Review: Amadeus

If you have a love of music, and of the sheer spectacle of big-budget theatre, Amadeus - currently playing at the National Theatre's Olivier - is probably for you.

They say:

Vienna: the music capital of the world.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a rowdy young prodigy, arrives determined to make a splash. Awestruck by his genius, court composer Antonio Salieri has the power to promote his talent or destroy it. Seized by obsessive jealousy he begins a war with Mozart, with music and, ultimately, with God.

And through the monologuing of Salieri (the brilliant Lucian Msamati) we indeed follow a flawed character's obsession with his youthful, creative superior.

Amadeus, by late icon Peter Shaffer, premièred at the National 1979 to wide acclaim. This new version, directed by Michael Longhurst, has similarly garnered glowing reviews.

Lucian Msamati's stiff, controlled Salieri is the polar opposite of Adam Gillen’s pyrotechnic Mozart, and the tension that arises between them is very well played. Gillen's hyperactive, childlike characterisation of Mozart manages to generate sympathy, rather than irritation, whilst his downfall is being carefully orchestrated (no pun intended) by Salieri, and the central roles are supported by strong performances by the whole cast.

The design work is, as you would expect for a production at the National, beautiful and challenging. The Southbank Sinfonia are on the stage all of the time, so Mozart's music is cleverly woven throughout the piece in terms both of sound and choreography, and there are surreal flares on the part of designer Chloe Lamford - Mozart in Dr Martens anyone? - that give things a rebellious edge.

I enjoyed Amadeus a lot: there are moments of such pure, spectacular beauty that the hairs on the backs of my arms literally stood up, but I also felt that the second half lost its pacing somewhat. Three hours is a long slog, and I couldn't help but feel that if the show were shorter it would have maintained its dramatic impact better.

At its best, Amadeus is glorious, at its weaker points, you want Mozart to hurry up and come to his untimely end, but overall, it was a joyful thing to behold.

4/5 Moments of majesty: a beautiful and spectacular show

The Olivier, The National Theatre
Until 18th March