The exhibition, the Russian Myth of Mozart, will be held in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in central Moscow, which is no coincidence given that the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin wrote a tragedy, Mozart and Salieri, about how the Austrian composer's rival poisoned him out of envy. Peter Schaffer's 1984 Oscar-winning film Amadeus in many ways could be considered an adaptation of Pushkin's tale.
In fact, one of Europe's leading authorities on the Russian poet, English professor A.D.P. Briggs, has compared the works of Pushkin and the Austrian composer because of their common classical spirit and seemingly effortless formal perfection.
The Moscow event, which is part of an international museum festival of Europe's historical theatres, will for the first time combine the materials related to the composer's ties with Russia, his influence on Russian composers, his operas on the Russian stage and his image in Russian literature. Mozart's music was a favorite with the Russian public, and his operas premiered in Moscow and St. Petersburg soon after Vienna.
The centerpiece of the exhibition is a 1785 portrait of Mozart (1756-1791) by Joseph Grassi, and notes and letters written by the master's hand.
The museum will also display portraits, books, notes, manuscripts, autographs, musical instruments, billboards, theatre costumes, and paintings and engravings showing European cities as Mozart saw them during his tours.
