Word: giovanni
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...carefully mannered world of the Viennese court, such treachery is not hard to achieve. By playing off the Italian and German musical factions, Salieri insures that Mozart's operas--such as Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro--are yanked from the stage after only a handful of performances. Without official patronage, Mozart falls into debt and disfavor at the court...
...many shorter works play throughout the film. Greater emphasis falls--upon the forces that shaped Mozart's work: the adoring but somewhat insipid "Stanzie," who can't understand why her husband has no pupils; the domineering and disapproving father Leopold, whose death would prove the terrifying inspiration for Don Giovanni, and Mozart himself, whose violent genius was not tempered by even a hint of modesty or pragmatism...
...dying Mozart dictates his Requiem to a Salieri racked with guilt, jealousy and awe. If the operatic excerpts occasionally impede dramatic flow, they capture the Mozartian spirit as well as comment, with typical Forman bravura, on the theme of an oaf who makes miracles with music: in the Don Giovanni parody, a dove flies out of a horse...
...Jews, Moslems and Protestants snickering and to send Catholics scurrying for their rosary beads. The indulgences of Innocent VIII, the depravity of Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia bought himself the papacy and used it to benefit his illegitimate children), and the wars of Julias II left Rome bankrupt. When Cardinal Giovanni d'Medici became Pope Leo X, declaring "God has given us the papacy--now let us enjoy it", he was desperate for money and decided to sell the only thing he could--pardons. Full-scale simonry continued throughout the age, with indulgences being sold at church alters...
...came at a time of rising tensions in Britain and The Netherlands over plans by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to continue deploying medium-range Pershing II and cruise missiles in Western Europe. The only other encouraging sign of Western resolve last week came in Italy, where Defense Minister Giovanni Spadolini announced that the first 16 cruise missiles at Comiso in Sicily were operational...