On This Day

Peter Shaffer's musical "Amadeus" premieres in London

Amadeus is a play by Peter Shaffer which gives a fictional account of the lives of composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, imagining a rivalry between the two at the court of Joseph...

Amadeus is a play by Peter Shaffer which gives a fictional account of the lives of composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, imagining a rivalry between the two at the court of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor. First performed in 1979, it was inspired by Alexander Pushkin's short 1830 play Mozart and Salieri, which Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov used in 1897 as the libretto for an opera of the same name.

The play makes significant use of the music of Mozart, Salieri and other composers of the period. The premieres of Mozart's operas The Abduction from the Seraglio, The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and The Magic Flute are the settings for key scenes.

Historical Significance

Amadeus is a play by Peter Shaffer which gives a fictional account of the lives of composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, imagining a rivalry between the two at the court of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor.

Key People

Peter Shaffer

playwright and screenwriter

English playwright and screenwriter

Events Before

  1. Air India Flight 855 crashes into the Arabian Sea less than two minutes after takeoff, killing all 213 people on board

    Air India Flight 855 was a scheduled passenger flight from Bombay (now Mumbai), India, to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

  2. TV series "All Creatures Great and Small" debuts on BBC TV, based on the books by James Herriot, starring Robert Hardy a

    TV series "All Creatures Great and Small" debuts on BBC TV, based on the books by James Herriot, starring Robert Hardy and Christopher Timothy

  3. Bee Gees' album "Saturday Night Fever" goes #1; stays on top for 24 weeks

    Bee Gees' album "Saturday Night Fever" goes #1; stays on top for 24 weeks

  4. Sweden becomes the first nation in the world to ban aerosol sprays, due to their harmful effect on the earth's ozone lay

    Sweden becomes the first nation in the world to ban aerosol sprays, due to their harmful effect on the earth's ozone layer

  5. Novelist Danielle Steel (30) divorces Danny Zugelder after almost 3 years of marriage

    Novelist Danielle Steel (30) divorces Danny Zugelder after almost 3 years of marriage

Events After

  1. Chrysler Europe is renamed Talbot

    Chrysler Europe was the American automotive company Chrysler's operations in Europe from 1967 through 1978.

  2. Real Records releases "Pretenders" in the UK, the debut album by The Pretenders

    Pretenders is the debut studio album by British-American band the Pretenders, released in January 1980. A combination of rock and roll, punk and new wave music, it was an immediate success.

  3. Pink Floyd's double album "The Wall" hits #1

    The Wall is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest CBS Records. It is the last album to include all four post-Barrett-era band members.

  4. US President Jimmy Carter announces a US boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow after the Soviet invasion of Afgh

    US President Jimmy Carter announces a US boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

  5. Cypriot-American model Angie Bowie (30) divorces British singer David Bowie (33) after just under 10 years of marriage

    Cypriot-American model Angie Bowie (30) divorces British singer David Bowie (33) after just under 10 years of marriage

More from the 1970s

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened on November 2, 1979?
Amadeus is a play by Peter Shaffer which gives a fictional account of the lives of composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, imagining a rivalry between the two at the court of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor. First performed in 1979, it was inspired by Alexander Pushkin's short 1830 play Mozart and Salieri, which Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov used in 1897 as the libretto for an opera of the same name. The play makes significant use of the music of Mozart, Salieri and other composers of the period.
Why is Peter Shaffer's musical "Amadeus" premieres in London significant?
Amadeus is a play by Peter Shaffer which gives a fictional account of the lives of composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, imagining a rivalry between the two at the court of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor.
Who was involved in Peter Shaffer's musical "Amadeus" premieres in London?
Key figures include Peter Shaffer (playwright and screenwriter).

Explore More