Richard Todd repilied to me thus:

>> The booklet tells us how the poor mite lost his father when he was just a
>> couple of months old.  Enter Haydn who arranged for the lad's education
>> with music instruction by Hummel (orchestration) and bizzarely Salieri
>> (choral writing).
>
>Why bizarrely? Salieri was an excellent choice, possibly the best
>available.  And he and Mozart were on good terms as far as anyone can tell
>by the time the latter passed away.  Salieri was one of the tiny handful of
>people who accompanied Mozart's body to the city gates.  Salieri was also
>a superb musician, dwarfed only by the presence of Mozart and Haydn in the
>same time at the same place.

I have no problem with what you say.  The reason I use the expression is
that a lot of people believe the crazy film Amadeus to based on fact.

A few years ago I heard a piano concerto of Salieri's played on the
Landscape channel (a now defunct UK cable channel).  I was astonished at
how beautiful a piece it was (after seeing said film).  I have never been
able to track down a recording of it.

Bob Draper
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