Stage Centre Productions' Amadeus

 "Eternal sunshine in music – thy name is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart."

Ahh, but there was a darker side to the gifted composer and that is the story Peter Schaffer tells in his Tony Award winning 1980 play Amadeus. Schaffer's premise is that rival court composer Antonio Salieri (1750-1825) is envious of Mozart's prodigious talent and makes a deathbed confession that he had something to do with Mozart's untimely death at the age of 31.

 As presented in the play Mozart is not entirely likable: a foul-mouthed upstart who thinks nothing of taking Salieri's march of welcome and with a few changes transforming it into the aria Non Piu Andrai for his opera The Marriage of Figaro. This sets up the dichotomy: Salieri's music is simple and popular with the masses. Mozart's complex pieces while appreciated by the emperor Franz Joseph and his court, are seldom heard after their initial performances. 

 Salieri knows that Mozart has the gift and nothing he can do will change how history comes to view their respective outputs. This part at least s true: the catalogues today are filled with multiple recordings of Mozart's music and only a small handful of Salieri's pieces have remained in the repertoire.

 It's a fascinating play, and the ensemble at Stage Centre Productions had done their usual top-notch job of interpreting the work.  Brad Emes has a field day portraying the impish Mozart, blithely unaware of his musical gifts.  He is paired with Amber Steinman who creates a believable portrait of what could be a fairly two-dimensional role as his doting wife Constanze.

 But Amadeus is above all Salieri's story and Roger Kell commands the stage from start to finish in one of those performances that earns standing ovations. He successfully navigates the change from aged to less aged mainly through body language, aided by a wig and a dressing gown.

 L.Garth Allen has staged the piece as a series of fluid scenes dissolving in cinematic fashion as the cast whisk on and off carrying furniture and props. The recorded musical passages come from commercial recordings of Mozart's operas and orchestral works but the sound levels could use some more attention particularly as pieces stop and start rather abruptly. 

 Fortunately the cast could project the dialogue above all but the loudest passages, and overall this Amadeus is consistently hitting all the right notes. 

 

 Amadeus continues at Fairview Library Theatre until Saturday May 19. Evening performances are Wednesday to Saturday at 8 Pm with a 2 PM matinee on Sunday May 13. All seats are $25 and available online at www.stagecentreproductions.com or by calling (416) 299-5557.

 

 

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