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Classical Court From Perotin to Prokofiev (and beyond), performed by Caruso to Khatia, it's all here. |
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Classical Court From Perotin to Prokofiev (and beyond), performed by Caruso to Khatia, it's all here. |
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In Reply to: That Mozart Documentary posted by dpy on June 9, 2000 at 12:27:07:
What you’ve described sounds like the 1984 Hollywood film “Amadeusâ€, directed by Milos Forman. For your information, that movie was not a documentary but a fictionalized Hollywood biopic/costume drama. A documentary is a factual presentation in motion picture form. Believe it or not, Mozart died a long time ago, so a documentary showing a living Mozart walking and talking and giggling would be somewhat difficult.The Mozart you saw in the movie was actually the young actor Tom Hulce. Salieri was played (magnificently, I think) by F. Murray Abraham.If you truly desire to learn about Mozart’s life (or any of historic figure, for that matter) you would be much better off
finding a good written biography of him. Failing that, there are any number of good Internet cites that have loads of factual info about Mozart, as well as any number of other composers. Try:
http://www.trenite.de/mozart.htmI haven’t researched Mozart thoroughly, but I strongly suspect that his well known predilection for dissipation (partying) is what
inspired Forman and his writers to present him as an insouciant, mischievous joker. The point that Forman makes in his fictional depiction of Mozart – with the subtlety of a hand grenade – is that the serious, dedicated Salieri lacked genius, while the devil-may-care
Mozart fairly oozed it Forman’s statement on art is that whereas Salieri tried with all his might, - he failed; while Mozart tried not at all and was blessed with an effortless flow of genius. None of this is factually precise.It was Hulce’s coup de maitre to come up with that unforgettable laugh – he made the character he was playing very believable, even if
historically inaccurate.But even if Mozart were “gigglyâ€, I would hardly thereby judge
him as “another lunatic composerâ€. If you’re collecting lunatic behavior, I suggest you tune in a nightly broadcast of the “David Letterman Showâ€, visit your local college, rave bar, or spend some time on the streets of New York City. Personally, living in modern
times, nothing that historical artists have done shocks me - among the milder acts of “lunacy†these days are reports of guys having sex with corpses, the antics of one Marylyn Manson, some nut pumping a revolver load of bullets into an 8-month pregnant mother on the streets of Chicago the other day, and the like. Somehow, some composer’s alleged giggling just doesn’t scandalize me.As for Mozart’s fashions, keep in mind that he lived from 1756 to 1791. Again, believe it or not, fashions have changed. Back then, hardly anyone wore blue jeans or dockers. You may think that his clothes were “only fit for a fruitâ€, but that’s how people dressed back then.
The “too many notes†remark wasn’t made by “that other composer†(I
take it you’re referring to Salieri), but by the prince who commissioned the opera. Finally, I’m sure you thought Mozart’s wife was “cute†and “little†(do the women you know allow you to talk to them this way?), but you may want to make the effort to see what
Mozart’s wife really looked like because the woman you saw in the movie was actually an actress playing the role.
---spl
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- Another Lunatic? - SPL 19:20:25 06/12/00 (0)
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