“Do you not know that His Majesty has expressly forbidden ballet in operas?”
Por qué es buena
The rhetorical question uses a rule as a club, condescending and final.
Registro
Formal
Úsala tú
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
Capítulo 18 de 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.
Qué aprendes en este capítulo
Puntos de enseñanza
Repasa justo después de verMi nivel1/6
A1–C2 es la escala MCER. Las tarjetas por encima del nivel elegido se atenúan y la reproducción no se pausa en ellas.
Puntos de lengua
Toca una tarjeta para saltar a ese momentoFrases de oro
Una gran frase en sí misma: por qué y cómo usarla“I have no one else to turn to.”
Por qué es buena
A plain line that shows complete helplessness.
Registro
Neutral
Úsala tú
Please help me; I have no one else to turn to.
“But it's perfect as it is.”
Por qué es buena
As it is rejects any change without room for argument.
Registro
Neutral
Úsala tú
Don't touch the design; it's fine as it is.
“I could kill him! I mean,really! Kill him!”
Por qué es buena
Repeating kill him three times turns fury into a comic crescendo.
Registro
Informal
Úsala tú
I could kill him for losing the tickets!
“It's unfair that a man like that should have power over our work!”
Por qué es buena
The should-clause turns personal anger into a question about fairness.
Registro
Formal
Úsala tú
It's unfair that one man should decide for everyone.
Siguiente · 19accept the factLa escena: Salieri Explains the Emperor's YawnsIdeas clave
Lo que te llevas- 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.
Preguntas frecuentes
La pregunta, luego la fraseWhy 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.