About seven years ago, HBO almost made my dream television show. It was called “Virtuoso,” and was produced by Elton John and written and directed by Alan Ball. From all accounts—and I followed them closely—it was to be something of a soap opera about the founding of a conservatory obviously based on the real-life Vienna Conservatory, following a small group of students under the direction of one Antonio Salieri (played by Ball’s husband, Peter Macdissi).
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