Antonio Salieri is a pious, conscientious man—and the greatest composer in the Austrian Empire. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a young, foolish show-off—and apparently no threat. Except that Salieri can hear what no one else can: this ridiculous boy is perhaps the greatest musical genius ever to have lived. How can God have played such a trick on Salieri? To reward his devotion by rubbing his nose in his own mediocrity? There is only one possible revenge: God’s beloved, Amadeus, must be destroyed. This story of genius and the price it extracts is one of the greatest and most ravishing experiences in theatrical history.
