“Amadeus” will be shown at 2 p.m. June 8 at the Opera House

The 1891 Fredonia Opera House Performing Arts Center will screen two movies as a preview to the 27th Bach & Beyond Baroque Music Festival. The movies support the theme of this year’s Festival; and both will be screened on Saturday, June 8. “Amadeus” will be screened at 2 p.m.; and “Chevalier” will be screened that evening at 7:30 p.m.

The Bach & Beyond Festival’s program theme is one of contrasts and comparison and focuses on three composers … Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Antonio Salieri and Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges … who was the superior composer? Through representative symphonies, the Bach musicians will present and explore these three contemporaries and examine their musical prowess.

In a nod to this theme, “Amadeus,” the 1985 Best Picture Oscar winner, tells the life, success and troubles of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as told by Antonio Salieri, the contemporaneous composer who was deeply jealous of Mozart’s talent and claimed to have murdered him.

Mozart (Tom Hulce), a remarkably talented young Viennese composer, unwittingly finds a fierce rival in the disciplined and determined Salieri (F. Murray Abraham). Resenting Mozart for both his hedonistic lifestyle and his undeniable talent, the highly religious Salieri is gradually consumed by his jealousy and becomes obsessed with Mozart’s downfall, leading to a devious scheme that has dire consequences for both men.

“Amadeus” runs two hours, 38 minutes and is rated PG for brief nudity.

“Chevalier” is a 2022 film inspired by the incredible true story of composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George. The illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, Bologne (Kelvin Harrison Jr. in a tour-de-force performance) rises to improbable heights in French society as a celebrated violinist-composer and fencer, complete with an ill-fated love affair and a falling out with Marie Antoinette (Lucy Boynton) and her court.

Rated PG-13 for suggestive material, some strong language, thematic content and violence, “Chevalier” runs one hour, 47 minutes.

Tickets are available at the door for $7 (adults), $6.50 (seniors & Opera House members) and $5 (students) at each screening. The Opera House is equipped with assistive listening headsets for the hearing-impaired. Simply request one from any usher or staff member.

The 1891 Fredonia Opera House Performing Arts Center is a member-supported not-for-profit performing arts center with a mission to “present the performing arts for the benefit of our community and region … providing access to artistic diversity … and high quality programming at an affordable price.” It is located in Village Hall in downtown Fredonia. For a complete schedule of events, visit www.fredopera.org.