Steve Schwartz writes of 'Amadeus': >Actually, it's a play that purports to tell you something about the >nature of genius vs. talent. Of course, it does nothing of the sort. >It cops out along the way and winds up with "it's a mystery." ... > >It is also pretty short on ideas, especially ideas that haven't been >recycled to far better use. I personally found the premiere (though superbly acted by Paul Schofield and Simon Callow) one of most offensive evenings I've ever spent in the theatre, for the reasons Steve puts his finger on. "Amadeus" glorifies the middlebrow, and works by providing undemanding audiences with feel-good self-justification. It patently does not pass what I call the 'Joe Bloggs' test: if it was about Mr Anonymous instead of Herr Mozart if would fall totally flat. The film was (just about) rescued by the lavish operatic extracts, and more good performances. The unmentionable thing is the way Schaffer shamelessly rifled Pushkin's "Mozart & Salieri" for ideas, subjecting them to prettified bio-pic processing before spitting them out again wholesale. The pity is that disregarded Pushkin was so much more suggestive in his 15 minutes than Schaffer managed in ten times that span! Christopher Webber, Blackheath, London, UK. http://www.nashwan.demon.co.uk/zarzuela.htm "ZARZUELA!"