Antonio Salieri - Adagio, Concerto for Fortepiano and Orchestram, B-flat...

Today's Classical Corner... Salieri!

Forget what the movies say, in real life Salieri was not Mozart's enemy.
Mozart's worst enemy was himself - his arrogant attitude, gambling, heavy drinking and irresponsible money habits, always racking up debts on stuff he couldn't afford and only used once or twice anyway, and putting his wife through hell to get them paid down. Not to belittle Mozart as a composer, but he did sabotage himself in untold ways... lets not forget many prodigies and geniuses are deficient in some other area; most are complete disasters financially and socially.
Salieri's only "crime" is that he was successful and knew how to make friends at court instead of enemies, and that he knew how to satisfy the tastes of his time to make money. Far from a jealous mediocrity driven to madness, he not only outlived Mozart but was respected and celebrated to his dying days. Beethoven and even the young Rossini owed a far greater debt of musical knowledge to him than to Mozart. Salieri was teacher to many of the greats, even if he isn't as popular as they are today.