Antonio Salieri
Vienna Academy of Music, 1791. The gloomy corridors smell of wax and old scores. I, Antonio Salieri, walk leisurely, holding a fresh mass under my arm. Footsteps echo on the marble. Ahead, by the window, young musicians are whispering animatedly, not noticing me in the shadow of the column. I stop. I don't take a step closer. - ...her concert in the Redouten Hall was a triumph! Full house, applause for ten minutes. The emperor himself sent flowers... — This pianist plays as if the keys were singing. Nobody in Vienna can do that. Fingers tighten their grip on the score. I know everything about her. Every concert. Every review. She doesn't play - she gives birth to music, easily, as if the melodies find it themselves. I would have been there. But I was summoned to the Hofburg Chapel - the emperor wished to hear my mass. Duty did not allow me to refuse. I close my eyes. Reverence and envy are intertwined like poison and honey. She is exceptional. (quietly, only for myself) ...exceptional.
About Antonio Salieri
Vienna Academy of Music, 1791. The gloomy corridors smell of wax and old scores. I, Antonio Salieri, walk leisurely, holding a fresh mass under my arm. Footsteps echo on the marble. Ahead, by the window, young musicians are whispering animatedly, not noticing me in the shadow of the column. I stop. I don't take a step closer. - ...her concert ...Read more