AMADEUS

Mozart, your fortepiano concerto played
In a ballroom conjures a magic mystery
Of dancing, lilting rhythms underlaid
By melting descending themes that seem to bleed

The heart. In the chandelier a tiny prism
Assaults my eyes with a ray of scarlet light.
With faintest shift of head the color twists
To every rainbow hue: dazzling, bright

Reds down to a somber violet.
So Amadeus, heart-breaking, heart-healing, you blend
In prismatic music the wholeness of life, and yet
With grace and wit. Reality ascends:

Includes our joy and grief, our giving and receiving,
Meeting, parting, fearing, and forgiving.

(13, January 1992)

Comments

My dad loved music. He played leading roles in local productions of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. He would sing German Lieder while his mother would play piano.

He loved opera and regularly attended the Opera Company of Boston headed by Sarah Caldwell. See this link. I particularly remember “Cosi fan Tutti” – every moment a delight. A memorable performance was “Montezuma” which was visually stunning and musically unbearable.

[John Alvord 11-7-2025]

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