1"The only thing that worried me was the actual killing."
Answer: Salieri
Salieri is confessing his plot to kill Mozart to Father Vogler. His plan didn't exactly work out the way he envisioned it. Mozart died before he could finish the funeral mass, and although he didn't physically kill Mozart, Salieri still feels responsible for his death.
During the final act of "The Marriage of Figaro," something happens that Salieri considers another miracle. What is it?
2In the beginning of the film, the elderly Salieri attempts suicide. How does he do this?
Answer: He slits his throat.
Salieri is riddled with guilt because he believes he caused Mozart's death. He cries, "Mozart! Mozart! Forgive your assassin!" Afterwards, Salieri can be seen with bandages on his neck.
3Salieri's suicide attempt is discovered by his valet. The actor playing this servant was in another Academy Award winning film by Milos Forman. What was that film?
Answer: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Vincent Schiavelli is a favorite actor of Forman's, appearing in "Man on the Moon" and "The People vs. Larry Flynt." "Amadeus" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" were the only two Forman films to win Academy Awards for Best Picture.
Salieri the child wanted to make music. His father asked him if he wanted to be a trained monkey like the young Mozart. Throughout his youth, Mozart and his sister Nannerl toured the palaces of Europe as child prodigies. Other detractors also referred to the child Mozart as a trained monkey. More of a reflection upon the father than the child?
6Who played the leading role in the film, which awarded him an Academy Award?
Answer: F. Murray Abraham
Anton Felix Schindler is a character in "Immortal Beloved", a story of {Beethoven;} Peter Schaffer is the acredited author of the Broadway original of which the film is {based;} Roy Dotrice plays Leopold Mozart in the film.
7"I asked you if we could start rehearsals next week, and you said yes."
Answer: Schikaneder
Mozart's friend is pressuring him for the score for the "vaudeville" piece Mozart agreed to write for him. (This "vaudeville" piece turns out to be Mozart's strange opera "The Magic Flute.") Mozart says that it's done in his head, and that the rest is just "scribbling and bibbling."
8What did a young Salieri offer as a symbol of his devotion to God if He would grant the boy a great musical gift?
Answer: His chastity
Salieri was intensely jealous of Mozart for having had an affair with Katerina Cavalieri, with whom Salieri was secretly in love. This is a bit of dramatic license taken by the film. The real Antonio Salieri was married and had eight children.
9What "miracle" made it possible for Salieri to pursue music in Vienna?
Answer: His father choked to death
Salieri's father was a businessman who forbade his son from following in Mozart's footsteps. His death made it possible for Salieri to fulfil his dream... or at least to try.
Mozart's mother-in-law is taking him to task for neglecting Constanze, his wife. It actually turns into a funny scene, with the mother-in-law screeching hysterically at him, which inspires his next opera.
14When we first see the adult Mozart, who is he working for?
Answer: Archbishop Colloredo
Mozart can be seen performing for the Archbishop near the beginning of the film. The Archbishop is displeased with Mozart's lack of discipline, but luckily for Mozart, Emperor Joseph hears of his talent and sends for him not long thereafter.
15When preparing to meet the Emperor in Vienna, how many wigs does Mozart try on?
Answer: 3
Mozart tries on three wigs, one of which is a decidedly unorthodox shade of pink. Indecisive, he asks his hairdresser, "Why don't I have three heads?" and then erupts in his annoying, high-pitched giggle.
Mozart was unhappy working under the patronage system of his day. His employment with the prince archbishop was frustrating and stifling. The last 10 years of his life (age 25-35) Mozart strove to be a successful independent musician. If he had lived longer, he might have been the first composer to triumph over the patronage system. As it happened, Beethoven is credited with being the first.
When Schikaneder proposes that Mozart write an opera for his theatre group, Constanze asks him how much he will pay Mozart for it. Schikaneder responds with this line.
20When the Emperor and his advisors are first discussing Mozart, the Emperor recalls a childhood memory in which his sister was proposed to by a six year-old Mozart. Who was Emperor Joseph's sister?
Answer: Marie Antoinette of France
Emperor Joseph mentions "my sister Antoinette" a few times during the film, the first being when he is first talking with his advisors about Mozart and he recalls the memory. Legend has it that this proposal actually took place. Marie Antoinette's father, Emperor Francis, was reportedly quite amused.
21After Mozart hears Salieri's march of welcome, how does he humiliate Salieri in front of the Emperor?
Answer: He corrects and embellishes the march
After pointing out that a phrase "doesn't really work," he improves the phrase, and then plays variations on the march's theme. Salieri's face is wonderful as he seeths with rage while trying to look composed for the others in the room.
22Salieri said that in this Mozart opera, Leopold was "haunting his poor son from beyond the grave."
Answer: Don Giovanni
Mozart wrote "Don Giovanni" in the year after his father died. Although not successful at court (Salieri's influence?) the opera eventually gained much popularity with the people. Mozart used the librettist, Da Ponte, for the Italian story/text.
23How many times is Don Giovanni played in Vienna?
Answer: five
'Through my influence, I saw to it Don Giovanni was played only five times in Vienna - but in secret I went to every one of those five, worshipping the sound that I alone seemed to hear.'
25"Would you like me to drag you around Europe, doing tricks like a circus freak?"
Answer: Salieri's father
A young Salieri tries to impress upon his father how important music is to him, but his father is very unimpressed by Mozart and music in general. He views Mozart as a freak, while young Salieri recognizes him for the genius he is.
There are 79 questions on this topic. Last updated Apr 23 2024.
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