Antonio Salieri as a "bitter mediocrity" in 'Amadeus' was debunked years ago.

[Aristus]

Quite a good composer. So much so that Mozart borrowed heavily from Salieri's themes in his own compositions. Beethoven was also a pupil of Salieri.

I was just listening to one of Salieri's pieces, I didn't catch which one, and it sounds unmistakably like Beethoven's 7th Symphony.

So Salieri's reputation as "just not as good as Mozart" is really off. He inspired both Mozart and Beethoven. That's really saying something.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

1. Gosh, a movie does not depict an historical character accurately

Who would have thought such a thing would be possible?

[Aristus]

2. I know, right?

[skepticscott]

3. Well, lots of composers riffed off of

other composer's material, but that's really not a good way of evaluating relative talent. The degree to which Mozart's or Beethoven's music was actually "inspired" by Salieri (as compared to other factors) is probably minimal.

That being said, he was far from the mediocre buffoon portrayed (brilliantly) in Amadeus. The Oxford Dictionary of Opera put it well when they said (slight paraphrasing here) "He was a skilled exponent of his craft, whose works, though not without charm, ultimately lack the quality of memorability". If the worst one can say about him is that he was no Mozart, that ain't too bad. While he doesn't warrant a place on the list of "great" composers, he was, in fact, an important and respected figure in European music, and remained so for long after Mozart's death.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

4. I happened to see the movie again

Last edited Tue Aug 20, 2013, 03:00 PM - Edit history (1)

The principal theme was "how does a man of talent deal with a man of genius"? In Salieri's case, the answer is "not very well".

BTW, you mention how one of Salieri's pieces sounds like Beethoven's 7th. Yesterday, I was listening to

Offenbach's Overture to La belle Hélène, and at 1:40 minutes, it sounds like the waltz from Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty, written about 25 years later.

[The Time is Now]

5. The real rip-off in Amadeus

...not counting the ridiculous depiction of Mozart is that Peter Schaeffer basically lifted the whole thing from Pushkin. The themes are all the same, mediocre composer poisons great one out of jealousy. Frankly, I think that that Mozartean cackle would have provided Schaeffer's Salary a stronger motive for mayhem.

[charlives]

6. I'm no expert....

...but I think Beethoven took lessons with Salieri to learn to write operas. Beethoven's lone opera doesn't seem "inspired" ...but I'd concede that Beethoven THOUGHT he'd be inspired to write good operas by studying with him. That says something.
Beethoven really liked Fidelio too. I think he said something about it being the child that nobody else liked so he liked it more...?
Only thing I can say is that personally I don't know of any Salieri piece I'd want to sit down and listen to, and his teaching skills seem unknown/debatable. BUT, I'm glad if someone else likes it and enjoys listening.