“Do you not know that His Majesty has expressly forbidden ballet in operas?”
Why it's great
The rhetorical question uses a rule as a club, condescending and final.
Register
Formal
Use it yourself
Do you not know that parking here is banned?
00:00 / 02:58
00:00 / 02:58
Mozart's Figaro Ballet Fight, Explained
Amadeus · 1984
Chapter 18 of 25 · 2'58"
Officials cut the ballet from Mozart's new opera, and he is furious: "Do you not know that His Majesty has expressly forbidden ballet in operas?" Mozart insists it is only a dance, but the argument is really about who gets to decide what art may contain.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:17–1:00
The Emperor's Ballet Ban
43s - 1:04–2:01
Mozart Has No One to Turn To
58s
Mozart's Figaro Ballet Fight, explained
What happens
Backstage at the opera, the court director confronts Mozart about the dance he has slipped into the third act of Figaro. The Emperor has banned ballet in operas, and the pages are torn from the score. Later, furious and humiliated, Mozart tells a sympathetic visitor that the opera is perfect as it is, and that he cannot rewrite what is perfect.
What's really going on
On the surface this is a bureaucratic quarrel about a dance. Underneath, it is a fight over power and ownership: who is allowed to decide what an artist may put in his own work. Mozart's plea, "Surely, His Majesty didn't mean no dancing when it's in the story," is reasonable on paper and useless in practice; the director answers that it is "dangerous to interpret his edicts" and simply removes the pages. What stings is not the edit itself but the humiliation, and Mozart says so plainly: "It's unfair that a man like that should have power over our work!" The quieter turn comes when he admits he has no one else to turn to. For all his genius, he has no real standing at court, and the scene keeps reminding us that talent and influence are not the same thing.
Key lines & what they mean
- “Do you not know that His Majesty has expressly forbidden ballet in operas?”
- A pointed reminder that the Emperor's rule is explicit; it turns a request into an order and leaves Mozart no room to argue.
- “I have no one else to turn to.”
- A confession of isolation: Mozart has no other patron or ally to ask for help, so he is appealing to someone who may not be a friend.
- “But it's perfect as it is.”
- Mozart refuses any revision: the work is already finished and right, so changing it would only make it worse.
- “I could kill him! I mean,really! Kill him!”
- Anger rather than a real threat: he is venting about the official who cut his music, and the repeated 'really' only insists on how sincerely he feels it.
- “It's unfair that a man like that should have power over our work!”
- The real complaint: a man Mozart considers unworthy has authority over his art, so the issue is power, not the missing dance.
Theme
- Power — Court officials enforce an order and simply remove what they dislike; Mozart has talent but no authority, so his work is edited for him.
- Pride — Mozart refuses to accept that his finished opera needs rewriting, insisting it is perfect as it is.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
Review right after watchingMy level1/6
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
Language points
Click a card to jump to its moment in the videoGolden lines
A great line in its own right — why and how to use it“I have no one else to turn to.”
Why it's great
A plain line that shows complete helplessness.
Register
Neutral
Use it yourself
Please help me; I have no one else to turn to.
“But it's perfect as it is.”
Why it's great
As it is rejects any change without room for argument.
Register
Neutral
Use it yourself
Don't touch the design; it's fine as it is.
“I could kill him! I mean,really! Kill him!”
Why it's great
Repeating kill him three times turns fury into a comic crescendo.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
I could kill him for losing the tickets!
“It's unfair that a man like that should have power over our work!”
Why it's great
The should-clause turns personal anger into a question about fairness.
Register
Formal
Use it yourself
It's unfair that one man should decide for everyone.
Up next · 19accept the factThe scene: Salieri Explains the Emperor's YawnsTakeaways
What you walk away with- Turn to someone means asking them for help.
- As it is means in its current state.
- Expressly means explicitly, not accidentally.
- Salieri's promise is hollow from the start.
People also search
Questions, then the linesWhy is the ballet removed from Mozart's opera?
The Emperor has expressly forbidden ballet in operas. When the court director learns that Mozart has slipped a dance into the third act of Figaro, he tears those pages out of the score on the spot.
Is Mozart really threatening to kill someone?
No. "I could kill him" is pure frustration about the official who cut his music; he says it to show how humiliated he feels, not as any kind of plan.
Why won't Mozart rewrite the opera?
He believes the work is already perfect as it is, and he tells his visitor that he cannot bring himself to rewrite what is perfect.
Why does Mozart ask someone to speak to the Emperor?
He believes the Emperor is the only person who can overrule the ban, and he has no other ally with enough standing at court to make that case for him.