How can three hours pass in the blink of an eye? Well, it can and did sitting in a hushed auditorium watching Michael Longhurst's fabulous production of Shaffer's play with its stunning central performance by Lucian Msamati as Salieri. This is one heck of a show!
Most people probably know this story from the film, and that is glorious, and most also know that this is afabrication rather than a docu-drama! But it is also a human story that speaks to great ambition and the horros of falling short, as most of us do. Salieri, even as depicted here, was not a bad man but someone whose huge public success was undermined in his own opinion by self comparison with the genius that was Mozart. Someone who felt cheated by chance and by his god who had, apparently, sent his voice through an unworthy rather than being channeled through himself.
The music sent shivers down my spine, the staging was imaginative and bold, the pace beautifully pitched - this really is a bit of a masterpiece. The central perfoamnce by Lucia Msamti is spellbinding and Adam Gillen's Mozart and Adelle Leonce's beautifully pitched Constanze more than adequately match it. This is a strong, confident cast; musicianss singers, actors blending seamlessly to tell a story full of fire.
I loved it
