Amadeus (2025) s01e04 Episode Script

1
'The following programme
contains strong language,
scenes of a sexual nature
and scenes which some viewers
may find distressing.'
The Emperor commissioned
another opera.
Fancy putting words to it?
But you're working for me!
He played me some.
From this time on, we are enemies.
They don't see him much
at church on Sundays any more.
He stole my librettist!
How's the Marriage of Mozart?
You're leaving Vienna?
I saw you sing last year.
I still think about it.
You're writing it for your wife?
Yes.
-You could just talk to her.
-This is how I talk.
November is
a long time to be alone. Yes, it is.
He's refusing to reveal
what his opera is about.
You're Kapellmeister now, Salieri.
If the audience leave the theatre
and march on the palace
demanding my head,
you've my permission
to shut it down.
Our Emperor rides to war,
and you incite a mob?
You couldn't hear it, could you?
He had secured greatness.
"Don Giovanni, KV 527: Overture"
Well, who could that be
knocking at my door at this hour?
I had your footman
call for a doctor on my way here.
A kindly physician
come to administer a tonic?
Or rough men with rough hands,
come to drag me away?
Perhaps your treatment will
depend on what I say to them.
Ah
I'd like you to finish your story,
Kapellmeister. We still have time.
Do you know
what always puzzled me?
That in the moments
of my greatest wickedness,
I was never punished.
The more abhorrent my behaviour,
the more I waited
for God's retribution,
and it it never came.
In fact, the opposite was true.
I was rewarded for it.
I watched Bonno die
I was given his position.
I committed infidelities
and nothing.
Nothing ever happened.
But there are always consequences.
There is always a reckoning.
'Figaro was shut down.
I had truly blocked Mozart
for the first time.
And I awaited God's response
to my challenge.
But he did not seem
to defend his creature.
Amadeus lost more pupils.
Money became so tight,
he had to downsize his apartment.
Even my introduction of Suessmayr
had yielded more than I expected.'
Well, I love his music. I do.
Ever since I heard it
through the floorboards
of my mother's house,
I've loved it. But
What?
It's not enough.
Wolfgang
My leg has been troubling me,
and the doctor thinks
some time away would be good for me.
Thinks I should take
the waters in Baden.
Does he?
Just for a month or two, maybe.
Karl can stay with my mother
and sisters.
I'll send for him later on.
And you can have one of these
if you like?
Mm-hmm
I'll send word to you
when I get there.
OK, Karl, before you go, shall I
show you a little magic trick?
"Piano Concerto No.27
in B Flat, KV 595: Larghetto"
Are you listening?
One more time
You see?
Now that's in your head,
When you go down for bed tonight,
you might hear it.
And then you'll think of me,
won't you?
Yeah
Here we go
There you go.
You might hear it, too.
Bye, Karl.
Fire!
Kapellmeister.
Not interrupting, am I?
Yes. But no more than the soldiers.
What do you need, Johan?
I heard some news this morning
from my Lodge.
The Masons -
I'm a Brother there, you know?
Yes, I had heard that.
We'd be very keen in having you
join us, by the way.
Bless you, but I
I serve only one master.
Yes, of course.
Well, this morning I heard
that one of our Brotherhood
had passed away suddenly.
Oh, dear, who?
Who?
Antonio.
They told me this was
Well, they told me
this is where you're living now.
Yes, what do you think?
Oh, well, er
I'm joking, it's a shithole.
I know it is. Don't worry, we'll
be back somewhere nicer soon.
Is, er Constanze here, no?
She's in Baden.
Do you know Baden?
It's a lovely spa town.
She gets this thing with her legs.
The waters help, apparently.
Mozart
Your father has died.
I received the news this morning
from the Brotherhood.
Right.
I see
Erm
Er, when? When did he?
Two days ago.
I wanted to be the one to tell you.
I thought it might help
to have the news delivered
by a friendly face.
Is that what you are?
Mozart
Many composers view the
Kapellmeister as an adversary,
but I'm not. I'm really not.
Of course.
Well thank you
for letting me know.
I prefer to be on my own now,
though, I think.
Of course. Absolutely.
If you need anything
Anything
My condolences, Wolfgang.
Here rests a bird called Starling,
a foolish little darling.
He was still in his prime
when he ran out of time.
And my sweet little friend
came to a bitter end.
Ahh
Gentle crowd, shed a tear,
for he was dear.
I bet he is now up on high,
praising my friendship to the sky.
For when he took his sudden leave
which brought to me such grief.
To a good companion.
That's the first time
I've been to a bird's funeral,
that's for sure.
Well, he was quite a creature.
Ugh
It's not one to listen to
on a hangover.
What is it?
Our next opera.
Our next opera?
Our next opera.
And what's it about?
What do you think of it so far?
I think we rather get the point.
The man's
an unrepentant fornicator.
A thousand women in Spain?
A thousand and three.
A thousand and three.
Well, there you go.
Have you, er
spoken to the Emperor yet?
Er, not yet, erm
I was advised that he wasn't
in the mood for conversing.
How long has he been back
from the front? So to speak.
Two weeks.
He didn't want to leave,
but his health has been poor.
Does anyone know if we're winning?
Winning what?
The war.
Of course we're winning!
Yes, of course. Emphatically!
Well, that's a relief.
What did you think?
I thought he looked pale. Mozart.
See him swaying at the podium?
He doesn't look well.
Probably been drinking.
Mm.
That's how he spends most of his
time these days. I'm enjoying it.
I found it rather erm
tuneful.
Tuneful?
Yes. Tuneful.
Antonio, wouldn't you agree?
No, I wouldn't.
I'd say the whole thing's
rather thin so far.
Let's hope the second half gives us
something more to chew on.
'I watched that
performance on opening night.
I heard those words,
I listened to that music,
and I knew:
he'd opened himself up.
Revealed the darkest parts
of his being.
I saw it then,
His damaged mind, the naked
ugliness of his grief and guilt.
There in that demonic figure
on the stage
was his own father.
And in that poor,
wretched philanderer,
Mozart himself,
punished for his sins,
his puckish ebullience,
his insolent virility.
'I saw his open wound, and through
it'
'..his barely beating heart.'
And I knew exactly where, in time,
I would place the final blade.
Bravo, Maestro. It's
Well, it's a triumph.
Thank you.
You don't seem well, sir,
if you don't mind my saying.
Oh, I'm fine.
I
I didn't see your wife
in the audience.
No. She's, er still away.
Well, she's been gone a long time.
Well, I hope
you're looking after yourself.
The, er Brotherhood
has been looking after me.
The Freemasons?
Yes.
They've been keeping me afloat
since Father died.
A few commissions. It's all
charity, really, but, er
I'll pay them back
when I can, obviously.
Well, I'm just glad to see
You still have old friends
looking out for you.
That's That's wonderful.
You really liked it?
It was as though I were
looking into your soul.
'He'd written a masterpiece, again.
And I was nothing but a spectator.'
But my power was undiminished.
My influence remained.
And I used it to ensure
That Don Giovanni
played only five times.
Of course, I saw every one
of those five performances.
I wasn't the only one.
Your Majesty.
Antonio.
I wondered when you were
going to come and say hello.
I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I
I didn't know if you'd want
to be disturbed.
It's all right.
How, er How is the war?
How is the war?
I have all the music manuscripts
sent to me at the front.
All the new work.
I, erm
I sit and try and read and
and hear the music,
as I know you can, but, er
my ear is
I'd love to be able
to have your ear.
Be able to sit and hear the music
and truly understand it.
Yeah.
My great regret.
What about this boy?
My God, Antonio, listen to this.
Do you ever marvel
how lucky we are,
out of all of human history,
to have
shared our time
with music such as this?
I do.
Will you promise me one thing?
That you'll continue
to commission new work.
For the people left behind
and the men who return.
Let there be music
for them at least.
Of course, Your Majesty.
There was so much
I wanted to do, Antonio.
'That was the last time
I ever saw the Emperor.
He returned to the front
and died six months later
in his bed.
And with him went your husband's
most powerful ally.'
Mozart, we have to shut down.
We love it, we believe in it,
I advocated for it, but
with budgets as tight as they are,
I'm afraid it's just
more cost effective to scrap it.
Well
The next one will be even better.
The next one?
Yes.
Wolfgang
Figaro, Don Giovanni
Er your work is strong,
we both know that.
But the Imperial Opera,
it's not for everyone.
These big old halls,
they can be unforgiving.
It's not just you.
Everything's being cut. I'm sorry.
Why can't they hear it?
These are dark times, Mozart.
Perhaps the people desire light.
Light
Light
Fuck off, please!
Fuck off!
Ugh
Maestro! We would like
to formally invite you
to the wake of Don Giovanni.
Thank you for inviting us in.
Thank you!
Down, gentlemen, please.
Oh! Thank you.
To another dead darling.
To another dead darling.
Excuse me? Herr Mozart? Erm
I'm sorry
I'm sorry to be bothering you.
Well, why are you doing it, then?
Er Erm, I'm a huge, huge, er
admirer of yours.
He doesn't write the words,
you know?
Sorry, who are you?
Yeah, sorry. I'm Gregor, sir.
I'm I'm, erm Gregor Braun.
I work backstage.
So, we've never spoken.
Please
So, which of my works have you seen?
Er All of them.
I mean,
as many as I've been able to.
And I've bought
all of the pieces I can
that I could find.
So, I've bought, erm
the the six piano sonatas
published in Paris
er and the Twelve Variations
on La Belle Francoise,
erm and then
the Turkish March,
the piece from the A Major
Sonata Er
Wow, you really are
an expert on him.
What What did he have
for dinner last night?
Oh! How low do his balls hang?
Er I don't, I don't know
everything about you, Maestro.
I
I just really, erm
I really dream of emulating you.
Oh.
I was 10 years old
when I first heard your work.
And it just felt as though
Yes?
It felt as though
the heavens were talking to me.
As though God
was speaking through me.
Yes.
Well, let's see
if you can speak back, shall we?
Be rude not to. What did you say
your name was again?
Er, Gregor.
Ah, Gregor!
My father had a dog named Gregor.
Can you do tricks, too? Er
Make yourself comfortable. Show us
what you can do. Gather round!
This is Gregor.
He's gonna play us some tunes.
Please, don't be shy, come forward.
Come forward!
In your own time
Gosh. Well, there it is.
What did everybody think?
I'll tell you what I made of that.
I recognised the notes,
but little else.
As if the soul
had been ripped out of it.
Go on, please, let's try
another one. Surprise me.
Er
OK, I, er
Actually, this one's quite fun.
I just, erm
I did an arrangement
of one of your, er serenades
for forte piano.
Please.
No, no. No, no, no!
If you're going
to play that one
It's not like that.
It's like this.
Hear the difference?
Mm.
Start again.
Why don't we
Start again!
Gregor, you tell me
that you want to be a musician?
And then you embarrass us both
with this half-baked shit.
I didn't say stop! Keep playing!
But for fuck's sake, Gregor!
Do it properly!
I thought you liked my music!
Why are you butchering it?
Not like that! You get distracted!
You have to focus on the music!
Do you want my advice, Gregor?
Find another dream! Find something
you can actually do.
And find some other composer
to fawn over.
Maybe you can waste his time
instead.
Did it make you feel good
Humiliating that poor boy
in front of everyone?
When did you get back?
This afternoon.
So, did you see it?
What?
Don Giovanni. My opera.
Did you see it?
Yes.
And? What did you think?
"A thousand and three in Spain"?
Well, Lorenzo writes
the words, so
Well, I know
how you inspire him.
Your leg seems much better.
How was Baden?
Good.
How was Franz? Oh, so I'm
the subject of gossip, am I?
You make yourself
the subject of gossip.
Do I? How?
By carrying on like a
Like a what?
Like a whore!
Like a cheap fucking whore.
A cheap fucking whore is the
only kind you'd be able to afford!
Mother said you haven't been
to see Karl once.
She said she saw you
one morning,
and you were too drunk
to recognise your own son.
I'd see more of my son if his mother
didn't run off to moisten the balls
of every inadequate fucking student
musician to look her way.
Well, yes, Franz did!
He did look my way.
He looked at me. Yeah. He saw me.
He spoke to me, he
He bothered to ask my opinion
on things
beyond, "What did you think
of my fucking opera?"
What did you think of my fucking
opera? It was too fucking long!
It made me sad.
Like I was intruding on something
I wasn't supposed to see.
It made me realise
everything I know about you
I've had to learn
through your characters.
And I wondered if you
if you could ever
open up to me, or
just be stuck hoping that
Figaro or Don Giovanni will tell me
the things you won't.
You are supposed to see it.
You're supposed to see it.
You can't stay with me.
It isn't good here.
We'll go again.
We'll write something else. You'll
write something else.
You shouldn't do this,
keep working with me. I'm cursed.
Oh, please,
don't be a fucking martyr.
Go write for Salieri,
or fucking Righini, or anyone else.
We're having a small run
of bad luck, I'll give you that.
Look, I don't want to write
for any of them.
I want to write for you.
It's different with you.
You know that.
And that's as much of a compliment
as you'll get out of me,
so don't look for any more.
I hate this.
What?
The end of a party.
I'd be delighted
to have you put something on here.
I assumed you'd stage your next at
the Burgtheater again. Too stuffy.
I feel like I need
something more alive.
Ah! Well, that's us!
We're alive, all right.
We're packed every weekend.
Wolfgang, I can guarantee you
a full house of excited music lovers
desperate,
desperate to be entertained.
They won't just sit there
like aristocrats.
No, they No, they sing along!
They dance.
They laugh.
And on the takings,
I can give you half.
Oh?
Well, if that's the best you can do,
I suppose we'd better shake on that.
Oh. I'm so pleased.
He's very excited.
Sure it's going to be a hit.
Between you and I, the Brotherhood
owns the lease on the place,
so it gets a cut
of the takings as well.
Everyone's doing very nicely.
Mozart might be able
to pay off his debts.
Get back into the city.
You're very quiet
this morning, dear.
Oh Just in my thoughts.
And what are you thinking about?
The Masons.
Wolfgang!
Kapellmeister!
I wanted to find you
and congratulate you
on your new commission.
Thank you.
You were right by the way.
To get away from the Burgtheater.
Well, I think it's wonderful news.
Let's celebrate.
Yes.
So, tell me
What have you got so far?
Love, sire.
Excuse me?
Do you remember
the first time I went
to the Emperor's palace,
He asked me what a good
German virtue might be.
Ah, yes, yes, yes,
you said "Love, sire."
Yes.
Love.
I want to write about love.
And light.
I think it's a wonderful idea.
Although, it strikes me
there are different kinds of love.
There's romantic love, certainly.
But that feels pretty played out
at this point.
But what of maternal love,
familial love?
Fraternal love?
Fraternal love, brotherly love?
There's a thought, yeah.
Brotherhood?
That's what the Masons
are all about.
My father used to talk about it.
The succour we got from them.
Perhaps No, that's too
That's too much.
What?
No, no, no, it's a bad idea.
What?
Well, I was just thinking,
why not put them into it?
Into it? Show them
in all their generosity.
Let people see the kindness
of the Masons.
Well, the Brotherhood's rituals
are a secret, of course.
You needn't copy them exactly.
You could adapt them.
Change a few details
here and there,
One step away,
but still recognisable.
Change a few details,
but keep the intention.
I like it.
In fact,
I'm gonna speak to Da Ponte.
Antonio!
What a surprise.
You've caught me
at an inopportune time.
Well, it's hard not to.
Ah!
Entertaining?
Very! Erm
Please, sit soft.
No, no, I think I'll come
straight to the point, Lorenzo.
People were
disturbed by your presence
when you first arrived in Vienna.
But I vouched for you.
I saw something in you,
And the Emperor was moved
by your work. We all have been.
But times are changing.
The Emperor is unwell.
He won't recover?
His brother stands ready to
take over when the time comes.
It will be a rude awakening
for many of us.
He has none of Joseph's love
of the arts.
I expect budgets to tighten.
I expect there to be a less
liberal outlook.
Formal notice
that you are to be removed
from your position as Court Poet
and dismissed from Imperial Service.
With the loss of
both your patron and your position,
questions have been raised
about your continued residence
here in Vienna.
Figaro!
Politics.
How long do I have?
Oh, I wouldn't linger.
The mood is changing.
You're a man out of time.
Lorenzo?
Hello, Wolfgang.
Hello.
Mother took Karl up to Baden
to see Stanze.
Oh.Would have told you
but you haven't been to visit.
Would you like a seat, Wolfgang?
Thank you.
How is Karl?
He is well.
He can basically talk now.
And Sophie's been giving him
piano lessons.
He's very bad, but so am I.
Have you heard from Constanze?
She writes.
Is she happy?
She is.
"The Magic Flute, KV 620:
Overture"
Oh!
Bravo!
Bravo!
Bravo!
Mozart.
Why are they so angry?
Mozart, I spoke to the Brothers.
I thought you'd only
make a nod to the Masons?
I did! I changed all the symbols.
I called it the Order of Eternal
Priests. I thought that'd be OK.
To hint at, yes!
What were you thinking?
Listen to the audience. They love
it! Listen! This can't happen again!
I need to talk to Schikaneder.
The box office
The Masons own the lease on the
theatre and control the box office.
Now's not a good time to ask for
more money. You told me to do this!
No! No.
This was your idea, Mozart.
This was you, remember?
Mozart I would make haste
for home. I'll find them.
I'll calm them down.
There'll be a way, Mozart. No!
There'll be a way.
Argh!
Oh!
For the Brotherhood.
A commission.
A Mass for the dead.
"Requiem in D Minor, KV 626"
You have seven days.
'The pieces
had fallen into place.
He was weak
broken, and alone.
Teetering on the edge
of a precipice.
And all that was needed was my hand
to finally guide him over.'
So
into the darkness we go.'