Unsolved
Amadeus is a stage drama written by English playwright Peter Shaffer in 1979. The story is loosely based on the relationship between the Austrian classical music composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791) and the Italian composer Antonio Salieri (1750 - 1825).
Salieri knew Mozart when they both worked for the emperor of Austria. Mozart was a genius and Salieri was envious of his rival's success. Mozart died at the height of his fame when he was only 35, and in Shaffer's play Amadeus, Salieri confesses to the murder of his rival. This is an exciting and dramatic idea, but did Salieri really commit this dreadful crime? Is there any historical evidence Mozart was murdered?
Dramatic licence
Dramatic licence is when a writer takes historical facts and changes them to make his story more exciting. There is evidence that there was rivalry between Mozart and Salieri, but nobody has ever found any facts suggesting that Salieri murdered Mozart.
Shaffer was taking dramatic licence when he put this idea into his play. When Amadeus first opened at the National Theatre in London in 1979, Shaffer was criticised for bending the facts too much. After seeing the play, audiences would think Salieri was a murderer. Amadeus was a success, but was Shaffer wrong to give audiences a bad impression of Salieri when there is no evidence that he did anything wrong?