Amadeus as Opera

When: Oct. 4–6
Where: Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, 345 Washington St., St. Paul, 651-291-1144

Peter Shaffer’s play and movie Amadeus was not the first work of art to explore the relationship between Wolfgang Mozart and his contemporary and rival Antonio Salieri. The nineteenth-century writer Alexander Pushkin dealt with the same subject in his play Mozart and Salieri. But when Pushkin was writing the play in 1826, it was still very much a contemporary subject—Salieri had been dead for only a year. In 1898, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov adapted the play into an opera, which is getting a rare concert performance by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in October.

It is obvious that Shaffer knew Pushkin’s play when he wrote Amadeus, as they deal with the story in much the same way. Salieri is a dedicated but mediocre composer envious of Mozart’s genius, especially given Mozart’s flippant and frivolous attitude toward the sacred art of making music. In this version, Salieri poisons Mozart as a kind of divine retribution.

Mozart and Salieri is a perfect opera for an orchestra, as there is no real action to be compromised by a concert performance. It is primarily a succession of monologues and discussions, extensive ruminations by Salieri on the nature of art, and good-natured arguments that Mozart refuses to take seriously.

The cerebral nature of the work is reflected in the composition. The music is sublimated to Pushkin’s ideas. Despite the paucity of melodic invention, Rimsky-Korsakov’s music adds nobility to even the most venal of Salieri’s utterances.

Given the supremacy of words, SPCO has been wise to engage Russian-speaking singers for this performance. Russian tenor Daniil Shtoda, who plays Mozart, is a member of the famed Kirov Opera in St. Petersburg and is an up-and-coming international star. His dashing good looks can’t but help his portrayal of the superficial Mozart. Celebrated Russian-American bass Mikhail Svetlov plays Salieri. He is known for his outstanding acting ability, which will serve him well in this emotionally complex role.

The opera itself is only thirty-five-minutes long and makes up the second half of the evening’s concert. In a brilliant bit of programming, the first half features a Mozart symphony and a Salieri piano concerto. Audiences will have the opportunity to judge for themselves the relative merits of the two composers.