Overture Magazine 2019-20 BSO_Overture_Jan Feb | Page 17

Figaro’s tenderly repentant duet, in which
the philandering Count begs forgiveness
from the Countess at the end of the opera.
In Schaffer’s script, Mozart is very fearful
of his overbearing father, Leopold, and
after his death conflates him with the
ghost of the murdered Commendatore in
Don Giovanni. That opera’s spectacular
last scene in which the statue of the
Commendatore drags Giovanni down
to hell receives a half terrifying, half
humorous performance here.
The most powerful fusion of drama
with music comes near the film’s end when
the dying Mozart dictates portions of the
Requiem to Salieri, who hopes to be able to
claim it afterwards as his own. There is no
more fictional moment in the movie than
this. We know today that the mysterious
stranger who commissioned Mozart’s
final work was not Salieri, but the amateur
musician Count Franz Walsegg-Stuppach,
who indeed did wish to steal the work’s
authorship. And any last dictation Mozart
undertook was given to his two pupils
Joseph Eybler and Franz Xaver Süssmayr,
who actually completed the score.
But if the facts are wrong, truth
nevertheless lies within. This scene gives
us a fascinating glimpse into the process
of composition—here spoken aloud by
two skilled musicians. Phrase by phrase,
it is created; the music pours forth from
the screen in all its glory. No film has
ever succeeded in exploring the mystery
of musical creation as deeply or vividly as
does this scene.
Salieri’s last words in the film drive
home the bitter truth that he has learned
from his encounter with genius. “I am the
patron saint of mediocrities,” he proclaims,
as he ironically blesses the other members
of the asylum. Over the closing credits,
the sublime serenity of Mozart’s Piano
Concerto No. 22 provides the consolation.

Instrumentation: Two flutes including recorder
and piccolo, two oboes including English horn,
two clarinets, two basset horns, two bassoons,
two horns, two trumpets, three trombones,
timpani, percussion, harp, piano, celesta, organ
Peabody Symphony Orchestra
Wednesday, March 11 at 7:30 pm • Shriver Hall
Joseph Young, conductor
Patrick Andrew Thompson: Through A Glass, Darkly
Giuseppi Verdi: Ballet Music from Macbeth, Act III
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64
Reserve your FREE seats at peabody.jhu.edu/events
or by calling 667-208-6620.
BALTIMORE CHORAL ARTS PRESENTS
MONTEVERDI
VESPERS
Sunday, March 1, 2020 at 3 pm
Shriver Hall Auditorium, The Johns Hopkins University, Homewood Campus
• Baltimore Baroque Band, Peabody’s Baroque Orchestra, Dr. John Moran
and Risa Browder, co-directors
• Peabody Renaissance Ensemble, Mark Cudek, director
• Washington Cornett and Sackbutt Ensemble, Michael Holmes, director
• Maryland Institute College of Art, James Rovell and Lili Maya, project director
In Baltimore Choral Arts’ second collaboration with MICA, Project Directors
James Rouvelle & Lili Maya and their students will add multi-sensory images to
this 1610 Baroque masterpiece.
Claudio Monteverdi
Vespro della Beata Vergine
Call 410.523.7070 or visit www.BaltimoreChoralArts.org
and strings.
Notes by Janet E. Bedell, © 2020
ANTHONY BLAKE CLARK
Music Director

JA N – F E B 2020 / OV E R T U R E
15