Amadeus by Fortress Europe

Amadeus is a reimagining of selected works and fragments of works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, performed by a 12-piece band and featuring soprano Madison Nonoa and bass-baritone Joel Amosa. The arrangements utilise interweaving post-rock guitars, haunting synths, spaghetti-western trumpets and trip-hop inspired drums, alongside more traditional orchestral instrumentation such as woodwinds and strings.

The album was inspired by bandleader Leon Radojkovic's award-winning work as musical director for Auckland Theatre Company's production of Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus, directed by Oliver Driver, and starring Michael Hurst and Ross McCormack. Radojkovic's goal was to create a new interpretation of Mozart's work that remained true to his music and spirit, rather than simply reproducing a facsimile, while avoiding at all costs the tired trope of “rock band plus orchestra”.

The recording features only a partial selection of the over 20 pieces which were performed in the Auckland season. They are presented chronologically as they were composed, and only the section of each work which was featured in the production was recorded

Too many notes
Pickled everything
Communist Periodicals