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Amadeus is the title of both a stage play and a film written in 1979 by Peter Shaffer, both loosely based on the lives of the composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. , a short play by Aleksandr Pushkin (later adapted into an opera by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov).

The title refers to a name that Mozart often used (he was baptized as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart) as a pen name. It is a Latinization of the Greek Theophilus, which Mozart sometimes also Germanized as "Gottlieb." All three names mean "God-lover" or "Loved by God" and, aside from being a direct reference to Mozart, the title serves as an ironic reference to Salieri's relationship with God in the play and film (see the plot section, below, for more detail).

Shaffer uses English to stand in for German throughout the play and film. That is, whenever the characters are speaking in English, the audience is to understand that they are speaking vernacular German. Indeed, even operas with libretti in German, such as ) are translated into English, so as to maintain this concept. Italian opera lyrics, on the other hand, are sung in the original to preserve their "foreign-ness" within the story.

The play, and to a much larger extent the film, make use of Mozart's music (as well as that of a few other composers, including Salieri). The film famously opens with the powerful "Allegro con brio" from Mozart's . The film's score was performed by The Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, conducted by Sir Neville Marriner.

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There are some important differences between the screenplay and the stage play, notably the number and treatment of scenes without Salieri in them, the portrayal of Emperor Joseph II, Emanuel Schikaneder, and Baron van Swieten, Mozart's relationship with the Masons, and the finale.

the theatrical production tells Mozart's story from the point of view of the court composer Antonio Salieri, who is presented as a caricature of jealous mediocrity. Salieri speaks directly to the audience at many times during the play, his soliloquies serving to move the timeline forward and back, and to narrate the goings on. In the film, Shaffer employs an interlocutor (a young priest) for Salieri to achieve this same function, but the film is told from a more neutral, third-person perspective and there are more scenes without Salieri in them (especially in the Director's Cut). Most of the film, and much of the play, are presented in retrospective.

At the opening of the tale, Salieri has not met Mozart in person, but has heard of him and his music. He adores Mozart's compositions, and is thrilled at the chance to meet Mozart in person, during a salon at which both of their compositions will be played. When he finally does catch sight of Mozart, however, he is deeply disappointed to find that Mozart's personality does not match the grace or charm of his compositions: Mozart is crawling around on his hands and knees, engaging in an immature dialogue with Constanze Weber (who would later become his wife). As Mozart himself later explains: "I am a vulgar man. But... my music is not."

Salieri cannot reconcile Mozart's boorish behavior with the massive genius that God has inexplicably bestowed upon him. Indeed, Salieri, who has been a devout Catholic all his life, cannot believe that God would choose Mozart over him for such a gift. Salieri rejects God and vows to do everything in his power to destroy Mozart.

Throughout much of the rest of the play and film, Salieri masquerades as Mozart's ally to his face, while at the same time doing his utmost to destroy his reputation and any success his compositions may have. On more than one occasion it is only the direct intervention of the emperor himself that allows Mozart to continue (interventions which Salieri opposes, and then is all too happy to take credit for when Mozart assumes it was he who intervened). Salieri also humiliates Mozart's wife when she comes to Salieri for aid, and smears Mozart's character with the emperor and the court. A major theme in is Mozart's repeated attempts to win over the aristocratic "public" with increasingly brilliant compositions, which are always frustrated either by Salieri or by the aristocracy's own inability to appreciate Mozart's genius.

At this point, the film and the play diverge.

In the play, only Baron van Swieten (who early in the story inducts Mozart into the Brotherhood of the Freemasons) continues to support Mozart. Indeed, by the end of the play, Mozart is surviving solely because of the charity of his brother Masons. Finally, Salieri convinces Mozart (who by this time is half-crazed from frustration and poverty) to compose an opera based on the mythos of the Masons. As a result, Mozart produces the comedy . Van Swieten is horrified to see that Mozart has, in his opinion, parodied the venerated traditions of Freemasonry. He summarily removes Mozart from the Masons. Meanwhile, Mozart's partner in the production of , Emanuel Schikaneder, cheats Mozart out of most of his share of the ticket proceeds.

Now thoroughly destroyed and without recourse, Mozart simply wastes away and dies, still at work on his

In the film, however, the above does not occur. Instead, the film uses that time to focus on Mozart's relationships with his father, Leopold (whom he worships and fears), and his wife, which are rather tense and erratic, respectively. As the film moves on, Mozart learns of his father's death and composes the operatic masterpiece , in part as a tribute to him. Salieri avows that it was the finest opera he had ever seen, yet he uses his influence to make sure it closes after only five performances.

Following this, Salieri hatches a plan to con Mozart to compose a requiem, after which Salieri will kill him and claim the composition as his own. Even better, he reasons, he will then perform "Salieri's Requiem" at Mozart's own funeral, thus demonstrating to the world the inspiration that his true and devoted friendship with Mozart had given him. Salieri dons a disguise and anonymously commissions the composition from Mozart.

Meanwhile, Mozart's friend Emanuel Schikaneder has put on a parody of at a local music hall, which Mozart finds charming. It has also been a great success. Schikaneder convinces Mozart to write an opera "for the people," who will appreciate his work more than the staid aristocrats for whom he usually composes. Mozart agrees, and composes is a big success, but during the initial performance, Mozart (who is conducting from the keyboard) falls ill and is taken home by Salieri. There, Salieri pushes Mozart to continue work on his requiem, despite the fact that Mozart is barely conscious.

At this point, Schikaneder shows up at Mozart's door, and faithfully gives Mozart's share of the opera's proceeds to Salieri, who shoos him away. Salieri then returns to Mozart and gives him the money, saying that it came from the man who commissioned the requiem, and that there will be more if Mozart can finish the piece hastily. Mozart therefore asks Salieri to assist him in completing the composition, as he is too sick to write. Salieri transcribes what Mozart tells to him, and the beauty of Mozart's is slowly revealed to the audience (and Salieri himself). After some time, Mozart pauses to thank Salieri for being such a good friend, admitting that he had always felt, deep down, that Salieri did not like his music. Touched in spite of himself, Salieri candidly replies: "I tell you, you are the greatest composer known to me."

The next day, Mozart is dead. He is buried in an unmarked mass grave, his

It is a known fact that Shaffer took dramatic license in his portrayals of both Mozart and Salieri. There is some debate, however, as to just how much. While there seems to have been some antipathy between Mozart and Salieri, the idea that Salieri was in fact the instigator of Mozart's demise is not given academic credence. Indeed, while there may have been real rivalry between Mozart and Salieri, there is also evidence that they enjoyed a relationship marked by mutual respect for one another's talents.

Many people (especially classical music critics and experts) feel that Shaffer's portrayal of Mozart as petulant and loutish is unfair. Others, though, point to surviving letters by and about Mozart for examples of his brutal and sometimes profane sense of humor, his arrogance, his stubbornness, and penchant for juvenile indulgences. It is also well known that Mozart was a terrible money manager and suffered from large debts, as shown in . Additionally, Mozart's relationship with his father as portrayed in the film seems to be accurate, judging from the subtext of their letters to each other.

As for Salieri, he is portrayed in as sexually frustrated due to a vow of celibacy that he took in childhood. In real life, he made no such vow; he was married and the father of eight children.

Recent studies suggest that Mozart died of some form of rheumatic fever (possibly aggravated by overwork and heavy drinking), and not from any poison. A similar fate befell Felix Mendelssohn who also demonstrated prodigal gifts for composing - and, like Mozart, did not survive to his 40th birthday.

The 1980 Broadway performance of the play starred Ian McKellen as Salieri and Tim Curry as Mozart. Both actors were nominated for Tony Awards, and McKellen ended up winning. The play itself was also nominated for costume design (John Bury), and it also won awards for director Peter Hall, best play, lighting designer, and scenic designer, both of which were done by John Bury as well.

The play was revived in 2000, and won Tony Awards for best revival and best actor (David Suchet).

In 1984, Miloš Forman directed the screen version of which featured F. Murray Abraham and Tom Hulce as Salieri and Mozart; as in the Broadway production, both lead actors competed for the annual award for Best Actor. The film won eight Academy Awards that year, for Best Picture, Best Actor (F. Murray Abraham), Director (Miloš Forman), Art Direction (Patrizia von Brandenstein and Karel Cerny), Costume Design, Best Makeup, Best Sound, and Adapted Screenplay (Shaffer). It was the inspiration for Falco's song "Rock Me Amadeus."

A young Kenneth Branagh was originally cast to play Mozart in the film, but was replaced by Hulce at the eleventh hour.

The film version was shot on location in Prague and Vienna. In fact, Forman was able to shoot scenes in the Tyl Theatre, where reached #56 on Billboard's album charts, making it one of the most popular recordings of classical music ever. All of the tracks were composed by Mozart, save an early Hungarian folk tune and the final movement "Quando Corpus Morietur et Amen" by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, from his famous . It should be noted, however, that the film features some music that is not included on the original soundtrack album release. As stated above, except where specified, all tracks were performed by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, conducted by Sir Neville Marriner, and all were performed specifically for use in the film.

Disc One:

2. Stabat Mater; Quando Corpus Morietur and Amen (Pergolesi - performed by the Choristers of Westminster Abbey, directed by Simon Preston