It was a landmark trial in terms of human rights and business reputation. Real prosecutors and defense attorneys sat at the Palace of Justice. Science was called upon for help: the famous surgeon Casaglia was summoned as the prosecution’s witness. He believed that the cause of victim’s death could be mercury added to wine. The prosecution presented a Russian text as evidence. It was Pushkin’s brief tragedy, Mozart and Saleri.

Because the court decided to finally settle the matter of whether Saleri was the perpetrator of Mozart’s murder or not. With the aid of science, the president of the Salzburg Mozart Foundation, Professor Angermüller, who spoke on behalf of the defense, proved conclusively that Saleri is not guilty. The public breathed a sigh of relief. And the musicians began to catch up by including Saleri in their repertoire. In the following 1998 his Requiem, for example, was performed in St. Petersburg. That was for the first time since Pushkin’s writing.