SOURCE: "Slow Motion," in The Spectator, Vol. 243, No. 7896, 10 November 1979, pp. 29-30.

In the following evaluation, Toynbee faults Shaffer for a lack of character and plot development in Amadeus.

Amadeus by Peter Shaffer should have been a musical. The only moments that were really moving were when Mozart's music was played and these, alas, were all too few. More music and less talk would have made a very long evening (three hours) seem a lot shorter.

The first part of the play is crisp and enjoyable, as the dying composer Salieri recounts his relationship with Mozart. Salieri a mediocre court musician, honest, hard-working and virtuous is confronted suddenly with the arrival of the young Mozart at court in Vienna. He has heard of his musical prowess. A wonderful scene shows Salieri, awaiting his meeting with Mozart, in a drawing room hidden from view in a deep arm chair. Mozart...