Oscar winners /        Shaffer, Peter AMADEUS (1984) The incredible story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, told in flashback mode by Antonio Salieri - now confined to an insane asylum.  Print Movie Script  Share Movie Script  Add to Favorites  Post Comment This moviescript available in following formats: Web version PDF Shaffer, Peter. AMADEUS View entire text • Table of contents Amadeus INT. STAIRCASE OUTSIDE OLD SALIERI’S SALON - NIGHT - 1823 Total darkness. We hear an old man’s voice, distinct and in distress. It is OLD SALIERI. He uses a mixture of English and occasionally Italian. OLD SALIERI Mozart! Mozart! Mozart. Forgive me! Forgive your assassin! Mozart! A faint light illuminates the screen. Flickeringly, we see an eighteenth century balustrade and a flight of stone stairs. We are looking down into the wall of the staircase from the point of view of the landing. Up the stair is coming a branched candlestick held by Salieri’s VALET. By his side is Salieri’s COOK, bearing a large dish of sugared cakes and biscuits. Both men are desperately worried: the Valet is thin and middle-aged; the Cook, plump and Italian. It is very cold. They wear shawls over their night-dresses and clogs on their feet. They wheeze as they climb. The candles throw their shadows up onto the peeling walls of the house, which is evidently an old one and in bad decay. A cat scuttles swiftly between their bare legs, as they reach the salon door. The Valet tries the handle. It is locked. Behind it the voice goes on, rising in volume. OLD SALIERI Show some mercy! I beg you. I beg you! Show mercy to a guilty man! The Valet knocks gently on the door. The voice stops. VALET Open the door, Signore! Please! Be good now! We’ve brought you something special. Something you’re going to love. Silence. VALET Signore Salieri! Open the door. Come now. Be good! The voice of Old Salieri continues again, further off now, and louder. We hear a noise as if a window is being opened. OLD SALIERI Mozart! Mozart! I confess it! Listen! I confess! The two servants look at each other in alarm. Then the Valet hands the candlestick to the Cook and takes a sugared cake from the dish, scrambling as quickly as he can back down the stairs. EXT. THE STREET OUTSIDE SALIERI’S HOUSE - VIENNA - NIGHT The street is filled with people: ten cabs with drivers, five children, fifteen adults, two doormen, fifteen dancing couples and a sled and three dogs. It is a windy night. Snow is falling and whirling about. People are passing on foot, holding their cloaks tightly around them. Some of them are revelers in fancy dress: they wear masks on their faces or hanging around their necks, as if returning from parties. Now they are glancing up at the facade of the old house. The window above the street is open and Old Salieri stands there calling to the sky: a sharp-featured, white-haired Italian over seventy years old, wearing a stained dressing gown. OLD SALIERI Mozart! Mozart! I cannot bear it any longer! I confess! I confess what I did! I’m guilty! I killed you! Sir I confess! I killed you! The door of the house bursts open. The Valet hobbles out, holding the sugared cake. The wind catches at his shawl. OLD SALIERI Mozart, perdonami! Forgive your assassin! Pietˆ! Pietˆ! Forgive your assassin! Forgive me! Forgive! Forgive! VALET (looking up to the window) That’s all right, Signore! He heard you! He forgave you! He wants you to go inside now and shut the window! Old Salieri stares down at him. Some of the passersby have now stopped and are watching this spectacle. VALET Come on, Signore! Look what I have for you! I can’t give it to you from down here, can I? Old Salieri looks at him in contempt. Then he turns away back into the room, shutting the window with a bang. Through the glass, the old man stares down at the group of onlookers in the street. They stare back at him in confusion. BYSTANDER Who is that? VALET No one, sir. He’ll be all right. Poor man. He’s a little unhappy, you know. He makes a sign indicating ’crazy,’ and goes back inside the house. The onlookers keep staring. CUT TO: INT. LANDING OUTSIDE OLD SALIERI’S SALON - NIGHT The Cook is standing holding the candlestick in one hand, the dish of cakes in the other. The Valet arrives, panting. VALET Did he open? The Cook, scared, shakes his head: no. The Valet again knocks on the door. VALET Here I am, Signore. Now open the door. He eats the sugared cake in his hand, elaborately and noisily. VALET Mmmm - this is good! This is the most delicious thing I ever ate, believe me! Signore, you don’t know what you’re missing! Mmmm! We hear a thump from inside the bedroom. VALET Now that’s enough, Signore! Open! We hear a terrible, throaty groaning. VALET If you don’t open this door, we’re going to eat everything. There’ll be nothing left for you. And I’m not going to bring you anything more. He looks down. From under the door we see a trickle of blood flowing. In horror, the two men stare at it. The dish of cakes falls from the Cook’s hand and shatters. He sets the candlestick down on the floor. Both servants run at the door frantically - once, twice, three times - and the frail lock gives. The door flies open. Immediately, the stormy, frenzied opening of Mozart’s Symphony No. 25 (the Little G Minor) begins. We see what the servants see. INT. OLD SALIERI’S SALON - NIGHT Old Salieri lies on the floor in a pool of blood, an open razor in his hand. He has cut his throat but is still alive. He gestures at them. They run to him. Barely, we glimpse the room - an old chair, old tables piled with books, a forte- piano, a chamber-pot on the floor - as the Valet and the Cook struggle to lift their old Master, and bind his bleeding throat with a napkin. INT. BALLROOM - NIGHT Twenty-five dancing couples, fifty guests, ten servants, full orchestra. As the music slows a little, we see a Masquerade Ball in progress. A crowded room of dancers is executing the slow portion of a dance fashionable in the early 1820’s. EXT. STREET OUTSIDE SALIERI’S HOUSE - NIGHT As the fast music returns, we see Old Salieri being carried out of his house on a stretcher by two attendants, and placed in a horse-drawn wagon under the supervision of a middle- aged doctor in a tall hat. This is DOCTOR GULDEN. He gets in beside his patient. The driver whips up the horse, and the wagon dashes off through the still-falling snow. MONTAGE: EXT. FOUR STREETS OF VIENNA AND INT. THE WAGON - NIGHT The wagon is galloping through the snowy streets of the city. Inside the conveyance we see Old Salieri wrapped in blankets, half-conscious, being held by the hospital attendants. Doctor Gulden stares at him grimly. The wagon arrives outside the General Hospital of Vienna. CUT TO: INT. A HOSPITAL CORRIDOR - LATE AFTERNOON A wide, white-washed corridor. Doctor Gulden is walking down it with a priest, a man of about forty, concerned, but somewhat self-important. This is Father VOGLER, Chaplain at the hospital. In the corridor as they walk, we note several patients -- some of them visibly disturbed mentally. All patients wear white linen smocks. Doctor Gulden wears a dark frock-coat; Vogler, a cassock. DOCTOR GULDEN He’s going to live. It’s much harder to cut your throat than most people imagine. They stop outside a door. DOCTOR GULDEN Here we are. Do you wish me to come in with you? VOGLER No, Doctor. Thank you. Vogler nods and opens the door. INT. OLD SALIERI’S HOSPITAL ROOM - LATE AFTERNOON A bare room - one of the best available in the General Hospital. It contains a bed, a table with candles, chairs, a small forte-piano of the early nineteenth century. As Vogler enters, Old Salieri is sitting in a wheel-chair, looking out the window. His back is to us. The priest closes the door quietly behind him. VOGLER Herr Salieri? Old Salieri turns around to look at him. We see that his throat is bandaged expertly. He wears hospital garb, and over it the Civilian Medal and Chain with which we will later see the EMPEROR invest him. OLD SALIERI What do you want? VOGLER I am Father Vogler. I am a Chaplain here. I thought you might like to talk to someone. OLD SALIERI About what? VOGLER You tried to take your life. You do remember that, don’t you? OLD SALIERI So? VOGLER In the sight of God that is a sin. OLD SALIERI What do you want? VOGLER Do you understand that you have sinned? Gravely. OLD SALIERI Leave me alone. VOGLER I cannot leave alone a soul in pain. OLD SALIERI Do you know who I am? You never heard of me, did you? VOGLER That makes no difference. All men are equal in God’s eyes. OLD SALIERI Are they? VOGLER Offer me your confession. I can offer you God’s forgiveness. OLD SALIERI I do not seek forgiveness. VOGLER My son, there is something dreadful on your soul. Unburden it to me. I’m here only for you. Please talk to me. OLD SALIERI How well are you trained in music? VOGLER I know a little. I studied it in my youth. OLD SALIERI Where? VOGLER Here in Vienna. OLD SALIERI Then you must know this. He propels his wheelchair to the forte-piano, and plays an unrecognizable melody. VOGLER I can’t say I do. What is it? OLD SALIERI I’m surprised you don’t know. It was a very popular tune in its day. I wrote it. How about this? He plays another tune. OLD SALIERI This one brought down the house when we played it first. He plays it with growing enthusiasm. CUT TO: INT. THE STAGE OF AN OPERA HOUSE - NIGHT - 1780’S We see the pretty soprano KATHERINA CAVALIERI, now about twenty-four, dressed in an elaborate mythological Persian costume, singing on stage. She’s near the end of a very florid aria by Salieri. The audience applauds wildly. INT. OLD SALIERI’S HOSPITAL ROOM - LATE AFTERNOON - 1823 OLD SALIERI (taking his hands off the keys) Well? VOGLER I regret it is not too familiar. OLD SALIERI Can you recall no melody of mine? I was the most famous composer in Europe when you were still a boy. I wrote forty operas alone. What about this little thing? Slyly he plays the opening measure of Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. The priest nods, smiling suddenly, and hums a little with the music. VOGLER Oh, I know that! That’s charming! I didn’t know you wrote that. OLD SALIERI I didn’t. That was Mozart. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. You know who that is? VOGLER Of course. The man you accuse yourself of killing. OLD SALIERI Ah - you’ve heard that? VOGLER All Vienna has heard that. OLD SALIERI ( eagerly) And do they believe it? VOGLER Is it true? OLD SALIERI Do you believe it? VOGLER Should I? A very long pause. Salieri stares above the priest, seemingly lost in his own private world. VOGLER For God’s sake, my son, if you have anything to confess, do it now! Give yourself some peace! A further pause. VOGLER Do you hear me? OLD SALIERI He was murdered, Father! Mozart! Cruelly murdered. Pause. VOGLER (almost whispering) Yes? Did you do it? Suddenly Old Salieri turns to him, a look of extreme innocence. OLD SALIERI He was my idol! I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know his name! When I was only fourteen he was already famous. Even in Legnago - the tiniest town in Italy - I knew of him. CUT TO: EXT. A SMALL TOWN SQUARE IN LOMBARDY, ITALY - DAY - 1780’S There are twelve children and twenty adults in the square. We see the fourteen-year-old Salieri blindfolded, playing a game of Blindman’s Bluff with other Italian children, running about in the bright sunshine and laughing. OLD SALIERI (V.O.) I was still playing childish games when he was playing music for kings and emperors. Even the Pope in Rome! CUT TO: INT. A SALON IN THE VATICAN - DAY - 1780’S We see the six-year-old MOZART, also blindfolded, seated in a gilded chair on a pile of books, playing the harpsichord for the POPE and a suite of CARDINALS and other churchmen. Beside the little boy stands LEOPOLD, his father, smirking with pride. OLD SALIERI (V.O.) I admit I was jealous when I heard the tales they told about him. Not of the brilliant little prodigy himself, but of his father, who had taught him everything. The piece finishes. Leopold lowers the lid of the harpsichord and lifts up his little son to stand on it. Mozart removes the blindfold to show a pale little face with staring eyes. Both father and son bow. A Papal Chamberlain presents Leopold with a gold snuff box whilst the cardinals decorously applaud. Over this scene Old Salieri speaks. OLD SALIERI (V.O.) My father did not care for music. He wanted me only to be a merchant, like himself. As anonymous as he was. When I told how I wished I could be like Mozart, he would say, Why? Do you want to be a trained monkey? Would you like me to drag you around Europe doing tricks like a circus freak? How could I tell him what music meant to me? CUT TO: EXT. A COUNTRY CHURCH IN NORTH ITALY - DAY - 1780’S Serene music of the Italian Baroque - Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater - sung by a choir of boys with organ accompaniment. We see the outside of the 17th-century church sitting in the wide landscape of Lombardy: sunlit fields, a dusty, white road, poplar trees. INT. THE CHURCH AT LEGNAGO - DAY - 1780’S The music continues and swells. We see the twelve-year-old Salieri seated between his plump and placid parents in the congregation, listening in rapture. His father is a heavy- looking, self-approving man, obviously indifferent to the music. A large and austere Christ on the cross hangs over the altar. Candles burn below his image. OLD SALIERI (V.O.) Even then a spray of sounded notes could make me dizzy, almost to falling. The boy falls forward on his knees. So do his parents and the other members of the congregation. He stares up at Christ who stares back at him. OLD SALIERI (V.O.) Whilst my father prayed earnestly to God to protect commerce, I would offer up secretly the proudest prayer a boy could think of. Lord, make me a great composer! Let me celebrate your glory through music - and be celebrated myself! Make me famous through the world, dear God! Make me immortal! After I die let people speak my name forever with love for what I wrote! In return I vow I will give you my chastity - my industry, my deepest humility, every hour of my life. And I will help my fellow man all I can. Amen and amen! The music swells to a crescendo. The candles flare. We see the Christ through the flames looking at the boy benignly. OLD SALIERI (V.O.) And do you know what happened? A miracle! INT. DINING ROOM IN THE SALIERI HOUSE - DAY - 1780’S CU, a large cooked fish on a thick china plate. Camera pulls back to show the Salieri family at dinner. Father Salieri sits at the head of the table, a napkin tucked into his chin. Mother Salieri is serving the fish into portions and handing them round. Two maiden aunts are in attendance, wearing black, and of course the young boy. Father Salieri receives his plate of fish and starts to eat greedily. Suddenly there is a gasp - he starts to choke violently on a fish bone. All the women get up and crowd around him, thumping and pummeling him, but it is in vain. Father Salieri collapses. INT. OLD SALIERI’S HOSPITAL ROOM - LATE AFTERNOON - 1823 OLD SALIERI Suddenly he was dead. Just like that! And my life changed forever. My mother said, Go. Study music if you really want to. Off with you! And off I went as quick as I could and never saw Italy again. Of course, I knew God had arranged it all; that was obvious. One moment I was a frustrated boy in an obscure little town. The next I was here, in Vienna, city of musicians, sixteen years old and studying under Gluck! Gluck, Father. Do you know who he was? The greatest composer of his time. And he loved me! That was the wonder. He taught me everything he knew. And when I was ready, introduced me personally to the Emperor! Emperor Joseph - the musical king! Within a few years I was his court composer. Wasn’t that incredible? Imperial Composer to His Majesty! Actually the man had no ear at all, but what did it matter? He adored my music, that was enough. Night after night I sat right next to the Emperor of Austria, playing duets with him, correcting the royal sight-reading. Tell me, if you had been me, wouldn’t you have thought God had accepted your vow? And believe me, I honoured it. I was a model of virtue. I kept my hands off women, worked hours every day teaching students, many of them for free, sitting on endless committees to help poor musicians - work and work and work, that was all my life. And it was wonderful! Everybody liked me. I liked myself. I was the most successful musician in Vienna. And the happiest. Till he came. Mozart. CUT TO: INT. THE ARCHBISHOP OF SALZBURG’S RESIDENCE - VIENNA - DAY - 1780’S A grand room crowded with guests. A small group of Gypsy musicians is playing in the background. Thirteen members of the Archbishop’s orchestra - all wind players, complete with 18th-century wind instruments: elaborate-looking bassoons, basset horns, etc. and wearing their employer’s livery - are laying out music on stands at one end of the room. At the other end is a large gilded chair, bearing the arms of the ARCHBISHOP OF SALZBURG. A throng of people is standing, talking, and preparing to sit upon the rows of waiting chairs to hear a concert. OLD SALIERI (V.O.) One day he came to Vienna to play some of his music at the residence of his employer, the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg. Eagerly I went there to seek him out. That night changed my life. We see Salieri, age thirty-one, a neat, carefully turned-cut man in decent black clothes and clean white linen, walking through the crowd of guests. We follow him. OLD SALIERI (V.O.) As I went through the salon, I played a game with myself. This man had written his first concerto at the age of four; his first symphony at seven; a full-scale opera at twelve. Did it show? Is talent like that written on the face? We see shots of assorted young men staring back at Salieri as he moves through the crowd. OLD SALIERI (V.O.) Which one of them could he be? Some of the men recognize Salieri and bow respectfully. Then suddenly a servant bearing a large tray of cakes and pastries stalks past. Instantly riveted by the sight of such delights, Salieri follows him out of the Grand Salon. INT. A PALACE CORRIDOR - DAY - 1780’S The servant marches along bearing his tray of pastries aloft. Salieri follows him. The servant turns into: INT. BUFFET ROOM IN THE PALACE - DAY - 1780’S Salieri’s POV: several tables, dressed to the floor with cloths are loaded with many plates of confectionery. It is, in fact, Salieri’s idea of paradise! The servant puts his tray down on one of the tables and withdraws from the room. INT. A PALACE CORRIDOR - DAY - 1780’S Salieri turns away so as not to be noticed by the servant. As soon as the man disappears, Salieri sneaks into the buffet room. INT. BUFFET ROOM IN THE PALACE - DAY - 1780’S Salieri enters the room and looks about him cautiously. He is salivating with anticipation as he stares at the feast of sweet things. His attention is attracted in particular by a huge pile of dark chocolate balls arranged in the shape of a pineapple. He reaches out a hand to steal one of the balls, but at the same moment he hears giggling coming toward him. He ducks down behind the pastry table. A girl - CONSTANZE - rushes into the room. She runs straight across it and hides herself behind one of the tables. After a beat of total silence, MOZART runs into the room, stops, and looks around. He is age twenty-six, wearing a fine wig and a brilliant coat with the insignia of the Archbishop of Salzburg upon it. He is puzzled; Constanze has disappeared. Baffled, he turns and is about to leave the room, when Constanze suddenly squeaks from under the cloth like a tiny mouse. Instantly Mozart drops to all fours and starts crawling across the floor, meowing and hissing like a naughty cat. Watched by an astonished Salieri, Mozart disappears under the cloth and obviously pounces upon Constanze. We hear a high-pitched giggle, which is going to characterize Mozart throughout the film. CUT TO: INT. PALACE GRAND SALON - DAY - 1780’S The throng is mostly seated. The musicians are in their places, holding their various exotic-looking wind instruments; the candles are all lit. A Majordomo appears and bangs his staff on the floor for attention. Immediately COLLOREDO, Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg enters. He is a small self- important figure of fifty in a wig, surmounted by a scarlet skullcap. He is followed by his Chamberlain, the Count ARCO. Everyone stands. The Archbishop goes to his throne and sits. His guests sit also. Arco gives the signal to start the music. Nothing happens. Instead, a wind musician gets up, approaches the Chamberlain and whispers in his ear. Arco in turn whispers to the Archbishop. ARCO Mozart is not here. COLLOREDO Where is he? ARCO They’re looking for him, Your Grace. INT. A PALACE CORRIDOR - DAY - 1780’S Three servants are opening doors and looking into rooms going off the corridor. CUT TO: INT. PALACE GRAND SALON - DAY - 1780’S The guests are turning around and looking at the Archbishop. The musicians are watching. There is puzzlement and a murmur of comment. The Archbishop tightens his lip. COLLOREDO (to Arco) We’ll start without him. INT. PALACE BUFFET ROOM - DAY - 1780’S Mozart is on his knees before the tablecloth, which reaches to the floor. Under it is Constanze. We hear her giggling as he talks. MOZART Miaouw! Miaouw! Mouse-wouse? It’s Puss-wuss, fangs-wangs. Paws-claws. Pounce-bounce! He grabs her ankle. She screams. He pulls her out by her leg. CONSTANZE Stop it. Stop it! They roll on the floor. He tickles her. CONSTANZE Stop it! MOZART I am! I am! I’m stopping it - slowly. You see! Look, I’ve stopped. Now we are going back. He tries to drag her back under the table. CONSTANZE No! No! No! MOZART Yes! Back! Back! Listen - don’t you know where you are? CONSTANZE Where? MOZART We are in the Residence of the Fartsbishop of Salzburg. CONSTANZE Fartsbishop! She laughs delightedly, then addresses an imaginary Archbishop. CONSTANZE Your Grace, I’ve got something to tell you. I want to complain about this man. MOZART Go ahead, tell him. Tell them all. They won’t understand you anyway. CONSTANZE Why not? MOZART Because here everything goes backwards. People walk backwards, dance backwards, sing backwards, and talk backwards. CONSTANZE That’s stupid. MOZART Why? People fart backwards. CONSTANZE Do you think that’s funny? MOZART Yes, I think it’s brilliant. You’ve been doing it for years. He gives a high pitched giggle. CONSTANZE Oh, ha, ha, ha. MOZART Sra-I’m-sick! Sra-I’m sick! CONSTANZE Yes, you are. You’re very sick. MOZART No, no. Say it backwards, shit-wit. Sra-I’m-sick Say it backwards! CONSTANZE (working it out) Sra-I’m-sick. Sick - kiss I’m - my Kiss my! Sra-I’m-sick - Kiss my arse! MOZART Em iram! Em iram! CONSTANZE No, I’m not playing this game. MOZART No, this is serious. Say it backwards. CONSTANZE No! MOZART Just say it - you’ll see. It’s very serious. Em iram! Em iram! CONSTANZE Iram - marry Em - marry me! No, no! You’re a fiend. I’m not going to marry a fiend. A dirty fiend at that. MOZART Ui-vol-i-tub! CONSTANZE Tub - but i-tub - but I vol - love but I love ui - You. I love you! The mood becomes suddenly softer. She kisses him. They embrace. Then he spoils it. MOZART Tish-I’m tee. What’s that? CONSTANZE What? MOZART Tish-I’m-tee. CONSTANZE Eat MOZART Yes. CONSTANZE Eat my - ah! Shocked, she strikes at him. At the same moment the music starts in the salon next door. We hear the opening of the Serenade for Thirteen Wind Instruments, K. MOZART My music! They’ve started! They’ve started without me! He leaps up, disheveled and rumpled and runs out of the room. Salieri watches in amazement and disgust. CUT TO: INT. PALACE CORRIDOR - DAY - 1780’S The music is louder. Mozart hastens towards the Grand Salon away from the buffet room, adjusting his dress as he goes. INT. GRAND SALON - DAY - 1780’S The opening of the Serenade is being tentatively conducted by the leader of the wind-musicians. Guests turn around as Mozart appears - bowing to the Archbishop - and walks with an attempt at dignity to the dais where the wind band is playing. The leader yields his place to the composer and Mozart smoothly takes over conducting. Constanze, deeply embarrassed, sneaks into the room and seats herself at the back. INT. PALACE BUFFET ROOM - DAY - 1780’S The music fades down. Salieri stands shocked from his inadvertent eavesdropping. After a second he moves almost in a trance toward the door; the music dissolves. INT. GRAND SALON - DAY - 1780’S Mozart is conducting the Adagio from his Serenade (K. 361), guiding the thirteen wind instrumentalists. The squeezebox opening of the movement begins. Salieri appears at the door at the back of the salon. He stares in disbelief at Mozart. OLD SALIERI (V.O.) So that was he! That giggling, dirty- minded creature I’d just seen crawling on the floor. Mozart. The phenomenon whose legend had haunted my youth. Impossible. The music swells up and Salieri listens to it with eyes closed - amazed, transported - suddenly engulfed by the sound. Finally it fades down and away and changes into applause. Salieri opens his eyes. The audience is clearly delighted. Mozart bows to them, also delighted. Colloredo rises abruptly, and without looking at Mozart or applauding and leaves the Salon. Count Arco approaches the composer. Mozart turns to him, radiant. ARCO Follow me, please. The Archbishop would like a word. MOZART Certainly! He follows Arco out of the room, through a throng of admirers. INT. ANOTHER PALACE CORRIDOR - DAY - 1780’S Mozart and Arco walk side by side. They pass Salieri who is staring at Mozart in fascination. As they disappear, he steals toward the music stands, unable to help himself. MOZART Well, I think that went off remarkably well, don’t you? ARCO Indeed. MOZART These Viennese certainly know good music when they hear it. ARCO His Grace is very angry with you. MOZART What do you mean? They arrive at the door of Colloredo’s private apartment. ARCO You are to come in here and ask his pardon. Arco opens the door. INT. ARCHBISHOP’S PRIVATE ROOM - DAY - 1780’S The Archbishop is sitting, chatting to quests. Among them are several ladies. Arco approaches him obsequiously. ARCO Your Grace. COLLOREDO Ah, Mozart. Why? MOZART Why what, sir? COLLOREDO Why do I have to be humiliated in front of my guests by one of my own servants? MOZART Humiliated? COLLOREDO How much provocation am I to endure from you? The more license I allow you, the more you take. The company watches this scene, deeply interested. MOZART If His Grace is not satisfied with me, he can dismiss me. COLLOREDO I wish you to return immediately to Salzburg. Your father is waiting for you there patiently. I will speak to you further when I come. MOZART No, Your Grace! I mean with all humility, no. I would rather you dismissed me. It’s obvious I don’t satisfy. COLLOREDO Then try harder, Mozart. I have no intention of dismissing you. You will remain in my service and learn your place. Go now. He extends his hand to be kissed. Mozart does it with a furious grace, then leaves the room. As he opens the door we see: INT. PALACE CORRIDOR - DAY - 1780’S A group of people who have attended the concert, among them Constanze, are standing outside the private apartment. At sight of the composer they break into sustained applause. Mozart is suddenly delighted. He throws the door wide open so that the guests can see into the private apartment where the Archbishop sits - and he can see them. Colloredo is clearly discomfited by this reception of his employee. He smiles and bows uneasily, as they include him in the small ovation. Mozart stands in the corridor, out of the Archbishop’s line of sight, bowing and giggling, and encouraging the applause for the Archbishop with conducting gestures. Suddenly irritated, Colloredo signs to Arco, who steps forward and shuts the door, ending the applause. INT. PALACE GRAND SALON - DAY - 1780’S Salieri, in this vast room, is standing and looking at the full score of the Serenade. He turns the pages back to the slow movement. Instantly, we again hear its lyrical strains. CU, Salieri, reading the score of the Adagio in helpless fascination. The music is played against his description of it. OLD SALIERI (V.O.) Extraordinary! On the page it looked nothing. The beginning simple, almost comic. Just a pulse - bassoons and basset horns - like a rusty squeezebox. Then suddenly - high above it - an oboe, a single note, hanging there unwavering, till a clarinet took over and sweetened it into a phrase of such delight! This was no composition by a performing monkey! This was a music I’d never heard. Filled with such longing, such unfulfillable longing, it had me trembling. It seemed to me that I was hearing a voice of God. Suddenly the music snaps off. Mozart stands before him as he lays down the score. MOZART Excuse me! He takes the score, bows, and struts briskly out of the room. Salieri stares uncomprehendingly after the jaunty little figure. OLD SALIERI (V.O.) But why? INT. OLD SALIERI’S HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT - 1823 OLD SALIERI Why? Would God choose an obscene child to be His instrument? It was not to be believed! This piece had to be an accident. It had to be! INT. PALACE DINING ROOM - DAY - 1780’S At the table sits the EMPEROR JOSEPH II, eating his frugal dinner and sipping goat’s milk. He is an intelligent, dapper man of forty, wearing a military uniform. Around him but standing, are his Chamberlain, JOHANN VON STRACK: stiff and highly correct. COUNT ORSINI-ROSENBERG: a corpulent man of sixty, highly conscious of his position as Director of the Opera. BARON VON SWIETEN, the Imperial Librarian: a grave but kindly and educated man in his mid-fifties. FIRST KAPELLMEISTER GIUSEPPE BONNO: very Italian, cringing and time-serving, aged about seventy. And Salieri, wearing decorous black, as usual. At a side-table, two Imperial secretaries, using quill pens and inkstands, write down everything of importance that is said. JOSEPH How good is he, this Mozart? VON SWIETEN He’s remarkable, Majesty. I heard an extraordinary serious opera of his last month. Idomeneo, King of Crete. ORSINI-ROSENBERG That? A most tiresome piece. I heard it, too. VON SWIETEN Tiresome? ORSINI-ROSENBERG A young man trying to impress beyond his abilities. Too much spice. Too many notes. VON SWIETEN Majesty, I thought it the most promising work I’ve heard in years. JOSEPH Ah-ha. Well then, we should make some effort to acquire him. We could use a good German composer in Vienna, surely? VON STRACK I agree, Majesty, but I’m afraid it’s not possible. The young man is still in the pay of the Archbishop. JOSEPH Very small pay, I imagine. I’m sure he could be tempted with the right offer. Say, an opera in German for our National Theatre. VON SWIETEN Excellent, sire! ORSINI-ROSENBERG But not German, I beg your Majesty! Italian is the proper language for opera. All educated people agree on that. JOSEPH Ah-ha. What do you say, Chamberlain? VON STRACK In my opinion, it is time we had a piece in our own language, sir. Plain German. For plain people. He looks defiantly at Orsini-Rosenberg. JOSEPH Ah-ha. Kapellmeister? BONNO (Italian accent) Majesty, I must agree with Herr Dirretore. Opera is an Italian art, solamente. German is - scusate - too bruta for singing, too rough. JOSEPH Ah-ha. Court Composer, what do you say? SALIERI I think it is an interesting notion to keep Mozart in Vienna, Majesty. It should really infuriate the Archbishop beyond measure - if that is your Majesty’s intention. JOSEPH You are cattivo, Court Composer. (briskly, to Von Strack) I want to meet this young man. Chamberlain, arrange a pleasant welcome for him. VON STRACK Yes, sir. JOSEPH Well. There it is. INT. BEDROOM IN SALIERI’S APARTMENT - DAY - 1780’S A somber room which serves both as a bedroom and a study. We see a four-poster bed. Also, a marble mantelpiece above which hangs a handsome cross in olivewood, bearing the figure of a severe Christ. Opposite this image sits Salieri at his desk, on which stands a pile of music paper, quill pens and ink. On one side of him is an open forte-piano on which he occasionally tries notes from the march he is composing, with some difficulty. He scratches notes out with his quill, and ruffles his hair - which we see without a powdered wig. There is a knock at the door. SALIERI Si. A servant admits LORL, a young lower-class girl, who appears carrying a basket in which is a box covered with a napkin. She has just come from the baker’s shop. SALIERI Ah! Here she comes. Fraulein Lorl, good morning. LORL Good morning, sir. SALIERI What have you got for me today? Let me see. Greedily he unwraps the napkin and lifts the lid on the box. SALIERI Ah-ha! Siena macaroons - my favourites. Give my best thanks to the baker. LORL I will, sir. He takes a biscuit and eats. SALIERI Thank you. Are you well today, Fraulein Lorl? LORL Yes, thank you, sir. SALIERI Bene! Bene! She gives a little curtsey, flattered and giggling and is shown out. Salieri turns back to his work, chewing. He plays through a complete line of the march. He smiles, pleased with the result. SALIERI Grazie, Signore. He inclines his head to the Christ above the fireplace, and starts to play the whole march, including the phrase which pleased him. INT. A WIGMAKER’S SHOP - VIENNA - DAY - 1780’S The march continues on the forte-piano as we see Mozart, seated in front of a mirror, wearing an extravagant wig. On either side of him stands a SALESMAN, one of them holding another wig, equally extravagant. Mozart takes off the first wig, to reveal his own blonde hair, of which he is extremely proud, and hands it back. MOZART And the other one? The Salesman puts the second wig on his head. Mozart pulls a face of doubt in the mirror. MOZART And the other one? He takes it off and the other Salesman replaces it with the first wig on his head. MOZART Oh, they’re both so beautiful, I can’t decide. Why don’t I have two heads? He giggles. The music stops. INT. GRAND SALON - THE ROYAL PALACE - DAY - 1780’S A door opens. We glimpse in the next room the Emperor Joseph bidding goodbye to a group of military officers standing around a table. JOSEPH Good, good, good. He turns and comes into the salon, where another group awaits him. It consists of Von Strack, Orsini-Rosenberg, Bonno, Von Swieten and Salieri. The room contains several gilded chairs dotted about, and a forte-piano. JOSEPH Good morning, gentlemen. All bow and say, Good morning, Your Majesty! JOSEPH (to Von Strack) Well, what do you have for me today? VON STRACK Your Majesty, Herr Mozart - JOSEPH Yes, what about him? VON STRACK He’s here. JOSEPH Ah-ha. Well. There it is. Good. SALIERI Majesty, I hope you won’t think it improper, but I have written a little March of Welcome in his honour. He produces a paper. JOSEPH What a charming idea. May I see? SALIERI (handing it over) It’s just a trifle, of course. JOSEPH May I try it? SALIERI Majesty. The Emperor goes to the instrument, sits and plays the first bars of it. Quite well. JOSEPH Delightful, Court Composer. Would you permit me to play it as he comes in? SALIERI You do me too much honour, Sire. JOSEPH Let’s have some fun. (to the waiting Majordomo) Bring in Herr Mozart, please. But slowly, slowly. I need a minute to practice. The Majordomo bows and goes. The Emperor addresses himself to the march. He plays a wrong note. SALIERI A-flat, Majesty. JOSEPH Ah-ha! INT. PALACE CORRIDOR - VIENNA - DAY - 1780’S Taking his instructions literally, the Majordomo is marching very slowly toward the salon door. He is followed by a bewildered Mozart, dressed very stylishly and wearing one of the wigs from the perruqier. INT. ROYAL PALACE GRAND SALON - DAY - 1780’S Joseph finishes the march. The door opens. MAJORDOMO Herr Mozart. Mozart comes in eagerly. Immediately the march begins, played by His Majesty. All the courtiers stand, listening with admiration. Joseph plays well, but applies himself fiercely to the manuscript. Mozart, still bewildered, regards the scene, but does not seem to pay attention to the music itself. It finishes and all clap obsequiously. ORSINI-ROSENBERG Bravo, Your Majesty! VON STRACK Well done, Sire! The Emperor rises, pleased with himself. He snatches the manuscript off the stand and holds it in his hand for the rest of the scene. JOSEPH Gentlemen, gentlemen, a little less enthusiasm, I beg you. Ah, Mozart. He extends his hand. Mozart throws himself to his knees, and to Joseph’s discomfort kisses the royal hand with fervour. MOZART Your Majesty! JOSEPH No, no, please! It is not a holy relic. (raising Mozart up) You know we have met already? In this very room. Perhaps you won’t remember it, you were only six years old. (to the others) He was giving the most brilliant little concert here. As he got off the stool, he slipped and fell. My sister Antoinette helped him up herself, and do you know what he did? Jumped straight into her arms and said, Will you marry me, yes or no? Embarrassed, Mozart bursts into a wild giggle. Joseph helps him out. JOSEPH You know all these gentlemen, I’m sure. Von Strack and Bonno nod. JOSEPH The Baron Von Swieten. VON SWIETEN I’m a great admirer of yours, young man. Welcome. MOZART Oh, thank you. JOSEPH The Director of our Opera. Count Orsini-Rosenberg. MOZART (bowing excitedly) Oh sir, yes! The honour is mine. Absolutely. Orsini-Rosenberg nods without enthusiasm. JOSEPH And here is our illustrious Court Composer, Herr Salieri. SALIERI (taking his hand) Finally! Such an immense joy. Diletto straordinario! MOZART I know your work well, Signore. Do you know I actually composed some variations on a melody of yours? SALIERI Really? MOZART Mio caro Adone. SALIERI Ah! MOZART A funny little tune, but it yielded some good things. JOSEPH And now he has returned the compliment. Herr Salieri composed that March of Welcome for you. MOZART (speaking expertly) Really? Oh, grazie, Signore! Sono commosso! E un onore per mo eccezionale. Compositore brilliante e famossissimo! He bows elaborately. Salieri inclines himself, dryly. SALIERI My pleasure. JOSEPH Well, there it is. Now to business. Young man, we are going to commission an opera from you. What do you say? MOZART Majesty! JOSEPH (to the courtiers) Did we vote in the end for German or Italian? ORSINI-ROSENBERG Well, actually, Sire, if you remember, we did finally incline to Italian. VON STRACK Did we? VON SWIETEN I don’t think it was really decided, Director. MOZART Oh, German! German! Please let it be German. JOSEPH Why so? MOZART Because I’ve already found the most wonderful libretto! ORSINI-ROSENBERG Oh? Have I seen it? MOZART I - I don’t think you have, Herr Director. Not yet. I mean, it’s quite n - Of course, I’ll show it to you immediately. ORSINI-ROSENBERG I think you’d better. JOSEPH Well, what is it about? Tell us the story. MOZART It’s actually quite amusing, Majesty. It’s set - the whole thing is set in a - in a - He stops short with a little giggle. JOSEPH Yes, where? MOZART In a Pasha’s Harem, Majesty. A Seraglio. JOSEPH Ah-ha. ORSINI-ROSENBERG You mean in Turkey? MOZART Exactly. ORSINI-ROSENBERG Then why especially does it have to be in German? MOZART Well not especially. It can be in Turkish, if you really want. I don’t care. He giggles again. Orsini-Rosenberg looks at him sourly. VON SWIETEN (kindly) My dear fellow, the language is not finally the point. Do you really think that subject is quite appropriate for a national theatre? MOZART Why not? It’s charming. I mean, I don’t actually show concubines exposing their! their! It’s not indecent! (to Joseph) It’s highly moral, Majesty. It’s full of proper German virtues. I swear it. Absolutely! JOSEPH Well, I’m glad to hear that. SALIERI Excuse me, Sire, but what do you think these could be? Being a foreigner, I would love to learn. JOSEPH Cattivo again, Court Composer. Well, tell him, Mozart. Name us a German virtue. MOZART Love, Sire! SALIERI Ah, love! Well of course in Italy we know nothing about that. The Italian faction - Orsini-Rosenberg and Bonno - laugh discreetly. MOZART No, I don’t think you do. I mean watching Italian opera, all those male sopranos screeching. Stupid fat couples rolling their eyes about! That’s not love - it’s just rubbish. An embarrassed pause. Bonno giggles in nervous amusement. MOZART Majesty, you choose the language. It will be my task to set it to the finest music ever offered a monarch. Pause. Joseph is clearly pleased. JOSEPH Well, there it is. Let it be German. He nods - he has wanted this result all the time. He turns and makes for the door. All bow. Then he becomes aware of the manuscript in his hand. JOSEPH Ah, this is yours. Mozart does not take it. MOZART Keep it, Sire, if you want to. It is already here in my head. JOSEPH What? On one hearing only? MOZART I think so, Sire, yes. Pause. JOSEPH Show me. Mozart bows and hands the manuscript back to the Emperor. Then he goes to the forte-piano and seats himself. The others, except for Salieri, gather around the manuscript held by the King. Mozart plays the first half of the march with deadly accuracy. MOZART (to Salieri) The rest is just the same, isn’t it? He plays the first half again but stops in the middle of a phrase, which he repeats dubiously. MOZART That really doesn’t work, does it? All the courtiers look at Salieri. MOZART Did you try this? Wouldn’t it be just a little more -? He plays another phrase. MOZART Or this - yes, this! Better. He plays another phrase. Gradually, he alters the music so that it turns into the celebrated march to be used later in The Marriage of Figaro, Non Piu Andrai. He plays it with increasing abandon and virtuosity. Salieri watches with a fixed smile on his face. The court watches, astonished. He finishes in great glory, takes his hands off the keys with a gesture of triumph - and grins. INT. BEDROOM IN SALIERI’S APARTMENT - DAY - 1780’S We see the olivewood cross. Salieri is sitting at his desk, staring at it. SALIERI Grazie, Signore. There is a knock at the door. He does not hear it, but sits on. Another knock, louder. SALIERI Yes? Lorl comes in. LORL Madame Cavalieri is here for her lesson, sir. SALIERI Bene. He gets up and enters: INT. MUSIC ROOM IN SALIERI’S APARTMENT - DAY - 1780’S KATHERINA CAVALIERI, a young, high-spirited soprano of twenty is waiting for him, dressed in a fashionable dress and wearing on her head an exotic turban of satin, with a feather. Lorl exits. CAVALIERI (curtseying to him) Maestro. SALIERI Good morning. CAVALIERI (posing, in her turban) Well? How do you like it? It’s Turkish. My hairdresser tells me everything’s going to be Turkish this year! SALIERI Really? What else did he tell you today? Give me some gossip. CAVALIERI Well, I heard you met Herr Mozart. SALIERI Oh? News travels fast in Vienna. CAVALIERI And he’s been commissioned to write an opera. Is it true? SALIERI Yes. CAVALIERI Is there a part for me? SALIERI No. CAVALIERI How do you know? SALIERI Well even if there is, I don’t think you want to get involved with this one. CAVALIERI Why not? SALIERI Well, do you know where it’s set, my dear? CAVALIERI Where? SALIERI In a harem. CAVALIERI What’s that? SALIERI A brothel. CAVALIERI Oh! SALIERI A Turkish brothel. CAVALIERI Turkish? Oh, if it’s Turkish, that’s different. I want to be in it. SALIERI My dear, it will hardly enhance your reputation to be celebrated throughout Vienna as a singing prostitute for a Turk. He seats himself at the forte-piano. CAVALIERI Oh. Well perhaps you could introduce us anyway. SALIERI Perhaps. He plays a chord. She sings a scale, expertly. He strikes another chord. She starts another scale, then breaks off. CAVALIERI What does he look like? SALIERI You might be disappointed. CAVALIERI Why? SALIERI Looks and talent don’t always go together, Katherina. CAVALIERI (airily) Looks don’t concern me, Maestro. Only talent interests a woman of taste. He strikes the chord again, firmly. Cavalieri sings her next scale, then another one, and another one, doing her exercises in earnest. As she hits a sustained high note the orchestral accompaniment in the middle of Martern Aller Arten from Il Seraglio comes in underneath and the music changes from exercises to the exceedingly florid aria. We DISSOLVE on the singer’s face, and she is suddenly not merely turbaned, but painted and dressed totally in a Turkish manner, and we are on: INT. OPERA STAGE - VIENNA - 1780’S The heroine of the opera (Cavalieri) is in full cry addressing the Pasha with scorn and defiance. The house is full. Watching the performance - which is conducted by Mozart from the clavier in the midst of the orchestra - we note Von Strack, Orsini-Rosenberg, Bonno and Von Swieten, all grouped around the Emperor, in a box. In another box we see an overdressed, middle-aged woman and three girls, one of whom is Constanze. This is the formidable MADAME WEBER and her three daughters, Constanze, JOSEFA and SOPHIE. All are enraptured by the spectacle and Madame Weber is especially enraptured by being there at all. Not so, Salieri, who sits in another box, coldly watching the stage. Cavalieri is singing Martern aller Arten from the line Doch du bist entschlossen. CAVALIERI Since you are determined, Since you are determined, Calmly, with no ferment, Welcome - every pain and woe. Bind me then - compel me! Bind me then - compel me! Hurt me. Break me! Kill me! At last I shall be freed by death! After a few moments of this showy aria, with the composer and the singer staring at each other - he conducting elaborately for her benefit, and she following his beat with rapturous eyes - the music fades, and Salieri speaks over it. OLD SALIERI (V.O.) There she was. I had no idea where they met - or how - yet there she stood on stage for all to see. Showing off like the greedy songbird she was. Ten minutes of ghastly scales and arpeggios, whizzing up and down like fireworks at a fairground. Music up again for the last 30 bars of the aria. CAVALIERI (singing) Be freed at last by death! Be freed at last by death! At last I shall be freed By! Death! Before the orchestral coda ends, cut to: INT. OLD SALIERI’S HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT - 1823 Through the window we see that night has fallen. OLD SALIERI Understand, I was in love with the girl. Or at least in lust. I wasn’t a saint. It took me the most tremendous effort to be faithful to my vow. I swear to you I never laid a finger on her. All the same, I couldn’t bear to think of anyone else touching her - least of all the Creature. CUT BACK TO: INT. THE OPERA HOUSE - VIENNA - NIGHT - 1780’S The brilliant Turkish finale of Seraglio bursts over us. All the cast is lined up on stage. Mozart is conducting with happy excitement. CAST OF SERAGLIO (singing) Pasha Selim May he Live forever! Ever, ever, ever, ever! Honour to his regal name! Honour to his regal name! May his noble brow emblazon Glory, fortune, joy and fame! Honour be to Pasha Selim Honour to his regal name! Honour to his regal name! The curtains fall. Much applause. The Emperor claps vigorously and - following his lead - so do the courtiers. The curtains part. Mozart applauds the singers who applaud him back. He skips up onto the stage amongst them. The curtains fall again as they all bow. In the auditorium, the chandeliers descend, filling it with light. INT. OPERA HOUSE STAGE - VIENNA - NIGHT - 1780’S The curtains are down, and an excited hubbub of singers in costume surround Mozart and Cavalieri, all excited and chattering. Suddenly a hush. The Emperor is seen approaching from the wings, lit by flunkies holding candles. Von Strack, Orsini-Rosenberg and Von Swieten, amongst others, follow him. Also Salieri. The singers line up. Joseph stops at Cavalieri who makes a deep curtsey. JOSEPH Bravo, Madame. You are an ornament to our stage. CAVALIERI Majesty. JOSEPH (to Salieri) And to you, Court Composer. Your pupil has done you great credit. INT. BACKSTAGE CORRIDOR - VIENNA - NIGHT - 1780’S MADAME WEBER Let us pass, please! Let us pass at once! We’re with the Emperor. FLUNKY I am sorry, Madame. It is not permitted. MADAME WEBER Do you know who I am? (pointing to Constanze) This is my daughter. I am Frau Weber. We are favoured guests! FLUNKY I am sorry, Madame, but I have my orders. MADAME WEBER Call Herr Mozart! You call Herr Mozart immediately! This is insupportable! CONSTANZE Mother, please! MADAME WEBER Go ahead, Constanze. Just ignore this fellow. (pushing her) Go ahead, dear! FLUNKY (barring the way) I am sorry, Madame, but no! I cannot let anyone pass. MADAME WEBER Young man, I am no stranger to theatres. I’m no stranger to insolence! CUT BACK TO: INT. OPERA HOUSE STAGE - VIENNA - NIGHT - 1780’S All are applauding Cavalieri. The Emperor turns to Mozart. JOSEPH Well, Herr Mozart! A good effort. Decidedly that. An excellent effort! You’ve shown us something quite new today. Mozart bows frantically: he is over-excited. MOZART It is new, it is, isn’t it, Sire? JOSEPH Yes, indeed. MOZART And German? JOSEPH Oh, yes. Absolutely. German. Unquestionably! MOZART So then you like it? You really like it, Your Majesty? JOSEPH Of course I do. It’s very good. Of course now and then - just now and then - it gets a touch elaborate. MOZART What do you mean, Sire? JOSEPH Well, I mean occasionally it seems to have, how shall one say? (he stops in difficulty; to Orsini- Rosenberg) How shall one say, Director? ORSINI-ROSENBERG Too many notes, Your Majesty? JOSEPH Exactly. Very well put. Too many notes. MOZART I don’t understand. There are just as many notes, Majesty, as are required. Neither more nor less. JOSEPH My dear fellow, there are in fact only so many notes the ear can hear in the course of an evening. I think I’m right in saying that, aren’t I, Court Composer? SALIERI Yes! yes! er, on the whole, yes, Majesty. MOZART (to Salieri) But this is absurd! JOSEPH My dear, young man, don’t take it too hard. Your work is ingenious. It’s quality work. And there are simply too many notes, that’s all. Cut a few and it will be perfect. MOZART Which few did you have in mind, Majesty? Pause. General embarrassment. JOSEPH Well. There it is. Into this uncomfortable scene bursts a sudden eruption of noise and Madame Weber floods onto the stage, followed by her daughters. All turn to look at this amazing spectacle. MADAME WEBER Wolfi! Wolfi, my dear! She moves toward Mozart with arms outstretched in an absurd theatrical gesture, then sees the Emperor. She stares at him, mesmerized, her mouth open, unable even to curtsey. MADAME WEBER Oh! Mozart moves forward quickly. MOZART Majesty, this is Madame Weber. She is my landlady. JOSEPH Enchanted, Madame. MADAME WEBER Oh, Sire! such an honour! And, and, and these are my dear daughters. This is Constanze. She is the fiancee of Herr Mozart. Constanze curtsies. CU, of Cavalieri, astonished at the news. CU, of Salieri, watching her receive it. JOSEPH Really? How delightful. May I ask when you marry? MOZART Well - Well we haven’t quite received my father’s consent, Your Majesty. Not entirely. Not altogether. He giggles uncomfortably. JOSEPH Excuse me, but how old are you? MOZART Twenty-six. JOSEPH Well, my advice is to marry this charming young lady and stay with us in Vienna. MADAME WEBER You see? You see? I’ve told him that, Your Majesty, but he won’t listen to me. Cavalieri is glaring at Mozart. Mozart looks hastily away from her. MADAME WEBER Oh, Your Majesty, you give such wonderful - such impeccable - such royal advice. I - I - May I? She attempts to kiss the royal hand, but faints instead. The Emperor contemplates her prone body and steps back a pace. JOSEPH Well. There it is. Strack. He nods pleasantly to all and leaves the stage, with his Chamberlain. All bow. Cavalieri turns with a savage look at Mozart and leaves the stage the opposite way, to her dressing room, tossing her plumed head. Salieri watches. Mozart stays for a second, indecisive whether to follow the soprano or help Madame Weber. CONSTANZE (to Mozart) Get some water! He hurries away. The daughters gather around Madame Weber. INT. CAVALIERI’S DRESSING ROOM - NIGHT - 1780’S Katherina sits fuming at her mirror. A dresser is taking the pins out of her wig as she stares straight ahead of her. Mozart sticks his head round the door. MOZART Katherina! I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to write another aria for you. Something even more amazing for the second act. I have to get some water. Her mother is lying on the stage. CAVALIERI Don’t bother! MOZART What? CAVALIERI Don’t bother. MOZART I’ll be right back. He dashes off. INT. OPERA HOUSE STAGE - VIENNA - NIGHT - 1780’S Constanze and Mozart make their way quickly through a crowd of actors in turbans and caftans, and stagehands carrying bits of the dismantled set of Seraglio. We see all the turmoil of backstage after a performance. A fireman passes Mozart carrying a small bucket of water. Mozart snatches it from him and pushes his way through the crowd to Madame Weber, who still lies prone on the stage. Mozart pushes through the crowd surrounding her and throws water on her face. She is instantly revived by the shock. Constanze assists her to rise. CONSTANZE Are you all right? Instead of being furious, Madame Weber smiles at them rapturously. MADAME WEBER Ah, what an evening! What a wise man we have for an Emperor. Oh, my children! (with sudden, hard briskness) Now I want you to write your father exactly what His Majesty said. The activity continues to swirl around them. MOZART You should really go home now, Frau Weber. Your carriage must be waiting. MADAME WEBER But aren’t you taking us? MOZART I have to talk to the singers. MADAME WEBER That’s all right; we’ll wait for you. Just don’t take all night. INT. CAVALIERI’S DRESSING ROOM - NIGHT - 1780’S Cavalieri, still in costume, is marching up and down, very agitated. CAVALIERI Did you know? Had you heard? SALIERI What? CAVALIERI The marriage! SALIERI Well, what does it matter to you? CAVALIERI Nothing! He can marry who he pleases. I don’t give a damn. She catches him looking at her and tries to compose herself. CAVALIERI How was I? Tell me honestly. SALIERI You were sublime. CAVALIERI What did you think of the music? SALIERI Extremely clever. CAVALIERI Meaning you didn’t like it. Mozart comes in unexpectedly. MOZART Oh - excuse me! CAVALIERI Is her mother still lying on the floor? MOZART No, she’s fine. CAVALIERI I’m so relieved. She seats herself at her mirror and removes her wig. SALIERI Dear Mozart, my sincere congratulations. MOZART Did you like it, then? SALIERI How could I not? MOZART It really is the best music one can hear in Vienna today. Don’t you agree? CAVALIERI Is she a good fuck? MOZART What?? CAVALIERI I assume she’s the virtuoso in that department. There can’t be any other reason you’d marry someone like that. Salieri looks astonished. There is a knock on the door. CAVALIERI Come in! The door opens. Constanze enters. CONSTANZE Excuse me, Wolfi. Mama is not feeling very well. Can we leave now? MOZART Of course. CAVALIERI No, no, no, no. You can’t take him away now. This is his night. Won’t you introduce us, Wolfgang? MOZART Excuse us, Fraulein. Good night, Signore. Mozart hurries Constanze out of the door. Cavalieri looks after them as they go, her voice breaking and rising out of control. CAVALIERI You really are full of surprises, aren’t you? You are quite extraordinary, you little shit! She turns and collapses, crying with rage, into Salieri’s arms. We focus on him. OLD SALIERI (V.O.) At that moment I knew beyond any doubt. He’d had her. The Creature had had my darling girl. INT. OLD SALIERI’S HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT - 1820’S The old man speaks passionately to the priest. OLD SALIERI It was incomprehensible. What was God up to? Here I was denying all my natural lust in order to deserve God’s gift and there was Mozart indulging his in all directions - even though engaged to be married! - and no rebuke at all! Was it possible I was being tested? Was God expecting me to offer forgiveness in the face of every offense, no matter how painful? That was very possible. All the same, why him? Why use Mozart to teach me lessons in humility? My heart was filling up with such hatred for that little man. For the first time in my life I began to know really violent thoughts. I couldn’t stop them. VOGLER Did you try? OLD SALIERI Every day. Sometimes for hours I would pray! INT. SALIERI’S APARTMENT - BEDROOM - DAY - 1780’S The young Salieri is kneeling in desperation before the Cross. SALIERI Please! Please! Send him away, back to Salzburg. For his sake as well as mine. CU, Christ staring from the Cross. CUT BACK TO: INT. AUDIENCE HALL - ARCHBISHOP’S PALACE - SALZBURG - DAY - 1780’S We see Leopold kneeling now not to the Cross but to Archbishop Colloredo, sitting impassively on his throne. Count Arco stands beside him. Leopold is a desperate, once-handsome man of sixty, now far too much the subservient courtier. COLLOREDO No! I won’t have him back. LEOPOLD But he needs to be here in Salzburg, Your Grace. He needs me and he needs you. Your protection, your understanding. COLLOREDO Hardly. LEOPOLD Oh sir, yes! He’s about to make the worst mistake of his life. Some little Viennese slut is trying to trick him into marriage. I know my son. He is too simple to see the trap - and there is no one there who really cares for him. COLLOREDO I’m not surprised. Money seems to be more important to him than loyalty or friendship. He has sold himself to Vienna. Let Vienna look out for him. LEOPOLD Sir - COLLOREDO Your son is an unprincipled, spoiled, conceited brat. LEOPOLD Yes, sir, that’s the truth. But don’t blame him. The fault is mine. I was too indulgent with him. But not again. Never again, I promise! I implore you - let me bring him back here. I’ll make him give his word to serve you faithfully. COLLOREDO And how will you make him keep it? LEOPOLD Oh, sir, he’s never disobeyed me in anything. Please, Your Grace, give him one more chance. COLLOREDO You have leave to try. LEOPOLD Oh, Your Grace - I thank Your Grace! I thank you! In deepest gratitude he kisses the Archbishop’s hand. He motions Leopold to rise. We hear the first dark fortissimo chord which begins the Overture to Don Giovanni: the theme associated with the character of the Commendatore. LEOPOLD (V.O.) My dear son. The second fortissimo chord sounds. INT. A BAROQUE CHURCH - DAY - 1780’S We see a huge CU, of Mozart’s head, looking front and down, as if reading his father’s letter. We hear Leopold’s voice over this image, no longer whining and anxious, but impressive. LEOPOLD (V.O.) I write to you with urgent news. I am coming to Vienna. Take no further steps toward marriage until we meet. You are too gullible to see your own danger. As you honour the father who has devoted his entire life to yours, do as I bid, and await my coming. MOZART I will. The camera pulls back to see that he is in fact kneeling beside Constanze. A PRIEST faces them. Behind them are Madame Weber, Josefa and Sophie Weber, and a very few others. Among them, a merry looking lady in bright clothes: the BARONESS WALDSTADTEN. PRIEST And will you, Constanze Weber, take this man, Wolfgang to be your lawful husband? CONSTANZE I will. PRIEST I now pronounce you man and wife. The opening kyrie of the great Mass in C Minor is heard. Mozart and Constanze kiss. They are in tears. Madame Weber and her daughters look on approvingly. The music swells and continues under the following: INT. A ROOM IN LEOPOLD’S HOUSE - SALZBURG - NIGHT - 1780’S There is a view of a castle in background. Leopold sits alone in his room. He is reading a letter from Wolfgang. At his feet are his trunks, half-packed for the journey he will not now take. We hear Mozart’s voice reading the following letter and we see, as the camera roves around the room, mementos of the young prodigy’s early life: the little forte-piano made for him; the little violin made for him; an Order presented to him. We see a little starling in a wicker cage. And we see portraits of the boy on the walls, concluding with the familiar family portrait of Wolfgang and his sister Nannerl seated at the keyboard with Leopold standing, and the picture of their mother on the wall behind them. MOZART (V.O.) Most beloved father, it is done. Do not blame me that I did not wait to see your dear face. I knew you would have tried to dissuade me from my truest happiness and I could not have borne it. Your every word is precious to me. Remember how you have always told me Vienna is the City of Musicians. To conquer here is to conquer Europe! With my wife I can do it. I vow I will become regular in my habits and productive as never before. She is wonderful, Papa, and I know that you will love her. And one day soon when I am a wealthy man, you will come and live with us, and we will be so happy. I long for that day, best of Papas, and kiss your hand a hundred thousand times. The music of the Mass fades as Leopold crumples the letter in his hand. EXT. THE IMPERIAL GARDENS - VIENNA - DAY - 1780’S Salieri stands waiting, hat in hand. Beside him stands a royal servant. Behind him, gardeners are glimpsed tending the shrubs and bushes along a grassy ride. Down this ride are seen cantering two people on horseback: the Emperor Joseph and his niece, the PRINCESS ELIZABETH. They are mounted on glossy horses. The Princess rides side-saddle. Running beside her is a panting groom. The Emperor rides elegantly; his niece, a dumpy little Hapsburg girl of sixteen, like a sack of potatoes. As they draw level with Salieri they stop, and the groom holds the head of the Princess’ horse. Salieri bows respectfully. JOSEPH Good morning, Court Composer. This is my niece, the Princess Elizabeth. SALIERI Your Highness. Out of breath, the Princess nods nervously. JOSEPH She has asked me to advise her on a suitable musical instructor. I think I’ve come up with an excellent idea. He smiles at Salieri. SALIERI Oh, Your Majesty, it would be such a tremendous honour! JOSEPH I’m thinking about Herr Mozart. What is your view? Salieri’s face falls, almost imperceptibly. SALIERI An interesting idea, Majesty. But - JOSEPH Yes? SALIERI You already commissioned an opera from Mozart. JOSEPH And the result satisfies. SALIERI Yes, of course. My concern is to protect you from any suspicion of favouritism. JOSEPH Ah-ha. Favouritism. But I so want Mozart. SALIERI I’m sure there is a way, Majesty. Some kind of a little contest. I could perhaps put together a small Committee, and I could see to it naturally that it will select according to Your Majesty’s wishes. JOSEPH You please me, Court Composer. A very clever idea. SALIERI (bowing) Sire. JOSEPH Well. There it is. He rides on. The groom releases her horse’s head, and runs on after the Princess. CUT TO: INT. CHAMBERLAIN VON STRACK’S STUDY - DAY - 1780’S Von Strack sits stiffly behind his gilded desk. Mozart stands before him, trembling with anger. MOZART What is this, Herr Chamberlain? VON STRACK What is what? MOZART Why do I have to submit samples of my work to some stupid committee? Just to teach a sixteen-year-old girl. VON STRACK Because His Majesty wishes it. MOZART Is the Emperor angry with me? VON STRACK On the contrary. MOZART Then why doesn’t he simply appoint me to the post? VON STRACK Mozart, you are not the only composer in Vienna. MOZART No, but I’m the best. VON STRACK A little modesty would suit you better. MOZART Who is on this committee? VON STRACK Kapellmeister Bonno, Count Orsini- Rosenberg and Court Composer Salieri. MOZART Naturally, the Italians! Of course! Always the Italians! VON STRACK Mozart - MOZART They hate my music. It terrifies them. The only sound Italians understand is banality. Tonic and dominant, tonic and dominant, from here to Resurrection! (singing angrily) Ba-ba! Ba-ba! Ba-ba! Ba-ba! Anything else is morbid. VON STRACK Mozart - MOZART Show them one interesting modulation and they faint. Ohime! Morbidezza! Morbidezza! Italians are musical idiots and you want them to judge my music! VON STRACK Look, young man, the issue is simple. If you want this post, you must submit your stuff in the same way as all your colleagues. MOZART Must I? Well, I won’t! I tell you straight: I will not! CUT TO: INT. MOZART’S APARTMENT - BEDROOM - VIENNA - DAY - 1780’S The room is very small and untidy. Constanze is marching up and down it, upset. Mozart is lying on the bed. CONSTANZE I think you’re mad! You’re really mad! MOZART Oh, leave me alone. CONSTANZE One royal pupil and the whole of Vienna will come flocking. We’d be set up for life! MOZART They’ll come anyway. They love me here. CONSTANZE No, they will not. I know how things work in this city. MOZART Oh yes? You always know everything. CONSTANZE Well, I’m not borrowing any more money from my mother, and that’s that! MOZART You borrowed money from your mother? CONSTANZE Yes! MOZART Well, don’t do that again! CONSTANZE How are we going to live, Wolfi? Do you want me to go into the streets and beg? MOZART Don’t be stupid. CONSTANZE All they want to see is your work. What’s wrong with that? MOZART Shut up! Just shut up! I don’t need them. CONSTANZE This isn’t pride. It’s sheer stupidity! She glares at him, almost in tears. CUT TO: INT. SALIERI’S MUSIC ROOM - LATE AFTERNOON - 1780’S Salieri is giving a lesson to a girl student, who is singing the Italian art song, Caro Mio Ben. There is a knock on the door. SALIERI Yes. A SERVANT enters. SERVANT Excuse me, sir, there is a lady who insists on talking to you. SALIERI Who is she? SERVANT She didn’t say. But she says it’s urgent. SALIERI (to the pupil) Excuse me, my dear. Salieri goes into the salon. CUT TO: INT. THE SALON - LATE AFTERNOON - 1780’S Constanze stands, closely veiled, holding a portfolio stuffed with manuscripts. The singing lesson ends, with two chords on the instrument. Salieri enters the salon. Constanze drops him a shy curtsey. CONSTANZE Excellency! SALIERI Madame. How can I help you? Shyly, she unveils. SALIERI Frau Mozart? CONSTANZE That’s right, Your Excellency. I’ve come on behalf of my hus band. I’m - I’m bringing some samples of his work so he can be considered for the royal appointment. SALIERI How charming. But why did he not come himself? CONSTANZE He’s terribly busy, sir. SALIERI I understand. He takes the portfolio and puts it on a table. SALIERI I will look at them, of course, the moment I can. It will be an honour. Please give him my warmest. CONSTANZE Would it be too much trouble, sir, to ask you to look at them now? While I wait. SALIERI I’m afraid I’m not at leisure this very moment. Just leave them with me. I assure you they will be quite safe. CONSTANZE I - I really cannot do that, Your Excellency. You see, he doesn’t know I’m here. SALIERI Really? CONSTANZE My husband is a proud man, sir. He would be furious if he knew I’d come. SALIERI Then he didn’t send you? CONSTANZE No, sir. This is my own idea. SALIERI I see. CONSTANZE Sir, we really need this job. We’re desperate. My husband spends far more than he can ever earn. I don’t mean he’s lazy - he’s not at all - he works all day long. It’s just! he’s not practical. Money simply slips through his fingers, it’s really ridiculous, Your Excellency. I know you help musicians. You’re famous for it. Give him just this one post. We’d be forever indebted! A short pause. SALIERI Let me offer you some refreshment. Do you know what these are? He indicates a dish piled high with glazed chestnuts. SALIERI Cappezzoli di Venere. Nipples of Venus. Roman chestnuts in brandied sugar. Won’t you try one? They’re quite surprising. He offers her the dish. She takes one and puts it in her mouth. He watches carefully. CONSTANZE Oh! They’re wonderful. He takes one himself. We notice on his finger a heavy gold signet-ring. CONSTANZE Thank you very much, Your Excellency. SALIERI Don’t keep calling me that. It puts me at such a distance. I was not born a Court Composer, you know. I’m from a small town, just like your husband. He smiles at her. She takes another chestnut. SALIERI Are you sure you can’t leave that music, and come back again? I have other things you might like. CONSTANZE That’s very tempting, but it’s impossible, I’m afraid. Wolfi would be frantic if he found those were missing. You see, they’re all originals. SALIERI Originals? CONSTANZE Yes. A pause. He puts out his hand and takes up the portfolio from the table. He opens it. He looks at the music. He is puzzled. SALIERI These are originals? CONSTANZE Yes, sir. He doesn’t make copies. CUT TO: INT. OLD SALIERI’S HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT - 1823 The old man faces the Priest. OLD SALIERI Astounding! It was actually beyond belief. These were first and only drafts of music yet they showed no corrections of any kind. Not one. Do you realize what that meant? Vogler stares at him. OLD SALIERI He’d simply put down music already finished in his head. Page after page of it, as if he was just taking dictation. And music finished as no music is ever finished. INT. SALIERI’S SALON - LATE AFTERNOON - 1780’S CU, The manuscript in Mozart’s handwriting. The music begins to sound under the following: OLD SALIERI (V.O.) Displace one note and there would be diminishment. Displace one phrase, and the structure would fall. It was clear to me. That sound I had heard in the Archbishop’s palace had been no accident. Here again was the very voice of God! I was staring through the cage of those meticulous ink- strokes at an absolute, inimitable beauty. The music swells. What we now hear is an amazing collage of great passages from Mozart’s music, ravishing to Salieri and to us. The Court Composer, oblivious to Constanze, who sits happily chewing chestnuts, her mouth covered in sugar, walks around and around his salon, reading the pages and dropping them on the floor when he is done with them. We see his agonized and wondering face: he shudders as if in a rough and tumbling sea; he experiences the point where beauty and great pain coalesce. More pages fall than he can read, scattering across the floor in a white cascade, as he circles the room. Finally, we hear the tremendous Qui Tollis from the Mass in C Minor. It seems to break over him like a wave and, unable to bear any more of it, he slams the portfolio shut. Instantly, the music breaks off, reverberating in his head. He stands shaking, staring wildly. Constanze gets up, perplexed. CONSTANZE Is it no good? A pause. SALIERI It is miraculous. CONSTANZE Oh yes. He’s really proud of his work. Another pause. CONSTANZE So, will you help him? Salieri tries to recover himself. SALIERI Tomorrow night I dine with the Emperor. One word from me and the post is his. CONSTANZE Oh, thank you, sir! Overjoyed, she stops and kisses his hand. He raises her - and then clasps her to him clumsily. She pushes herself away. SALIERI Come back tonight. CONSTANZE Tonight? SALIERI Alone. CONSTANZE What for? SALIERI Some service deserves service in return. No? CONSTANZE What do you mean? SALIERI Isn’t it obvious? They stare at one another: Constanze in total disbelief. SALIERI It’s a post all Vienna seeks. If you want it for your husband, come tonight. CONSTANZE But! I’m a married woman! SALIERI Then don’t. It’s up to you. Not to be vague, that is the price. He glares at her. SALIERI Yes. He rings a silver bell for a servant and abruptly leaves the roam. Constanze stares after him, horrified. The servant enters. Shocked and stunned, Constanze goes down an her knees and starts picking up the music from the floor. CUT TO: INT. OLD SALIERI’S HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT - 1823 CU, Father Vogler, horrified. OLD SALIERI Yes, Father. Yes! So much for my vow of chastity. What did it matter? Good, patient, hard-working, chaste - what did it matter? Had goodness made me a good composer? I realized it absolutely then - that moment: goodness is nothing in the furnace of art. And I was nothing to God. VOGLER (crying out) You cannot say that! OLD SALIERI No? Was Mozart a good man? VOGLER God’s ways are not yours. And you are not here to question Him. Offer him the salt of penitence. He will give you back the bread of eternal life. He is all merciful. That is all you need to know. OLD SALIERI All I ever wanted was to sing to Him. That’s His doing, isn’t it? He gave me that longing - then made me mute. Why? Tell me that. If He didn’t want me to serve Him with music, why implant the desire, like a lust in my body, then deny me the talent? Go on, tell me! Speak for Him! VOGLER My son, no one can speak for God. OLD SALIERI Oh? I thought you did so every day. So speak now. Answer me! VOGLER I do not claim to unravel the mysteries. I treasure them. As you should. OLD SALIERI (impatiently) Oh yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! Always the same stale answers! (intimately to the priest) There is no God of Mercy, Father. Just a God of torture. CUT TO: INT. SALIERI’S APARTMENT - BEDROOM - NIGHT - 1780’S Salieri sits at his desk, staring up at the cross. OLD SALIERI (V.O.) Evening came to that room. I sat there not knowing whether the girl would return or not. I prayed as I’d never prayed before. SALIERI Dear God, enter me now. Fill me with one piece of true music. One piece with your breath in it, so I know that you love me. Please. Just one. Show me one sign of your favour, and I will show mine to Mozart and his wife. I will get him the royal position, and if she comes, I’ll receive her with all respect and send her home in joy. Enter me! Enter me! Please! Te imploro. Long, long silence. Salieri stares at the cross. Christ stares back at him impassively. Finally in this silence we hear a faint knocking at the door. Salieri stirs himself. A servant appears. SERVANT That lady is back, sir. SALIERI Show her in. Then go to bed. The Servant bows and leaves. We follow him through: INT. MUSIC ROOM IN SALIERI’S APARTMENT - NIGHT - 1780’S The Servant crosses it and enters: INT. SALON IN SALIERI’S APARTMENT - NIGHT - 1780’S Constanze is sitting on an upright chair, veiled as before, the portfolio of music on her lap. Through the far door leading from the hall, another servant is peering at her. The first servant joins him and shuts the door on the girl, leaving her alone. We stay with her. The clock ticks on the mantelpiece. We hear an old carriage pass in the street below. Nervously she lifts her veil and looks about her. Suddenly Salieri appears from the music room. He is pale and very tight. They regard each other. She smiles and rises to greet him, affecting a relaxed and warm manner, as if to put him at his ease. CONSTANZE Well, I’m here. My husband has gone to a concert. He didn’t think I would enjoy it. A pause. CONSTANZE I do apologize for this afternoon. I behaved like a silly girl. Where shall we go? SALIERI What? CONSTANZE Should we stay here? It’s a charming room. I love these candlesticks. Were they here earlier? I didn’t notice them I suppose I was too nervous. As she talks, she extinguishes the candles in a pair of Venetian candelabra and subsequently other candles around the room. CONSTANZE Wolfgang was given some candlesticks by King George in England, but they were only wood. Oh, excuse me. Let’s not talk about him. What do you think of this? It’s real lace. Brussels. She turns and takes off her shawl. CONSTANZE Well, it’s much too good for every day. I keep saying to Wolfi, don’t be so extravagant. Presents are lovely, but we can’t afford them. It doesn’t do any good. The more I tell him, the more he spends. Oh, excuse me! There I go again. She picks up the portfolio. CONSTANZE Do you still want to look at this? Or don’t we need to bother anymore? I imagine we don’t, really. She looks at him inquiringly, and drops the portfolio on the floor; pages of music pour out of it. Instantly we hear a massive chord, and the great Qui Tollis from the Mass in C Minor fills the room. To its grand and weighty sound, Constanze starts to undress, watched by the horrified Salieri. Between him and her, music is an active presence, hurting and baffling him. He opens his mouth in distress. The music pounds in his head. The candle flickers over her as she removes her clothes and prepares for his embrace. Suddenly he cries out. SALIERI Go! Go! Go! He snatches up the bell and shakes it frantically, not stopping until the two servants we saw earlier appear at the door. The music stops abruptly. They stare at the appalled and frightened Constanze, who is desperately trying to cover her nakedness. SALIERI Show this woman out! Constanze hurls herself at him. CONSTANZE You shit! You shit! You rotten shit! He seizes her wrists and thrusts her back. Then he leaves the room quickly, slamming the door behind him. Constanze turns and sees the two servants goggling at her in the room. CONSTANZE What are you staring at? Wildly, she picks up the candelabrum and throws it at them. It shatters on the floor. INT. SALIERI’S APARTMENT - BEDROOM - NIGHT - 1780’S CU, Salieri standing, his eyes shut, shaking in distress. He opens them and sees Christ across the room, staring at him from the wall. OLD SALIERI (V.O.) From now on, we are enemies, You and I! CUT TO: INT. OLD SALIERI’S HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT - 1823 The old man is reliving the experience. Vogler looks at him, horrified. OLD SALIERI Because You will not enter me, with all my need for you; because You scorn my attempts at virtue; because You choose for Your instrument a boastful, lustful, smutty infantile boy and give me for reward only the ability to recognize the Incarnation; because You are unjust, unfair, unkind, I will block You! I swear it! I will hinder and harm Your creature on earth as far as I am able. I will ruin Your Incarnation. CUT BACK TO: INT. SALIERI’S APARTMENT - BEDROOM - NIGHT - 1780’S CU, the fireplace. In it lies the olivewood Christ on the cross, burning. OLD SALIERI (V.O.) What use after all is Man, if not to teach God His lessons? The cross flames up and disintegrates. Salieri stares at it. CUT TO: INT. MOZART’S APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT - 1780’S The front door bursts open. Mozart stumbles in, followed by EMMANUEL SCHIKANEDER, three young actresses, and another man, all fairly drunk. Schikaneder (who appears everywhere accompanied by young girls) is a large, fleshy, extravagant man of about thirty-five. MOZART Stanzi! Stanzi! Stanzi-Manzi! The others laugh. MOZART Sssh! SCHIKANEDER (imitating Mozart) Stanzi-Manzi-Banzi-Wanzi! MOZART Sssh! Stay here. He walks unsteadily to the bedroom door and opens it. SCHIKANEDER (to the girls, very tipsy) Sssh! You’re dishgrashful! INT. MOZART’S APARTMENT - BEDROOM - NIGHT - 1780’S Constanze lies in bed, her back turned to her husband, who comes into the room and shuts the door. MOZART (playfully) Stanzi? How’s my mouse? Mouse-wouse? I’m back - puss-wuss is back! She turns around abruptly. She looks dreadful; her eyes red with weeping. Mozart is shocked. MOZART Stanzi! He approaches the bed and sits on it. Immediately she starts crying again, desperately. MOZART What’s the matter? What is it? Stanzi! He holds her and she clings to him in a fierce embrace, crying a flood of tears. MOZART Stop it now. Stop it. I’ve brought some friends to meet you. They’re next door waiting. Do we have anything to eat? They’re all starving. CONSTANZE Tell them to go away. I don’t want to see anybody. MOZART What’s the matter with you? CONSTANZE Tell them to go! MOZART Sssh. What is it? Tell me. CONSTANZE No! MOZART Yes! CONSTANZE I love you! I love you! She starts crying again, throwing her arms around his neck. CONSTANZE I love you. Please stay with me. I’m frightened. INT. THE ROYAL PALACE - DINING ROOM - DAY - 1780’S Joseph sits eating. A butler serves him goat’s milk to drink. Joseph is holding a memorandum from Salieri in his hand. Salieri stands before him. JOSEPH I don’t think you understand me, Court Composer. SALIERI Majesty, I did. Believe me, it was a most agonizing. decision. But finally, I simply could not recommend Herr Mozart. JOSEPH Why not? SALIERI Well, Sire, I made some inquiries in a routine way. I was curious to know why he had so few pupils. It is rather alarming. JOSEPH Oh? With a gesture Joseph dismisses the butler, who bows and leaves the room. SALIERI Majesty, I don’t like to talk against a fellow musician. JOSEPH Of course not. SALIERI I have to tell you, Mozart is not entirely to be trusted alone with young ladies. JOSEPH Really? SALIERI As a matter of fact, one of my own pupils - a very young singer - told me she was - er - well! JOSEPH Yes? SALIERI Molested, Majesty. Twice, in the course of the same lesson. A pause. JOSEPH Ah-ha. Well. There it is. INT. SALIERI’S HOUSE - STAIRCASE - VIENNA - DAY - 1780’S Salieri has just returned from the palace and is coming up the staircase. He is met by his servant. SERVANT Sir, there is a Herr Mozart waiting for you in the salon. Salieri is plainly alarmed. SALIERI What does he want? SERVANT He didn’t say, sir. I told him I didn’t know when you would be back, but he insisted on waiting. SALIERI Come with me. And stay in the room. He mounts the stairs. INT. SALIERI’S APARTMENT - SALON - DAY - 1780’S Mozart is waiting for Salieri, holding a portfolio. Salieri approaches him nervously. Mozart stands not belligerently, but humbly. SALIERI Herr Mozart, what brings you here? MOZART Your Excellency, you requested some specimens of my work. Here they are. I don’t have to tell you how much I need your help. I truly appreciate your looking at these. I have pressures on me - financial pressures. As you know, I’m a married man now. SALIERI So you are. How is your pretty wife? MOZART She is well. She is - well, actually, I’m about to become a father! She only told me last night. You are the first to know. SALIERI I’m flattered. And congratulations to you, of course. MOZART So you see, this post is very important to me right now. Salieri looks at him in distress. SALIERI Why didn’t you come to me yesterday, Mozart? This is a most painful situation. Yesterday I could have helped you. Today, I can’t. MOZART Why? Here is the music. It’s here. I am submitting it humbly. Isn’t that what you wanted? SALIERI I have just come from the palace. The post has been filled. MOZART Filled? That’s impossible! They haven’t even seen my work. I need this post. Please, can’t you help me? Please! SALIERI My dear Mozart, there is no one in the world I would rather help, but now it is too late. MOZART Whom did they choose? SALIERI Herr Sommer. MOZART Sommer? Herr Sommer? But the man’s a fool! He’s a total mediocrity. SALIERI No, no, no: he has yet to achieve mediocrity. MOZART But I can’t lose this post, I simply can’t! Excellency, please. Let’s go to the palace, and you can explain to the Emperor that Herr Sommer is an awful choice. He could actually do musical harm to the Princess! SALIERI An implausible idea. Between you and me, no one in the world could do musical harm to the Princess Elizabeth. Mozart chuckles delightedly. Salieri offers him a glass of white dessert and a spoon. Mozart takes it absently and goes on talking. MOZART Look, I must have pupils. Without pupils I can’t manage. SALIERI You don’t mean to tell me you are living in poverty? MOZART No, but I’m broke. I’m always broke. I don’t know why. SALIERI It has been said, my friend, that you are inclined to live somewhat above your means. MOZART How can anyone say that? We have no cook, no maid. We have no footman. Nothing at all! SALIERI How is that possible? You give concerts, don’t you? I hear they are quite successful. MOZART They’re stupendously successful. You can’t get a seat. The only problem is none will hire me. They all want to hear me play, but they won’t let me teach their daughters. As if I was some kind of fiend. I’m not a fiend! SALIERI Of course not. MOZART Do you have a daughter? SALIERI I’m afraid not. MOZART Well, could you lend me some money till you have one? Then I’ll teach her for free. That’s a promise. Oh, I’m sorry. I’m being silly. Papa’s right - I should put a padlock on my mouth. Seriously, is there any chance you could manage a loan? Only for six months, eight at most. After that I’ll be the richest man in Vienna. I’ll pay you back double. Anything. Name your terms. I’m not joking. I’m working on something that’s going to explode like a bomb all over Europe! SALIERI Ah, how exciting! Tell me more. MOZART I’d better not. It’s a bit of a secret. SALIERI Come, come, Mozart; I’m interested. Truly. MOZART Actually, it’s a big secret. Oh, this is delicious! What is it? SALIERI Cream cheese mixed with granulated sugar and suffused with rum. Crema al Mascarpone. MOZART Ah. Italian? SALIERI Forgive me. We all have patriotic feelings of some kind. MOZART Two thousand, two hundred florins is all I need A hundred? Fifty? SALIERI What exactly are you working on? MOZART I can’t say. Really SALIERI I don’t think you should become known in Vienna as a debtor, Mozart. However, I know a very distinguished gentleman I could recommend to you. And he has a daughter. Will that do? INT. MICHAEL SCHLUMBERG’S HOUSE - MORNING - 1780’S Hysterical barking and howling. The hall is full of dogs, at least five, all jumping up and dashing about and making a terrific racket. Mozart, dandified in a new coat and a plumed hat for the occasion, has arrived to teach at the house of a prosperous merchant, MICHAEL SCHLUMBERG. Bluff, friendly and coarse-looking, he stands in his hall amidst the leaping and barking animals, greeting Mozart. SCHLUMBERG Quiet! Quiet! Quiet! Down there, damn you. (to Mozart) Welcome to you. Pay no attention, they’re impossible. Stop it, you willful things! Come this way. Just ignore them. They’re perfectly harmless, just willful. I treat them just like my own children. MOZART And which one of them do you want me to teach? SCHLUMBERG What? Ha-ha! That’s funny - I like it. Which one, eh? You’re a funny fellow. (shouting) Hannah! Come this way. He leads Mozart through the throng of dogs into a salon furnished with comfortable middle-class taste. SCHLUMBERG Hannah! FRAU SCHLUMBERG appears: an anxious woman in middle life. SCHLUMBERG (to Mozart) You won’t be teaching this one either. She’s my wife. MOZART (bowing) Madame. SCHLUMBERG This is Herr Mozart, my dear. The young man Herr Salieri recommended to teach our Gertrude. Where is she? FRAU SCHLUMBERG Upstairs. SCHLUMBERG Gertrude! FRAU SCHLUMBERG You can’t be Herr Mozart! MOZART I’m afraid I am. SCHLUMBERG Of course, it’s him. Who do you think it is? FRAU SCHLUMBERG I’ve heard about you for ages! I thought you must be an old man. SCHLUMBERG Gertrude! FRAU SCHLUMBERG It’s such an honour for us to have you here, Herr Mozart. And for Gertrude. SCHLUMBERG People who know say the girl’s got talent. You must judge for yourself. If you think she stinks, say so. FRAU SCHLUMBERG Michael, please! I’m sure you will find her most willing, Herr Mozart. She’s really very excited. She’s been preparing all morning. MOZART Really? FRAU SCHLUMBERG Ah, now! Here she comes. GERTRUDE SCHLUMBERG appears in the doorway: an awkward girl of fifteen in her best dress, her hair primped and curled. She is exceedingly nervous. MOZART Good morning, Fraulein Schlumberg. SCHLUMBERG Strudel, this is Herr Mozart. Say good morning. Gertrude giggles instead. FRAU SCHLUMBERG (to Mozart) Perhaps a little refreshment first? A little coffee, or a little chocolate? MOZART I’d like a little wine, if you have it. FRAU SCHLUMBERG Wine? SCHLUMBERG Quite right. He’s going to need it. (calling and clapping his hands) Klaus! A bottle of wine. Prestissimo! Now let’s go to it. I’ve been waiting all day for this. He leads the way into: INT. MUSIC ROOM - DAY - 1780’S A forte-piano is open and waiting. All the dogs follow him. After them come Mozart Frau and Fraulein Schlumberg. To Mozart’s dismay, husband and wife seat themselves quite formally on a little narrow sofa, side by side. SCHLUMBERG (To the dogs) Now sit down all of you and behave. Zeman, Mandi, absolutely quiet! (to a young beagle) Especially you, Dudelsachs - not one sound from you. The dogs settle at their feet. Husband and wife smile encouragingly at each other. SCHLUMBERG Come on, then. Up and at it! Mozart gestures to the music bench. Reluctantly, the girl sits at the instrument. Mozart sits beside her. MOZART Now, please play me something. Just to give me an idea. Anything will do. GERTRUDE (to parents) I don’t want you to stay. FRAU SCHLUMBERG That’s all right, dear. Just go ahead, as if we weren’t here. GERTRUDE But you are here. SCHLUMBERG Never mind, Strudel. It’s part of music, getting used to an audience. Aren’t I right, Herr Mozart? MOZART Well, yes! on the whole. I suppose. (to Gertrude) How long have you been playing, Fraulein? FRAU SCHLUMBERG Just one year. MOZART Who was your teacher? FRAU SCHLUMBERG I was. But she quite outgrew the little I could show her. MOZART Thank you, Madame. (to Gertrude) Come on now - courage. Play me something you know. In response the wretched girl just stares down at the keyboard without playing a note. An awkward pause. MOZART Perhaps it would be better if we were left alone. I think we’re both a little shy. Husband and wife look at each other. SCHLUMBERG Nonsense. Strudel’s not shy. She’s just willful! You give into her now, you’ll be sorry later. Strudel - play. Silence. The girl sits unmoving. Schlumberg bellows: SCHLUMBERG I said play! FRAU SCHLUMBERG Michael! MOZART Perhaps if I were to play a little first, it might encourage the Fraulein. (to the girl) Why don’t you let me try the instrument? All right? Suddenly the girl rises. Mozart smiles at the parents. They smile nervously back. Mozart slides along the bench, raises his hands and preludes over the keys. Instantly a dog howls loudly. Startled, Mozart stops. Schlumberg leaps to his feet and goes over to the beagle. SCHLUMBERG Stop that, Dudelsachs! Stop it at once! (to Mozart) Don’t let him disturb you. He’ll be all right. He’s just a little willful too. Please, please - play. I beg you. Mozart resumes playing. This time it is a lively piece, perhaps the Presto Finale from the K. 450. The dog howls immediately. SCHLUMBERG Stop it! STOP! Mozart stops. SCHLUMBERG No, not you. I was talking to the dog. You keep playing. It’s most important. He always howls when he hears music. We’ve got to break them of the habit. Play, please. Please! Amazed, Mozart starts to play the Rondo again. The dog howls louder. SCHLUMBERG That’s it. Now keep going, just keep going. (to the beagle) Now you stop that noise, Dudelsachs, you stop it this instant! This instant, do you hear me? Keep going, Herr Mozart, that’s it. Go on, go on! Mozart plays on. Suddenly the dog falls silent. Schlumberg smiles broadly. SCHLUMBERG Good, good, good! Very good dog! Very, very good Dudelsachs. (to his wife, snapping his fingers) Quick, quick, dear, bring his biscuit. The wife scurries to get a jar of biscuits. A servant brings in an open bottle of wine and a full glass on a tray. He puts it down beside Mozart as Schlumberg addresses the silent dog with deepest affection. SCHLUMBERG Now guess who’s going to get a nice reward? Clever, clever Dudi. He gives the biscuit to the dog who swallows it greedily. Mozart stops playing and stands up. SCHLUMBERG It’s a miracle, Herr Mozart! MOZART (barely controlling himself) Well, I’m a good teacher. The next time you wish me to instruct another of your dogs, please let me know. Goodbye, Fraulein, goodbye, Madame! goodbye, Sir! He bows to them and leaves the room. They look after him in puzzled astonishment. FRAU SCHLUMBERG What a strange young man. SCHLUMBERG Yes. He is a little strange. EXT. A BUSY STREET IN VIENNA - DAY - 1780’S A cheerful scene. We see Mozart strutting and beaming, making his way through the crowd of porters, carriers and hawkers, sellers of sausage