Amadeus won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1984. It's the tale of composer Antonio Salieri, a man who wishes only to honor God through music -- but whose own capacity for creativity falls woefully short in comparison to his brilliant contemporary, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Offended by Mozart's crass and irreverent behavior, Salieri seeks to avenge himself on the callous God that blessed the unworthy and mocks at every turn.
This is a movie near to my heart, by way of the original play by Peter Shaffer on which it was based. Back in my college days, I was in a production of that play. It was arguably the best work of my short and abandoned theatrical career; in any case, it remains a time I look back on fondly. Shaffer rewrote the play entirely for the screen, turning an award-winning play into an award-winning film. Both are triumphs in their own mediums, though it is my connection to the play that compelled me to seek out the Colorado Symphony Orchestra's screening of the film.
The musical score of Amadeus is comprised entirely of previously existing material -- works of Mozart and Salieri (with a smattering of other contemporary music). As a result, you'd expect this concert to be more akin to what you'd expect of a typical night at the symphony. But the soundtrack of Amadeus is hardly as simple as "now we'll play Don Giovanni; now we'll play The Magic Flute." The music is all very carefully curated and laid into the action just so, and the movie itself makes deliberate space for it.
Synchronization is important every time the symphony performs a film, but it's even more so here. Original vocals in the film were retained throughout -- for example, when we would see sequences from an opera performance. With only rare exceptions, the accompanying music was always performed live. Tom Hulce as Mozart would wave his hands on screen, furiously conducting his musicians, as Brett Mitchell of the CSO would just as intensely conduct the real ones in perfect unison.
Several key scenes in the movie really get inside Mozart's music and pick it apart, and seeing this happen live was a real treat. As Salieri would discuss the way a phrase on the oboe would hand off to the clarinet, you'd see and hear it happen right there on the stage. As Salieri would page through portfolio's of Mozart's music, the orchestra would turn in an instant and play samples of each new page. Whenever Salieri would monologue about what made Mozart's music so great, he'd point to things that you could witness right there in front of you.
A climactic scene at the end of the movie was as special a moment as I can ever recall at the symphony. Salieri agrees to take dictation for an ailing Mozart, writing out a piece line by line. It's a scene that frankly I'd say goes on a bit too long in the movie; it quickly makes its dramatic point about Salieri's emotional response, yet continues on for several minutes. But here, in this unusual concert venue, it was an extraordinary moment that ended all too soon. Mozart would name the instrument and speak the notes; Salieri would begin to write them, and the live symphony orchestra would take it up and play it. You very literally got to see how each component of a celebrated piece is layered together, bit by bit.
You also got to be chilled to your core by the power of a 140+ member chorus included for this performance. In past film score concerts, choirs have been routinely left out -- either the few bits of vocals in a score were actually omitted, or a substitution was made with a musician playing the part on a synthesizer. But they'd never dream of doing this to Mozart, of course. The choir made an already special evening that much more so with its raw power and raw emotion.
Every time I go to the symphony for a film presentation, I end up writing about it here, urging people to give one a try some time. I have never been disappointed. On this occasion, I was truly overwhelmed. So once again: give one a try some time, at the Colorado Symphony Orchestra or whatever orchestra performs near you.
No comments:
Post a Comment