Amadeus - script
Characters:
ANTONIO SALIERI – court composer
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART - composer
CONSTANZE – Mozart’s wife
VOGLER – a priest
COLLOREDO – Archbishop of Salzburg
ARCO – Colloredo’s chamberlain
EMPEROR JOSEPH THE SECOND – Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
JOHANN VON STRACK – his chamberlain
COUNT ORSINI-ROSENBERG – director of the opera
BARON VON SWIETEN – imperial librarian
GIUSEPPE BONNO – First Kapellmeister (conductor of orchestra)
KATHERINA CAVALIER – a student of Salieri
FRAU WEBER – Constanze’s mother
LEOPOLD – Mozart’s father
SCHICKANEDER – actor
LORL – a maid
LANDING AND STAIRCASE OUTSIDE SALIERI’S SALON. NIGHT. 1823.
OLD SALIERI: Mozart…Mozart…Mozart – Forgive me!…Forgive your assassin! I confess. I killed you! I killed you! Forgive your assassin! Forgive me, Mozart!
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!
OLD SALIERI: Mozart!…Mozart! … I confess it! Listen…I confess!
VALET: Here I am, Signore…Now open the door…Mmm – this is good!…This is the most delicious thing I ever ate – believe me! …Signore, you don’t know what you’re missing!…Mmmm! Now that’s enough, Signore!…Open!..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! --
OLD SALIERI’S HOSPITAL ROOM. LATE AFTERNOON. 1823.
VOGLER: Herr Salieri?
OLD SALIERI: Leave me alone.
VOGLER: I cannot leave alone a soul in pain.
OLD SALIERI: Do you know who I am?
VOGLER: It’s 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: 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.
VOGLER: I can’t say I do. What is it?
OLD SALIERI: It was a very popular tune in its day. I wrote it. How about this. This one brought down the house when we played it first….. 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. I wrote forty operas alone…What about this one?
Slyly he plays the opening 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’m sorry. I didn’t know you wrote that.
OLD SALIERI: I didn’t. That was Mozart…Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
VOGLER: The man you accuse yourself of killing.
OLD SALIERI: You’ve heard that?
VOGLER: Is it true? For God’s sake, my son – if you have something to confess – do it now…Give yourself some peace!…
OLD SALIERI: He was my idol! Mozart. I can’t think of a time when I didn’t know his name! I was still playing childish games when he was playing music, for Kings and Emperors! Even the Pope in Rome! I admit I was jealous when I heard the tales they told about him. Not of the brilliant little prodigy, but of his father, who had taught him everything.
My father did not care for music. 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?
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 do you know what happened? … A miracle!
THE DINING ROOM IN THE HOUSE OF SALIERI’S PARNETS. ITALY. DAY. 1760’S.
Salieri family at dinner. Father Salieri receives his plate of fish, and starts to eat greedily. Suddenly there is a gasp – he starts to choke violently on a fishbone. Father Salieri collapses.
OLD SALIERI’S HOSPITAL ROOM.
OLD SALIERI: And my life changed forever! 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! Emperor Joseph – the musical King! In a few years I was his Court Composer.
Isn’t that incredible? Night after night I sat next to the Great Emperor of Austria playing duets with him, correcting the royal sight-reading. Actually the man had no ear at all, but what did it matter. He adored my music.
Everybody liked me. I liked myself. Until he came…Mozart.
SALON OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF SALZBURG’S RESIDENCE. VIENNA. DAY. 1780’S
OLD SALIERI: 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.
As I wandered through the salon I played a little 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?…Which one of them could he be?
BUFFET ROOM IN THE ARCHBISHOP’S PALACE. VIENNA. DAY. 1780’S.
SALIERI enters the room and looks around cautiously. He is salivating as he stares at the feast of sweet things. A girl, CONSTANZE, rushes into the room, runs straight across and hides behind one of the tables. MOZART runs into the room. He is 26 years old, wearing a fine wig and a brilliant coat. He is puzzled. He is about to leave the room when CONSTANZE suddenly squeaks from under the cloth like a tiny mouse. Instantly, MOZART drops on all fours and starts crawling across the floor, meowing and hissing like a naughty cat! He disappears under the cloth and obviously pounces on CONSTANZE. We hear a high-pitched giggle.
GRAND SALON IN THE ARCHBISHOP’S PALACE
ARCO: Mozart is not here.
THE BUFFET ROOM
MOZART 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.) Stop it!!
MOZART: I am! I am!…I’m stopping it – slowly.. There! You see! Look – I’ve stopped!.. Now we are going back!
He tries to grab her back under the table.
CONSTANZE: No! No! No!
MOZART: Yes…Back! Back! Listen – don’t you know where you are?
CONSTANZE: Where?
MOZART: Everything goes backwards. People walk backwards – dance backwards – sing backwards – and even talk backwards!
CONSTANZE: That’s stupid!
MOZART: Why? People fart backwards!
CONSTANZE: Do you think that’s funny?
MOZART: Ssa—I’m sick …Ssa—I’m—sick!
CONSTANZE: Yes, you are! You’re very sick!
MOZART: No, no – say it backwards, shit-wit!…”Ssa—I’m—sick!”
CONSTANZE (working it out): Ssa—I’m—sick…Sick – “kiss”…I’m – “my” … “Kiss my … Ssa—I’m—sick – “Kiss my ass!”
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. I’m not going to marry you. You’re a fiend.
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 with
MOZART: Tish-I’m tee! – What’s that?
CONSTANZE: What?
MOZART: Tish-I’m tee!
CONSTANZE: Eat my – ah!
Shocked, she strikes at him. At the same moment the music starts in the salon next door.
MOZART: My music! They’ve started without me!
He runs out of the room. Salieri has been watching in amazement and disgust.
GRAND SALON
MOZART begins conducting. CONSTANZE sneaks in. SALIERI appears at the door at the back of the salon. He stares in disbelief at MOZART.
OLD SALIERI’S HOSPITAL ROOM
OLD SALIERI: That was Mozart! That giggling, dirty-minded creature I’d just seen… crawling on the floor.
A CORRIDOR IN THE ARCHBISHOP’S PALACE.
MOZART: I think thwent off remarkably well, don’t you?
ARCO: Indeed.
MOZART: These Viennese certainly know good music when they hear it! Don’t you think?
A PRIVATE ROOM IN THE ARCHBISHOP’S PALACE.
The ARCHBISHOP is sitting chatting to guests. ARCO approaches him obsequiously
ARCO: Certainly. Your Grace…
COLLOREDO: Ah, Mozart…Why?
MOZART: Why what, sir?
COLLOREDO: Why do I have to be humiliated in front of my guest by one of my own servants?
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.
MOZART: No, Your Grace! I mean with all humility, no. I would prefer you dismissed me. It’s obvious I don’t satisfy.
COLLOREDO: I have no intention of dismissing you. You will remain in my service, and learn your place.
He extends his hand to be kissed. MOZART does it with a furious grace, then leaves the room. As he opens the door, a group of people break into loud applause. MOZART is suddenly delighted. He throws the door wide open so the guests can see the ARCHBISHOP, who is clearly uneasy about this. He smiles and bows uneasily.
GRAND SALON OF ARCHBISHOP’S PALACE
SALIERI is looking at a score. The music is played while he describes it.
OLD SALIERI’S HOSPITAL ROOM.
OLD SALIERI: On the page it looked nothing. The beginning simple, almost comic – just a pulse – bassoons, basset horns – like a rusty squeezebox. And then, suddenly – high above it – an oboe – a single note – hanging there unwavering – until a clarinet took it 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 seemed to me that I was hearing a voice of God!
Suddenly the music stops. MOZART stands before him.
MOZART: Excuse me!
He takes the score, bows and walks briskly out of the room. SALIERI stares uncomprehendingly after the figure.
OLD SALIERI: But why? Why? Would God choose an obscene child to be His instrument?
A SMALL DINING ROOM IN THE ROYAL PALACE. VIENNA. DAY. 1780’S.
VAN SWIETEN: He’s remarkable, Majesty. I heard an extraordinary serious opera of his last month. “Idomeneo, King of Crete.”
ROSENBERG: That? A most tiresome piece! I heard it too.
VAN SWIETEN: Tiresome.
ROSENBERG: A young man trying to impress beyond his abilities. Too much spice. Too many notes.
VAN SWIETEN: Majesty, I thought it the most promising work I’ve heard in years!
JOSEPH: Well then we should make some effort to acquire him. We could use a good German composer in Vienna, surely? I’m sure he could be tempted with the right offer. Say, an opera in German for our National Theatre.
VAN SWIETEN: Excellent, sire!
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 think, Chamberlain?
STRACK: In my opinion it is time we had a piece in our own language. Plain German. For plain people.
JOSEPH: Ah-ha. Kapellmeister?
BONNO (with an Italian accent): Majesty, I must agree with Herr Director. German is – scusate – too bruta for singing!
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: Well. There it is. You are contigo, composer. I want to meet this young man. Chamberlain arrange a pleasant welcome for him.
THE BEDROOM IN SALIERI’S APARTMENT.
SALIERI is sitting at a piano composing. He looks up at the figure of Christ on the mantelpiece.
SALIERI: Grazie, Signore.
A WIGMAKER’S SHOP
MOZART: 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 a second and then the first wig.
MOZART: They’re all so beautiful. Why don’t I have three heads?
NEXT TO GRAND SALON IN THE ROYAL PALACE.
JOSEPH (to STRACK): Well, what do you have for me today?
STRACK: Your Majesty, Herr Mozart.
JOSEPH: Yes, what about him?
STRACK: He’s here.
JOSEPH: Ah-ha!…Well. There it is!…Good!
SALIERI: Majesty, I hope you won’t find it improper, but I have written a little March of Welcome in his honor.
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 poorly.
JOSEPH: Let’s have some fun! Delightful, Herr Composer. May I play it when he comes in. Bring in Herr Mozart, please!…But slowly – slowly! I need a minute to practice!
The EMPEROR begins to practice. He hits a wrong note.
SALIERI: C. G. Excellent. Very good. Tempo. Lightly. Then strongly. Again.
MOZART comes in eagerly. Immediately the March begins, played by the EMPEROR. All clap.
ROSENBERG: Bravo, Your Majesty!
JOSEPH: Gentlemen, gentlemen – a little less enthusiasm, I beg you! Ah – Mozart!
MOZART: Your Majesty! (kissing the royal hand.)
JOSEPH: No, no, please! It is not a holy relic! You know we have met before – in this very room! Perhaps you don’t remember it, you were only six years old! (To the others). He was giving the most delightful concert here. As he got off the stool he slipped and fell. My own sister Antoinette helped him up, and do you know what he did? Jumped into her arms and said, ‘Will you marry me, yes or no?’
Embarrassed, MOZART burst into a wild giggle. JOSEPH helps him out.
JOSEPH: You know all these gentlemen, I’m sure. The Baron Van Swieten.
VAN SWIETEN: I’m a great admirer of yours, young man.
MOZART: Oh, thank you!
JOSEPH: Kappelmiester Bonno.
BONNO: Signore.
MOZART: My pleasure.
JOSEPH: The Director of our Opera. Count Orsini-Rosenberg.
MOZART: Oh, sir, yes! The honor is mine!… Absolutely.
JOSEPH: And here is our illustrious Court Composer – Maestro Salieri.
SALIERI: At last…Such immense joy!…Diletto straordianrio!
MOZART: I know your work well, Signore. Do you know I actually composed some Variations on a melody of yours?
SALIERI: Really? Which one?
MOZART: “Mio caro Adone.”
SALIERI: Ah! I’m flattered.
MOZART: A funny little tune – but it yielded some good things.
JOSEPH: And now he has returned the compliment! Herr Salieri composed this little March of Welcome for you.
MOZART: Really? Oh, grazie Signore? Sono commosso!
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: Did we vote in the end for German or Italian?
ROSENBERG: Well, actually, Sire, if you remember, we did finally incline to Italian.
STRACK: Did we?
VAN SWIETEN: I don’t think it was really decided, Your Majesty.
MOZART: Oh, German! – German! Please let it be German.
JOSEPH: Why so?
MOZART: Because I’ve already found the most wonderful libretto!
ROSENBERG: Oh? Have I seen it?
MOZART: I – I don’t think you have, Herr Director. Not yet. I mean, it’s quite new. I’ll show it to you immediately, of course.
ROSENBERG: I think you’d better.
JOSEPH: Tell us about it. Tell us the story!
MOZART: It’s quite amusing, Majesty. It’s set – the whole thing is set in a – in a –
JOSEPH: Yes, where?
MOZART: In a … harem, Majesty. In a Seraglio !
JOSEPH: Ah-ha.
ROSENBERG: You mean in Turkey?
MOZART: Yes. Exactly!
ROSENBERG: Then why especially does it have to be in German?
MOZART: Well it doesn’t especially! It could be in Turkish, if you really want!
VAN SWIETEN: 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 won’t actually show concubines exposing their…It’s not indecent! It’s highly moral, Majesty! It’s full of proper German virtues.
SALIERI: Excuse me, Majesty, but what do you think these could be? Being a foreigner, I would love to learn.
JOSEPH: Well, tell him Mozart. Name us a German virtue.
MOZART: Love, Sire!
SALIERI: Ah, love!…Well of course in Italy we know nothing about love!
MOZART: , 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.
Majesty – You choose the language. It will be my task to set it to the finest music ever offered a monarch.
JOSEPH: Well, there it is! Let it be German. (He becomes aware of the manuscript in his hand.) Ah, this is yours.
MOZART: Keep it, Majesty, if you want to. It is already here in my head.
JOSEPH: What? On one hearing only?
MOZART: I think so, Sire, yes…
JOSEPH: Show me.
(MOZART plays the first half of the March with deadly accuracy.)
MOZART: The rest is just the same, isn’t it?
(MOZART plays the first half again but stops in the middle of a phrase, which he repeats dubiously.)
MOZART: That doesn’t really work, does it?
All the courtiers look at SALIERI .
MOZART: Did you try…? Shouldn’t it be a bit more…?
Or this – Yes – this! Better!…What do you think?
He gradually alters the music so that it turns into the march he later uses in The Marriage of Figaro. SALIERI watches with a fixed smile on his face.
OLD SALIERI’S HOSPITAL ROOM
SALIERI: Grazie, Signore . All I ever wanted was to sing to God. He gave me the longing and then made me mute. Why? Tell me that! If he didn’t want me to praise him with music why implant the desire, like a lust in my body. And then deny me the talent.
There is a knock on the door.
SALIERI: Yes?
SERVANT: Madame Cavalieri is here for her lesson, sir.
CAVALIERI: (wearing an exotic turban) Maestro! Well?…How do you like it?…It’s Turkish! My hairdresser tells me everything this year is going to be Turkish!
SALIERI: Really? What else did he tell you today? Give me some gossip.
CAVALIERI: Well, I heard you met Herr Mozart.
SALIERI: 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 in it for me?
SALIERI: No.
CAVALIERI: How do you know?
SALIERI: Do you know where it’s set, my dear?
CAVALIERI: Where?
SALIERI: In a harem.
CAVALIERI: What’s that?
SALIERI: A brothel.
??CAVALIERI: Oh!… What does he look like?
SALIERI: You might be disappointed.
CAVALIERI: Why?
SALIERI: Looks and talent don’t always go together, Katherina.
CAVALIERI: Looks don’t concern me, Maestro. Only talent interests a woman of taste!
SALIERI: Shall we continue.
THE STAGE OF AN OPERA HOUSE. VIENNA.
CAVALIERI: (singing)
“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!”
OLD SALIERI (voice over): There she was! I don’t know where they met or how. There she stood on stage for all to see – showing off like the greedy songbird she was!.. Ten minutes of ghastly scales, arpeggios, whizzing up and down like fireworks at a fairground!
Understand, I was in love with the girl. Or at least in lust. 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!
CAST OF ‘SERAGLIO’:
“Pasha Selim
May he
Live forev----ver!
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!
JOSEPH: Bravo. Madame. You are an ornament to our stage.
CAVALIERI: Majesty.
JOSEPH: Well, Herr Mozart! A good effort! Decidedly that! An excellent effort! You’ve shown us something quite new tonight!
MOZART: It is new – it is, isn’t it, Sire?
JOSEPH: Yes, indeed.
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 seemed a touch …
MOZART: What do you mean, Sire?
JOSEPH: Well, I mean occasionally it seems to have, how shall one say?…How shall one say, Director?
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: This is absurd.
JOSEPH: There are simply too many words. Just cut a few and it will be perfect.
MOZART: Which few did you have in mind, Majesty?
MADAME WEBER: Wolfgang!…Wolfgang!, my dear…
MOZART: Majesty, this is Frau Weber. She is my landlady.
JOSEPH: Enchanted, Madame
MADAME WEBER: Oh, Sire…such an honour! And, and this is my dear daughter, Constanze. She is the fiancee of Herr Mozart!
JOSEPH: Really? How charming/ Please, when do you marry?
MOZART: Well, we haven’t exactly received my father’s consent yet. Not entirely. Not altogether.
JOSEPH: Excuse me, but how old are you?
MOZART: Twenty-six.
JOSEPH: Well, my advice for you is to marry this charming young lady, and stay with us in Vienna.
MADAME WEBER: You see? You see? I told him that, Your Majesty, but he won’t listen to me! Oh, Your Majesty, you give such wonderful, such royal advice! I, May I?
She attempts to kiss the royal hand but faints instead.
JOSEPH: Well. There it is…Strack.
CONSTANZE: Wolfi, will you get some water!
OLD SALIERI’S HOSPITAL ROOM.
OLD SALIERI: At that moment I knew he’d had her. That creature had had my darling girl. It was incomprehensible! What was God up to? 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.
AUDIENCE HALL OF THE ARCHBISHOP’S PALACE.
COLLOREDO: No! I won’t have him back. Your son is an unprincipled, spoiled, conceited brat.
LEOPOLD: Yes, sir. That is the truth. But don’t blame him, the fault is mine entirely! I was too indulgent with him. Please, Your Grace, give him one more chance!
COLLOREDO: You have leave to try.
LEOPOLD: Oh, God bless Your Grace, I thank you Your Grace! I thank you!
LEOPOLD: (voice over) I write to you with urgent news. I am coming to Vienna. Take no further steps towards marriage until we meet. As you honour the father who devoted his entire life to yours, do as I bid, and await my coming
MOZART: (voice over) Most beloved father. 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. And one day soon when I am a wealthy man, you will come and live with us, and we will be so happy!
THE IMPERIAL GARDENS
JOSEPH: Good morning, Court Composer! This is my niece, the Princess Elizabeth.
SALIERI: Your Highness.
JOSEPH: She has asked me to advise her on a suitable musical instructor. I think I’ve come up with an excellent idea.
SALIERI: Oh, Your Majesty, it would be such a tremendous honour!
JOSEPH: I was thinking of Herr Mozart. What is your view.
SALIERI: An interesting idea, Majesty But…
JOSEPH: Yes?
SALIERI: My concern is to protect you from any hint of favouritism.
JOSEPH: Ah-ha. Favouritism.
CHAMBERLAIN STRACK’S STUDY IN THE ROYAL PALACE.
MOZART: What is this, Herr Chamberlain?
STRACK: What is what?
MOZART: Why must I submit samples of my work to some stupid Committee? Just to teach a thirteen year old girl!
STRACK: Because His Majesty wishes it.
MOZART: Is the Emperor angry with me?
STRACK: Quite the contrary.
MOZART: Then why doesn’t he simply appoint me to the post?
STRACK: Mozart, you are not the only composer in Vienna.
MOZART: No, but I’m the best.
STRACK: Mozart, a little modesty might suit you better.
MOZART: Who is on this Committee?
STRACK: Kapellmeister Bonno, Count Orsini-Rosenberg, and, of course, Court Composer Salieri.
MOZART: Naturally! The Italians! Of course! Always the Italians! They are musical idiots! And you want them to judge my music!
STRACK: Look, young man, the issue is simple. If you want this position you must submit your stuff along with all your colleagues.
MOZART: Must I? Well, I won’t!
THE SALON IN SALIERI’S APARTMENT. LATE AFTERNOON.
SALIERI: How can I help you? Frau Mozart?
CONSTANZE: I’ve come on behalf of my husband. I’m bringing some samplof 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. I will look at them, of course, the moment I can. It will be an honour. Please give him my warmest regards.
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 precise moment. Just leave them with me. I assure you they will be quite safe.
CONSTANZE: I, I really cannot do that, Sir. You see, he doesn’t know I’m here.
SALIERI: Then he didn’t send you?
CONSTANZE: No, sir. This was my own idea.
SALIERI: I see.
CONSTANZE: Sir. We’re desperate! We really need this job! My husband spends far more than he can ever earn. I don’t mean that he’s lazy, he’s not at all: he works all day long! It’s just that…he’s not practical. Money simply slips through his fingers, it’s ridiculous!
SALIERI: Let me offer you some refreshment. Do you know what these are? “Cappazzoli di Venere”. Nipples of Venus! Roman chestnuts in brandied sugar! Try one. Go on, try one. They’re quite surprising.
CONSTANZE: Oh! They’re wonderful! Thank you very much, Your Excellency.
SALIERI: Don’t keep calling me that. It keeps me at such a distance. I was not born a Court Composer, you know. I’m from a small town, just like your husband. Are you sure you can’t leave this, and come back again?
CONSTANZE: It’s very tempting, but it’s impossible, I’m afraid. Wolfgang would be frantic if he found those were missing. You see, they’re all originals.
SALIERI: Originals?
CONSTANZE: Yes, Sir. He doesn’t make copies.
SALIERI: These are originals?
OLD SALIERI’S HOSPITAL ROOM.
OLD SALIERI: Astounding! It was actually beyond belief! These were first and only drafts of music, but they showed no corrections of any kind! Not one! He’d simply written 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!
THE SALON IN SALIERI’S APARTMENT.
OLD SALIERI: (voice over): 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 absolute, beauty!
The COURT COMPOSER walks round and round his Salon, reading the pages and dropping them on the floor when he is done with them. Finally, he cannot bear it any more, he slams the portfolio shut. He stands shaking, staring wildly.
CONSTANZE: Is it not good?
SALIERI: It is miraculous.
CONSTANZE: Oh yes. He’s very proud of his work. So – you will help us?
OLD SALIERI’S HOSPITAL ROOM.
OLD SALIERI: From now on we are enemies – You and I! 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!
MOZART’S LIVING ROOM
MOZART: Papa! Papa!
LEOPOLD: You’re very thin. Does she not feed you, this wife of yours?
MOZART: Feed? Well, of course she feeds me! She stuffs me like a goose all day long!
LEOPOLD: Is she not here?
MOZART: No! She had to help her mother. Yes, she’s like that! Her mother’s a very sweet woman, you’ll see. (He carries his father’s bags to bedroom. CONSTANZE lies in bed. She sits up.) Oh! I didn’t know you were home! Stanzi, this is my father. We’ll wait! We’ll wait! Why don’t you get up now, darling? She’s very tired poor creature. You know me. I’m such a pig. It’s not so easy cleaning up after me!
LEOPOLD: Don’t you have a maid?
MOZART: Oh we could, if we wanted to, but Stanzi won’t hear of it. She must do everything herself.
LEOPOLD: How is your financial situation?
MOZART: It couldn’t be better!
LEOPOLD: That’s not what I hear.
MOZART: What do you mean? It’s wonderful! Really, it’s, it’s, it’s marvelous! People love me here.
LEOPOLD: They say you have debts.
MOZART: Who? Who says that? That’s a malicious lie.
LEOPOLD: Do you have pupils?
MOZART: I don’t want pupils. They get in the way. I have to have time for composition.
LEOPOLD: Composition doesn’t pay, you know that.
MOZART: This one will!
LEOPOLD: What’s that?
MOZART: It’s a secret.
LEOPOLD: You don’t have secrets from me!
MOZART: No, no, please. I don’t want you to see it. I don’t want anyone to see it. But you are going to be so proud of me, Papa. It is going to be the best thing I have ever done. The best thing that any…. Ah, there she is! (CONSTANZE comes into the room.) Look at her! Isn’t she beautiful? Come on now, Papa, confess! Could you want a prettier girl for a daughter?
CONSTANZE: Stop it, Wolfi. I look dreadful.
LEOPOLD: Are you expecting?
CONSTANZE: Yes I am.
MOZART: Isn’t it marvellous. We’re delighted!
CONSTANZE: May I offer you some tea, Herr Mozart?
MOZART: Tea? Who wants tea? Let’s go out! This calls for a feast. You don’t want tea, Papa! Let’s go dancing! Papa loves parties, don’t you?
CONSTANZE: Wolfi!
MOZART: What? How can you be so boring? Tea!
A LARGE ROOM ARRANGED FOR A PARTY
SCHICKANEDER: Herr Mozart, why don’t you name your son’s penalty?
MOZART: Yes, Papa, name it! Name it! I’ll do anything you say! Anything!
LEOPOLD: I want you to come back with me to Salzburg, my son.
SCHICKANEDER: What did he say? What did he say?
MOZART: Papa, the rule is you can only give penalties that can be performed in the room.
LEOPOLD: I’m tired of this game. I don’t want to play anymore.
MOZART: But my penalty! I’ve got to have a penalty!
SCHICKANEDER: The penalty is that you shall play our new tune in the manner of Johann Sebastian Bach. Now play it backwards.
GUESTS: Another! Do another! Someone else!
MOZART: Give me a name! Who shall I do? Give me a name!
GUESTS: Gluck! ! Frederic Handel!
SALIERI: (hidden behind a mask) Play Salieri!
MOZART: Now that is a challenge.
(MOZART makes fun of SALIERI’s music ending with a fart.)
OLD SALIERI’S HOSPITAL ROOM
OLD SALIERI: Go on! Mock me! Laugh!
BEDROOM IN SALIERI’S APARTMENT
SALIERI: (voice over) That was not Mozart laughing, Father. That was God! That was God! God laughing at me through that obscene giggle! Go on, Signore! Laugh! Show my mediocrity for all to see. One day I will laugh at You! Before I leave this earth, I will laugh at You!
MOZART’S WORKROOM
CONSTANZE: (outside the door) Wolfi!
MOZART: What?
CONSTANZE: There’s a young girl here to see you.
MOZART: What does she want?
CONSTANZE: She won’t talk to me. She says she has to speak to you.
MOZART: Oh, damn!
LIVING ROOM OF MOZART’S APARTMENT.
MOZART: Yes?
LORL: Are you Herr Mozart?
MOZART: That’s right.
LORL: My name is Lorl, sir. I’m a maidservant. I was asked to come here and offer my services to you. They’ll be paid for by a great admirer of yours who wishes to remain anonymous.
MOZART: Is this your idea, papa,?
LEOPOLD: Mine?
MOZART: Are you playing a trick on me?
LEOPOLD: I never saw this girl in my life! Is this some kind of joke?
LORL: Not at all, sir!
LEOPOLD: Young woman, this won’t do at all. My son can’t possibly accept such an offer, no matter how generous, unless he knows who is behind it.
LORL: But I really can’t tell you that, sir.
LEOPOLD: Oh, this is ridiculous!
CONSTANZE: What is ridiculous? Wolfi has many admirers in Vienna. They love him here! People send us gifts all the time!
LEOPOLD: But you cannot possibly accept her without references!
CONSTANZE: Well, this is none of your business. (to LORL) Whoever sent you is going to pay, no?
LORL: That’s right, Ma’am.
LEOPOLD: So now we are going to let a perfect stranger into our house!
CONSTANZE: Who is “we”? Who is letting who? (to LORL) Could you please wait outside?
LORL: Yes, Ma’am.
CONSTANZE: Look, old man. We spend a fortune on you and all you can do is criticize, from morning to night! And then you think you can –
MOZART: Stanzi!
CONSTANZE: No, it’s right he should hear! I’m sick to death of it! We can’t do anything right for you, cawe?
LEOPOLD: You won’t have to do anything for me ever again! I’m leaving!
MOZART: No, Papa!
LEOPOLD: Don’t worry! I’m not going to stay here to be a burden!
MOZART: No one calls you that!
LEOPOLD: She does! She says I sleep all day!
CONSTANZE: And so you do! The only time you come out is to eat!
LEOPOLD: Well what do you expect? Do you expect anyone to walk out into a mess like this every day?
CONSTANZE: Oh, now I’m a bad housekeeper!
LEOPOLD: So you are! The place is a pigsty all the time! Parties every night! Parties all night!
Dinner at eight! Dinner at ten! Dinner when anybody feels like it! If anybody feels like it!
SALIERI’S SALON
LORL: (taking a sweet) Oh, thank you, sir.
SALIERI: Do any pupils come to the house?
LORL: Not that I’ve seen.
SALIERI: Then how does he pay for all this? Does he work at all?
LORL: Oh, yes, sir, all day long! He never leaves the house till evening. He just sits there, writing and writing.
SALIERI: Really? What is it he’s writing?
LORL: I wouldn’t know that, sir.
SALIERI: Of course not. You’re a good girl. You’re very kind to do this. Next time you’re sure they’ll be out of the house, let me know. (He hands her a pile of coins.)
LORL: Thank you, sir!
MOZART’S LIVING ROOM
LORL: I think I’ve found out about the money, sir.
SALIERI: Yes, what?
LORL: He kept seven snuff boxes in here. I could swear they were all gold. And now, look, there’s only one left.
SALIERI: Where does he work?
LORL: In there, sir.
ROSENBERG’S STUDY AT THE OPERA.
SALIERI: Gentlemen, I’ve just heard some news that may be of interest to you.
ROSENBERG: What?
SALIERI: Mozart is writing a new opera. An Italian opera.
ROSENBERG: Italian?
BONNO: Aie!
SALIERI: That’s not all. He has chosen for his subject – Figaro. The Marriage of Figaro.
ROSENBERG: He’s setting that play to music?
SALIERI: Yes.
BONNO: What ees thees “Marriage of Figaro?”
ROSENBERG: It’s a French play, Kapellmeister. It has been banned by the Emperor.
BONNO: Hah!
ROSENBERG: You’re absolutely sure?
THE EMPEROR’S STUDY IN THE ROYAL PALACE
SERVANT: Herr Mozart!
JOSEPH: Gentlemen, sit down. Mozart, are you aware I have declared the French play of ‘Figaro’ unsuitable for our theatre?
MOZART: Yes, Sire.
JOSEPH: Yet we hear you are making an opera from it. Is this true?
MOZART: Who told you this, Majesty?
JOSEPH: It is not your place to ask questions. Is it true?
MOZART: Well, yes. I admit it is.
JOSEPH: Would you tell me why?
MOZART: Well, Majesty, it is only a comedy!
ROSENBERG: What you think, Herr Mozart, is scarcely the point. It is what His Majesty thinks that counts!
MOZART: But, Your Majesty.
JOSEPH: Mozart, I am a tolerant man. I do not censor things lightly. When I do, I have good reason. ‘Figaro’ is a bad play. It stirs up hatred between the classes. In France it has caused nothing but bitterness. My own dear sister Antoinette writes me that she is beginning to be frightened of her own people.
MOZART: Sire, I swear to Your Majesty, there’s nothing like that in the piece. I have taken out everything that could give offence! I hate politics!
JOSEPH: I am afraid you are rather innocent, my friend. In these dangerous times I cannot afford to provoke our Nobles or Our People, simply over a theatre piece.
MOZART: Majesty, this is just a frolic! It’s a piece about love!
JOSEPH: Love again.
MOZART: And it’s new, it’s entirely new! It’s so new that people will go mad for it! I have scenes.The end of the second act, for example. It starts out with a simple duet. A husband and a wife quarelling. Suddenly the wife’s scheming little maid comes in, a very funny situation! duet turns into trio! Then the husband’s valet comes in. He’s plotting with the maid. Trio turns into quartet! Then a stupid old gardener comes in. Quartet becomes quintet. And so on! On and on. Sextet! Septet! Octet! How long do you think I can sustain that, Majesty?
JOSEPH: I have no idea.
MOZART: Guess! Guess, Your Majesty! Imagine the longest time such a thing could be sustained and then double it!
JOSEPH: Well, six, seven minutes. Eight minutes.
MOZART: Twenty, sire! Twenty minutes! Twenty minutes of continuous music. No recitatives!
MOZART: Sire, only opera can do this! In a play, if more than one person speaks at the same time, it’s just noise! No one can understand a word. But with music, with music, you can have twenty individuals all talking at the same time, and it’s not noise, it’s a perfect harmony!
VAN SWIETEN: Mozart, music is not the issue here! No one doubts your talent. It is your judgement of literature that’s in question. Even with the politics taken out, this thing would still remain a vulgar farce. Why waste your spirit on such rubbish? Surely you can choose more elevated themes?
MOZART: Elevated. Elevated. What does that mean? Elevated. I am fed up to the teeth with elevated things! Old dead legends! Why must we go on forever writing only about gods and legends?
VAN SWIETEN: Because they do! They go on forever, at least what they represent! The Eternal in us. Opera is here to ennoble us, Mozart! You and me, just the same as his Majesty.
BONNO: Bello! Bello, Barone! Veramente!
MOZART: Oh, bello! Bello! Bello! Come on now, be honest! Which of you wouldn’t rather listen to your hairdressers than Hercules? Or Horatius? Or Orpheus! People so lofty they sound as if they shit marble!
VAN SWIETEN: What?
STRACK: Govern your tongue, Mozart! How dare you?
MOZART: Forgive me, Majesty. I’m a vulgar man. But I assure you, my music is not!
JOSEPH: You are passionate, Mozart, but you do not persuade.
MOZART: Sire, the whole opera is finished! Do you know how much work went into it?
BONNO: His Majesty has been more than patient, Signore!
MOZART: How can I persuade you if you won’t let me show it?
ROSENBERG: That will do, Herr Mozart!
MOZART: Just let me tell you how it begins! May I just do that, Majesty? Show you how it begins? Just that?
JOSEPH: Please.
MOZART: Look! There’s a servant, down on his knees! Do you know why? Not from any oppression. No, because he’s measuring a space. Do you know what for? His bed. His wedding bed, to see if it will fit!
SALIERI’S SALON
ROSENBERG: Well, Mozart is already rehearsing.
SALIERI: In that case, gentlemen, I think we should help Mozart all we can, and do our best to protect him against the Emperor’s anger.
ROSENBERG: What anger?
SALIERI: About the ballet.
ROSENBERG: What ballet?
SALIERI: Excuse me, didn’t His Majesty specifically forbid the ballet in his opera?
THE OPERA HOUSE
ROSENBERG: Mozart! Herr Mozart! A word with you please. Now.
MOZART: Certainly, Herr Director. Five minutes please.
ROSENBERG: Did you not know that His Majesty has expressly forbidden ballet in his operas?
MOZART: Yes, but this is not a ballet. This is a dance at Figaro’s wedding.
ROSENBERG: Exactly. A dance.
MOZART: Surely his Majesty didn’t mean to prohibit dancing when it’s part of the story.
ROSENBERG: It is dangerous for you to interpret His Majesty’s edicts. Give me your score, please. Thank you.
MOZART: What are you doing? Herr Director, what are you doing?
ROSENBERG: Taking out what you should never have put in!
SALIERI’S SALON
SERVANT: Herr Mozart!
MOZART: Please! Please! I’ve no one else to turn to! Please!
SALIERI: What is it?
MOZART: It’s unbelievable! The Director has actually torn up a huge section of my music! They say I have to rewrite the opera, but it’s perfect as it is! I can’t rewrite what’s perfect! Can’t you talk to him?
SALIERI: Why bother with Rosenberg? He’s obviously no friend of yours.
MOZART: I could kill him! I mean really kill him! I actually threw the entire score on the fire, he made me so angry!
SALIERI: You burned the score?
MOZART; Oh no! My wife took it out in time!
SALIERI: Thank God.
MOZART: It’s not fair that a man like that should have power over our work!
SALIERI: But there are those who have power over him. I think I’ll take this up with the Emperor.
MOZART: Excellency, would you?
SALIERI: With all my heart, Mozart.
MOZART: Thank you! Oh, thank you! (He kisses SALIERI’s hand.)
SALIERI: No, no, no, Herr Mozart, please! It’s not a holy relic!
OLD SALIERI’S HOSPITAL ROOM
OLD SALIERI: I don’t need to tell you I said whatever to the Emperor. I went to the theatre ready to tell Mozart something, anything when suddenly, in the middle of the Third Act, to my astonishment, the Emperor, who never attended rehearsals, suddenly appeared!
OPERA HOUSE. DAY
JOSEPH: What is this? I don’t understand. Is it modern?
BONNO: Majesty, the Herr Director, he has removed una balleto that would have occurred at thees place.
JOSEPH: Why?
ROSENBERG: It is your regulation, Sire. No ballet in your opera.
JOSEPH: Salieri, do you like this?
SALIERI: It is not a question of liking, Majesty. Your own law decrees it, I’m afraid.
JOSEPH: Well, look at them! No, no, no! This is nonsense! Let me see the scene with the music.
ROSENBERG: But, Sire.
JOSEPH: Oblige me.
ROSENBERG: Yes, Majesty. Can we see the scene with the music back, please?
MOZART: Certainly! Certainly, Herr Director! Pater, bring the palisette back in please.
OLD SALIERI’S HOSPITAL ROOM
OLD SALIERI: The restored Third Act was bold and brilliant. The Fourth – was astounding!
OPERA HOUSE.
A performance of The Marriage of Figaro.
OLD SALIERI: (voice over) I saw a woman disguised in her maid’s clothes, hear her husband speak the first tender words he has offered her in years, simply because he things she is someone else. I heard the music of true forgiveness filling the theatre. Conferring on all who sat there a perfect absolution God was singing through this little man to all the world – unstoppable! Making my defeat more bitter with every passing bar! And then do you know what happened? A miracle! (During the performance the Emperor yawns.) With that yawn I saw my defeat turn into a victory! And Mozart was lucky the Emperor yawned only once. Three yawns and the opera would fail the same night! Two yawns – within a week at most. With one yawn the composer could still get –
SALIERI’S SALON
MOZART: That’s all it’s had – and withdrawn!
SALIERI: I know, it’s outrageous. Still, if the public doesn’t like one’s work one has to accept the fact gracefully.
MOZART: But what is it that they don’t like?
SALIERI: I can speak for the Emperor. You made too many demands on the royal ear! The poor man can’t concentrate for more than an hour – you gave him four.
MOZART: What did you think of it yourself? Did you like it at all?
SALIERI: I thought it was marvelous.
MOZART: Of course, it’s the best opera yet written! I know it! Why didn’t they come?
SALIERI: I think you overestimate our dear Viennese, my friend. Do you know you didn’t even give them a good bang at the end of songs, to let them know when to clap?
MOZART: I know, I know. Maybe you should give me some lessons in that!
SALIERI: I wouldn’t presume! Nevertheless, at the risk of imposing, I would like you to see my new piece. It would be a tremendous honour for me.
MOZART: Oh no, the honour would be all mine!
SALIERI: Grazie, Wolfgang!
MOZART: Grazie, a lei! Signor Antonio!
OPERA HOUSE
A performance of SALIERI’s Grand Opera
JOSEPH: I believe that is the best opera yet written, my friends! Salieri, you are the brightest star in the musical firmament! You do honour to Vienna and to me!
SALIERI bows his head. JOSEPH places the chain around his neck. The crowd all flock to SALIERI. MOZART stands there. SALIERI moves to him.
SALIERI: Mozart! It was good of you to come!
MOZART: How could I not?
SALIERI: Did my work please you?
MOZART: I never knew that music like that was possible.
SALIERI: You flatter me.
MOZART: No, no! One hears such sounds – and what can one say, but – Salieri!
SALIERI smiles.
LIVING ROOM OF MOZART’S APARTMENT
MOZART and SCHICKANEDER enter the apartment, drunk, with three actresses.
MOZART: Oh! Everybody’s here! And we’ve got guests! Good! I’ve brought some more! We’ll have a little party! Come in. You remember my excellent friend Herr SCHICKANEDER. This is….a very nice girl. And this is….another very nice girl.
CONSTANZE: Wolfi.
MOZART: Yes, my love?
CONSTANZE: These gentlemen are from Salzburg.
MOZART: Salzburg! We were just talking about Salzburg!
CONSTANZE: Wolfi! – Your father is dead.
OPERA HOUSE
A performance of Don Giovanni.
THE COMMENDATORE: (singing) Don Giovanni!
OLD SALIERI: (voice over) So rose the dreadful ghost in his next and blackest opera! There on stage stood the figure of the dead commander! And I knew – only I understood – that the horrifying apparition was Leopold – raised from the dead! Wolfgang had actually summoned up his own father to accuse his son before all the world! It was terrifying and wonderful to watch!
OLD SALIERI’S HOSPITAL ROOM
OLD SALIERI: Now a madness began in me! The madness of a man splitting in half! 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 sound I alone seemed to hear. As I stood there, understanding how that bitter old man was still possessing his poor son even from beyond the grave, I began to see a way, a terrible way, I could finally triumph over God.
MOZART’S LIVING ROOM
MOZART sits writing at a table. He appears to be quite sick. There is a gentle knock at the door. It is SALIERI dressed as the ghost from Don Giovanni.
SALIERI: Herr Mozart? I have come to commission work from you.
MOZART: What work?
SALIERI: A Mass for the dead.
MOZART: What dead? Who is dead?
SALIERI: A man who deserved a Requiem Mass and never got one.
MOZART: Who are you?
SALIERI: I am only a messenger. You accept it. You will be well paid. Do you accept? (He hands him a bag of money. MOZART accepts it.)
SALIERI: Work fast. And be sure – tell no one what you do! You will see me again soon.
CONSTANZE opens the door from the bedroom.
CONSTANZE: Wolfi!
OLD SALIERI’S HOSPITAL ROOM
OLD SALIERI: My plan was so simple, it terrified me! First I must get the Death Mass and then I must achieve his death!
VOGLER: What?
OLD SALIERI: His funeral – imagine it! The Cathedral, all Vienna sitting there! His coffin, Mozart’s little coffin in the middle! And then, in that silence, music! A divine music bursts out over them all. A great Mass of Death! Requiem Mass for Wolfgang Mozart, composed by his devoted friend Antonio Salieri! What sublimity! What depth! What passion in the music! Salieri has been touched by God at last! And God – forced to listen! Powerless, powerless to stop it! I for once, in the end, laughing at Him.
The only thing that worried me was the actual killing. How does one do that? How does one kill a man? It’s one thing to dream about it. It’s very different when you have to do it, with your own hands.
SCHICKANEDER’S THEATRE
A parody performance of Don Giovanni.
SCHICKANEDER: Well, what do you think of that?
MOZART: Wonderful! (Pointing to his baby son.) He liked the little people, didn’t you?
SCHICKANEDER: Yes, well, it’s all good fun!
MOZART: I liked the horse.
SCHICKANEDER: I tell you, if you’d played ‘Don Giovanni’ here you would have had a wonderful success. You belong here, my boy. Not in the snobby Court! You could do anything you like – the more fantastic the better! That’s what people want – fantasy! You write a proper part for me. A couple of catchy songs. I guarantee you a triumph deluxe.
MOZART: So, what do you say?
CONSTANZE: How much will you pay him?
SCHICKANEDER: Ah. Well. I see you’ve got your manager with you! Well, Madame. How about half the receipts?
MOZART: Half receipts! Stanzi!
CONSTANZE: I’m talking about now. How much will you pay him now? Down payment?
SCHICKANEDER: Down payment? Who do you think I am? The Emperor? Whoops, I have to go! You’ll enjoy this next part.
CONSTANZE: You’re not going to do this?
MOZART: Why not? Half the house!
CONSTANZE: When? Either he pays now, or you don’t do it!
MOZART: Oh, Stanzi!
CONSTANZE: I don’t trust this man. And I didn’t like what he did with your opera! It was common!
MOZART: (to his son) Well, you liked it, didn’t you? Monkey-punki-flunki!
CONSTANZE: Half the house! You’ll never see a penny! I want it here, in my hand.
MOZART: Stanzi-manzi. I’ll put it here, in your hand!
CONSTANZE: Shut up! I’ll not let you put anything in my hand until I see some money!
LIVING ROOM OF MOZART’S APARTMENT
CONSTANZE: Wolfi! W!
(An enormous bang at the door surprises him. CONSTANZE moves to open it.
MOZART: Don’t answer it!
CONSTANZE: Why?
MOZART: Tell him I’m not here! Tell him I’m working on it! Come back later!
MOZART goes to back room. CONSTANZE answers the door. SCHICKANEDER is standing there.
SCHICKANEDER: Am I interrupting something?
CONSTANZE: No.
SCHICKANEDER: Where’s our friend?
CONSTANZE: He’s not here. But he’s working on it. He told me to tell you.
SCHICKANEDER: Is this it? What the devil’s this? Requiem Mass? Does he think I’m in the funeral business?
MOZART: Leave that alone!
SCHICKANEDER: Wolfi!
MOZART: Put it down!
SCHICKANEDER: What is this?
MOZART: Put it down, I said! It’s nothing for you.
SCHICKANEDER: Oh! I’m sorry! What have you got for me? Is it finished?
MOZART: What?
SCHICKANEDER: The Vaudeville, what’d you think?
MOZART: Yes.