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What is the subject of Mozart and Salieri by Aleksandr Pushkin?
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Aleksandr Pushkin
Aleksandr Pushkin, oil on canvas by Vasily Tropinin, 1827; in the National Pushkin Museum, St. Petersburg.
Mozart and Salieri (1830) is one of Aleksandr Pushkin’s four "little tragedies," each of which explores a specific philosophical problem. The work is based on the legend that the composer Antonio Salieri poisoned Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.12
Beyond this narrative premise, the play serves as a meditation on the nature of creativity. Through brilliantly compressed speeches, Pushkin introduces the theme of metaphysical rebellion against God, examining the tension between artistic genius and the human experience of envy and divine injustice.1