I was watching Amadeus the other night and I was wondering how accurate that movie is contrast, to real life? Was that really Mozart's personality? Was he really financially unstable due to hitting on young girls at that time?
Mozart did have a very odd and gross sense of humor, and even wrote piece where the lyrics are "lick my ass", among other crude musical jokes: https://youtu.be/C78HBp-Youk
As for his financial troubles, they definitely existed, and were frequent enough that he mentions then regularly in his correspondence with his father, often asking his father to send him money. I've never heard of him being short of money due to hitting on girls...how would that even happen? I don't even remember that being a part of the movie.
As for the rest of the movie, most of the things they mention happened , although the timeline is a lot more compressed in the movie than in real life. However the rivalry with Salieri is not something we have any documentation of, and it's rather just speculation on the part of the playwright. They both existed, and knew each other, and both Mozart and his father Leopold mention they feel Salieri was an obstacle to Mozart's success, but later on they both supported each other's work and seemed to be amiable colleagues.
Some examples Mozart's gross sense of humour:
In a letter to his mother and sister on June 16, 1770: "I am also still alive and jollie as ever. And I love to travel: now I have also been in the Merditeranian sea". (Mozart was touring Italy at this point, and has snuck the Italian word "merda" meaning "shit" into the word Mediterranean).
A month later, in a letter to his sister: "addio statevi bene, e cacate nel letto che egli fà fracasso". (Translation: Addio, be well and shit in your bed with a resounding noise. This apparently a lot like a rude rhyme still around in Germany nowadays ... in German, of course ... that he and his mother enjoyed citing).
Mozart was a huge fan of humour and silly word play, particularly with his cousin, Maria Anna Thekla Mozart. Often in letters to her he cannot write a single sentence without breaking into random digressions and silliness: "Little bass or little Violoncello, so enraged by a worthless fellow" [The first line is a pun, "little bass" (in German, Bässchen) is a play on Bäsle, Maria's nickname] "Salzburg, 10th of May, 1790er. Blow into my rear - nothing could be finer. Bon appètit!"
And here's a bit of cheeky talk from all the way in June 1791, six months before his death. To his wife: "I'm so glad you're enjoying a good appetite - but [he] who eats a lot, has to sh... a lot! - No, has to walk a lot, I wanted to say."
...
It's true his father could be overbearing, often attempting to guilt trip Mozart into coming home or not venturing further when Mozart was becoming increasingly aware of his own independence. And his father was also not too fond of his romance with Constanze - Mozart's "disobedience" of his father during the ordeal even led him to imply that Mozart caused so much stress and led to his mother's death!
I've never come across evidence of that whacky laugh, of Constanze exposing herself to Salieri (was it? ), or of any gallivanting with other women. On the contrary, he seemed to really love his wife, his children, and their little doggy.
His personal finances were not great due more to increasing family costs and his own mismanagement than to waning commissions. He was moderately successful throughout his life, but like anyone who couldn't secure a steady position somewhere or obviously wasn't the best it could be. Evidence of this is towards the end of his life, where sales to little performances are known to have been frequent and popular, but his letters to one good friend in particular (I can't remember the name right now, Michael P....? Something?) involve him constantly asking , begging for money.
The Salieri rivalry also appears quite exaggerated and sensationalist. Although Salieri's confession coming from within a mental hospital (was it? ) seems to cover that base I suppose.
So it's more complex than it seems. And it would be too easy to build up a picture of some ill-mannered eccentric, with a gift from God. As for the bawdy talk, honestly his jokes are shockingly similar to mine and my partner's "humor" which doesn't invade our professional life and I can only guess didn't for Mozart either.
On a Meta note: Whether the movie is accurate or not, it will in years to come give future historians a fascinating insight into the way we today liked to see Mozart, and the picture we paint of him, much like the view just after his death was that he was poisoned. Today, the view you could argue is that he's an "eccentric " or "childish". The film is less an historical movie, than it is a piece of history made currently.