Peter Shaffer

Ambition and jealousy - all set to music. Devout court composer Antonio Salieri plots against his rival, the dissolute but supremely talented Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. How far will Salieri go to achieve the fame that Mozart disregards? The 1981 Tony Award ® winner for Best Play. Recorded before a live audience at the UCLA James Bridges Theater in September, 2016. Directed by Rosalind Ayres Producing Director Susan Albert Loewenberg Steven Brand...

Adapted from Shaffer's play, the film presents the life of Antonio Salieri, a mediocre 18th century Viennese composer obsessed with and jealous of the musical genius of the age: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Adapted from Shaffer's play, the film presents the life of Antonio Salieri, a mediocre 18th century Viennese composer obsessed with and jealous of the musical genius of the age, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

When Mozart arrives at the court of Emperor Joseph II, court composer Antonio Salieri is horrified to discover that the godlike musical gifts he desires himself have been bestowed on a bawdy joker. Mad with envy, he plots to destroy Mozart by any means.