Alexander Pushkin and Peter Shaffer

Peter Shaffer never mentioned Alexander Pushkin in his Preface for the American version of his script for the play Amadeus, but the Wikipedia page for Amadeus compensates for that sin of omission. Pushkin’s one-act play “Mozart and Salieri” was part of collection of short plays entitled The Little Tragedies, which was published in 1832. In 1897 Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov composed a one-act opera in two scenes, which used Pushkin’s text (in verse) almost verbatim.

Yesterday evening Opera San José launched its 2021–22 season with a streamed performance of Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera, which lasted somewhat less than an hour. The only characters are those in the title, both taken by baritone voices. Sidney Outlaw sang the role of Antonio Salieri; and, as in Amadeus, he is the dominant character. The role of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, originally composed for a tenor, was sung by Simon Barrad. The conductor was Donato Cabrera. The production was staged by Fenlon Lamb with relatively spare sets designed by Steven C. Kemp. Kemp’s only departure from minimality was to use framed manuscript score pages as a substitute for wallpaper:

Sidney Outlaw and Simon Barrad as Salieri and Mozart, respectively (screen shot from the video of the performance)

In Amadeus Shaffer casts Salieri as the center of attention, interleaving action with narration and interior monologue. Salieri emerges as the only member of the cast that appreciates Mozart’s genius, which makes his own frustration all the more agonizing. Pushkin’s Salieri is similarly frustrated, but his relationship with Mozart is more collegial. Shaffer leaves the death of Mozart suspended in a cloud of ambiguity. Pushkin simply has Salieri pour poison into Mozart’s wine during the dinner they share in the second scene. The script then ends with an ironic twist as Salieri recalls that some of Michelangelo’s commissions were the result of his killing his rivals.

I have to say that, in the context of Rimsky-Korsakov’s skill at composing music for grand spectacles, I was more than a little impressed by the intimacy of this chamber-like setting. As might be guessed, there are several Mozart quotations in the score; and there is even a humorous element when Mozart recalls encountering a blind musician on the street playing Mozart’s music very badly. “Mozart and Salieri” may not say as much as Amadeus did, but Pushkin’s subtle wit carries far more weight than Shaffer’s spectacle.