A Playwright Looks at Mozart: Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus

Gianakaris, C. J.

doi:10.1353/cdr.1981.0003

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Mozart's original music "marked the dawning of a new musical freedom". "His music", as Gianakaris (1981) puts it, "was unsettling to audiences, patrons, and other musicians of the day who were accustomed to one particular set of conventions-and to conventionality" (p. 40). As Rosenberg says that Mozart puts "too much spice" and "too many notes" in his music (Shaffer, 2001, p. 22).…”

Section: Mozart and His Musicmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is the historical time Mozart belongs to that enhances his disaster. As mentioned, Mozart lives at the Age of Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, the tenant of which, as Gianakaris (1981) writes, "included supreme faith in rational man and in the universally valid principles that governed humanity, nature and society" (p. 40). However, the sudden giggling and vulgarity of Shaffer's Mozart demonstrate his infantile personality and arbitrary lifestyle, all of which violate the basic principles of being a "normal" or "rational" man.…”

Section: Mozart and His Musicmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, "In an Age of Reason", as Gianakaris (1981) puts it, "he [Mozart] was an aberration whose potential artistic success became an offense to the grand order of the universe" (p. 40). The author believes that Shaffer, to rationalize Mozart unfortunate experience, exaggerates the musician's abnormality.…”

Section: The Scapegoatmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Infamous Fame: Shaffer’s Tactic in Amadeus

Yang¹

2014

JLAS

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one of the greatest musicians in the world, enchants people across eras with his fabulous music. Peter Shaffer, in Amadeus (2001), depicts the mysterious life and death of this musician in a very different way. Instead of presenting an intelligent and refined artist, Shaffer, from the perspective of his rival, Antonio Salieri, gives us a "foul-mouthed, immature jackanapes" that shocks his audiences in the theatre. Lady Thatcher's displeased response after seeing the play tells the gap between Shaffer's Mozart and the Mozart image in most public's mind. However, the image of the vulgar Mozart, though a contrast to his music, lights up the uniqueness of his music at the age of Enlightenment. The paper, aims to analyze the difference in Mozart's music, and the different Mozart character Shaffer presents in his play by drawing on René Girard's notion of collective violence and scapegoat mechanism. Also, the author intends to examine the playwright's intention and exegesis as he composes this mysterious musician in such a different way.

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Section: Mozart and His Musicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mozart and His Musicmentioning

confidence: 99%