decision, that would only annoy historians.

All in all, after reading the essay I still think that the movie runs as close to facts as most historically-based fiction, and the overall picture that it paints is very believable even if some of the "factual" details are only interpolations of reality.
Speaking as a fan of the movie,allow me to recommend Maynard Soloman's biography of Mozart.(He also did a Beethoven biography.)

The strengh of Soloman's biographies is that English is his native language. Biographies translated from German read like,well,books translated from another language.
Maynard Soloman's biographies are very subjective and authoritative.

On the way to office this morning Mozart’s symphonies performed by Klemperer accompanied me. What a drive!

Happy Listening.

Otto