The
Mozart/Salieri rivalry mentioned last time and the false rumors that Salieri
poisoned Mozart inspired many creative works in years to come, thus causing
more people to believe the over-exaggerated story. One example includes
Alexander Pushkin’s 1830 play, Mozart and
Salieri. Rimsky-Korsakov wrote an opera based on this play in 1897.
The
more popular influence from these historical rumors occurred in the 1984 film Amadeus. The film begins with the
elderly Salieri housed in an insane asylum, confessing his sins in relation to
the deceased Mozart. The story is a tale of jealousy and hatred, again
over-exaggerating the rivalry for which historians do not have a strong
foundation.
