Antonio Salieri remains best known for the image of him promoted by the play and film Amadeus, both based on a story that went back almost to the time of Mozart's death: even Alexander Pushkin, writing in Russia in the 1820s, could assume the audience for his short play Mozart and Salieri was familiar with the idea that Salieri killed Mozart out of what might be called professional jealousy. Modern historians believe that it's all a load of tosh, and in fact the pendulum is swinging to the other extreme with suggestions ...
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Antonio Salieri remains best known for the image of him promoted by the play and film Amadeus, both based on a story that went back almost to the time of Mozart's death: even Alexander Pushkin, writing in Russia in the 1820s, could assume the audience for his short play Mozart and Salieri was familiar with the idea that Salieri killed Mozart out of what might be called professional jealousy. Modern historians believe that it's all a load of tosh, and in fact the pendulum is swinging to the other extreme with suggestions that Mozart might have written his three final symphonies for a private orchestra Salieri maintained. Performers are starting to resurrect Salieri's works, which are competent, splendid (as Joseph II's court composer he had resources at his command that were hard for Mozart to muster), and almost always square and conventional. Even the fact that he apparently wrote this Requiem in C minor for his own funeral (it was performed there) did not stimulate much of a personal response...
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