1784–1785

1784–1785 is the period Antonio Salieri recalls as an extraordinary mismatch between artistic achievement and public acclaim. As Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed his finest piano concertos and string quartets, Salieri says he was regarded as the greatest of composers; Mozart’s music, by contrast, received little lasting attention, while Salieri’s operas found audiences across Europe.

Salieri’s Public Standing

Salieri recounts that during these two years he prospered rather than suffering the divine anger he had expected. He was considered the greatest composer, and his operas were performed widely and applauded. He names Semiramis, written for Munich, as one instance of the professional success surrounding him.

Mozart’s Music and Its Reception

The contrast is sharpened by the works Mozart composed during the same period: his best piano concertos and string quartets. Salieri acknowledges their quality, but says that recognition did not translate into a sustained public hearing. Each concerto was performed only once and then, in his account, entirely forgotten. Even while the rondo from the Piano Concerto in A major, K. 488 sounds, Salieri describes Viennese listeners responding to each incomparable concerto with the short-lived excitement they gave to a new fashion in women’s hats.

Recognition and Neglect

The passage distinguishes between expert judgment and broader reception. Haydn considered the quartets unsurpassed, and Gottfried van Swieten called the concertos sublime; Salieri affirms that both assessments were deserved, yet says that almost no one heard or understood the works. His claim to have been the sole person capable of appreciating them sits beside his own acclaim: the years make public success and artistic discernment appear not merely unequal, but almost inversely distributed. In Salieri’s retrospective account, 1784–1785 marks the moment when Mozart’s achievement was present in Vienna but largely overlooked, while Salieri’s fame flourished.