Mozart & Salieri

Following a successful run in London and Vienna, Time Zone Theatre’s immersive production will be part of Grimeborn 2016 at the Arcola Theatre and run from 9th – 13th August at their main house.

“Villainy and genius can never be compatible?“ asks Salieri, after he bid Mozart farewell. The opera follows the apocryphal legend that Antonio Salieri poisoned Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart out of jealousy over his talent. Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) used the short play Mozart and Salieri by Alexander Pushkin as libretto for his opera, which also served Peter Shaffer as inspiration to his famous stage play and film Amadeus.

Rismky-Korsakov’s rarely performed two-hander is a character study, it is a close-up of Salieri and his tormented mind. He’s not just the villain in this story, we see a generous man committed to the art who praises Mozart’s work, but is torn between admiration for his fellow composer and his own jealousy.

Time Zone Theatre’s inventive production is unique to every venue it appears at and uses the venue as part of the setting. Past performances took place in a bar in Vienna, an Artist Club in Central London, and the Masonic Temple at Liverpool Street. When the story unfolds around us, the intimate setting makes us witnesses, if not conspirators of Salieri's plan to poison Mozart.

The score will be arranged for piano, clarinet, viola and violin. In a new English translation and staged by an award-winning team around musical director Andrew Charity (MD of the OLIVIER-award winning La Boheme production in 2011 by OperaUpClose), this take on the famous story of Mozart and Salieri captivates its audience.

★★★★★ "Engaging singers and clever staging" (Fringe Opera)
★★★★ "A magnificent piece of entertaining that keeps the audience enthralled all the way to its very last note.“ (London Theatre One)
“Crime-thriller tension“ (A Younger Theatre)