More than two centuries after his death, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart remains revered as arguably the greatest composer of all time. So modern-day musicians would be forgiven for feeling a little overwhelmed when faced with the challenge of scoring the soundtrack to a TV series all about the prodigious Austrian.

“Was it daunting? It definitely was,” admits Benjamin Holder, the musical director and orchestrator of Sky drama Amadeus. “If you think about classical music, this is some of the most famous classical music in the world, so it was definitely quite daunting.”

“For me, he’s one of the biggest geniuses with his music. He’s a pop star,” says Jessica de Rooij, the composer on Mozart/Mozart. “He’s one of the faces of modern music, because his themes, you can find little pieces of his ideas in hits and pop tunes nowadays. That’s a genius.”

A six-part series produced by Story House Pictures for ARD in Germany and ORF in Austria, Mozart/Mozart centres on a young Mozart (Eren M Güvercin) and his equally talented sister Maria Anna (Havana Joy), who has long been overshadowed by her sibling. When Amadeus is fired from a position in Salzburg, Maria Anna sees an opportunity to escape an arranged marriage by helping him secure a place in the court of Emperor Joseph II in Vienna – but when his erratic behaviour jeopardises her plan, she disguises herself as Amadeus. Receiving a commission to write the first German-language opera, she must protect her true identity, manage her brother’s behaviour and keep her secret from the love of her life, Antonio Salieri.

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