It’s not a question of liking.
Your own law decrees it, I’m afraid.
Look at them!
This is nonsense!
Let me see the scene with the music.
Oblige me!
Can we see the scene
with the music back, please?
Certainly!
Certainly, Herr Direktor.
Bring the palace set back in, please.
The restored third act...
...was bold, brilliant.
The fourth...
...was astounding.
l saw a woman...
...disguised in her maid's clothes...
...hear her husband speak the first
tender words he'd offered her in years.
Simply because he thinks
she is someone else.
l heard the music of true forgiveness
filling the theatre...
...conferring on all who sat there
perfect absolution.
God was singing
through this little man...
...to all the world.
Unstoppable.
Making my defeat more bitter
with every passing bar.
And then...
do you know what happened?
A miracle!
With that yawn...
...l saw my defeat turn...
...into a victory.
Mozart was lucky
The emperor yawned only once.
Three yawns...
...and the opera would fail
the same night. Two yawns...
...within a week at most.
With one yawn...
...the composer could still get...
...nine performances! Nine,
that's all it's had...and withdrawn.
l know, l know.
It’s outrageous.
Still, if the public
doesn't like one's work...
...one has to accept
the fact gracefully.
But what is it they don't like?
l can speak for the emperor. You make
too many demands on the royal ear.
He can't concentrate
over an hour.
You gave him four.
What did you think of it?
Did you like it at all?
l thought it was marvelous.
Of course.
It’s the best opera yet written!
l know it.
Why didn't they come?
l think you overestimate
our dear Viennese, my friend.
You didn't even give them
a good bang at the end of songs...
...to tell them when to clap.
l know.
You should give me lessons in that.
l wouldn't presume.
Nevertheless, at the risk of imposing...
...I'd like you to see my new piece.
It would be a tremendous honor for me.
No, the honor would be all mine.
l believe...
...l believe...
...it is the best opera...
...yet written, my friends.
You are the brightest star...
...in the musical firmament.
You do honor to Vienna...
...and to me.
It was good of you to come.
How could l not?
Bravo, maestro.
Did my work please you?
l never knew that
music like that was possible.
You flatter me.
One hears such sounds...
...and what can one say but...
...Salieri!
Everybody's here and we've got guests.
I've got some more.
You remember
my good friend Schikaneder.
Come in!
Don't be shy. This is...
...a very nice girl, and this is too....
Yes, my love?
These gentlemen are from Salzburg.
We were just talking about Salzburg.
Your father is dead.
So rose...
...the dreadful ghost,
from his next...
...and blackest opera.
There, on the stage,
stood the figure of a dead commander.
And l knew...
...only l understood...
...that the horrifying apparition
was Leopold...
...raised from the dead!
Wolfgang had summoned up
his own father...
...to accuse his son
before all the world!
It was...
...terrifying and wonderful to watch.
And now...
...the madness began in me.
The madness of a man
splitting in half.
Through my influence, l saw to it...
...Don Giovanni was played
only five times in Vienna.
But, in secret,
l went to every one of those five.
Worshipping sound...
...l alone seemed to hear.
As l stood there, understanding...
...how that bitter old man
still possessed his poor son...
...even from beyond the grave...
...l began to see a way...
...a terrible way...
...l could finally triumph...
...over God.
l have come to commission
work from you.
What work?
A mass for the dead.
What dead?
Who's dead?
A man who deserved
a requiem mass...
...and never got one.
Who are you?
l am only a messenger.
Do you accept?
You'll be well paid.
Do you accept?
Work fast.
And be sure to tell no one
what you do.
You will see me again soon.
My plan was so