At 12:55 am on 5 December 1791, the singular and unique Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart took his last breath. He had fallen ill in Prague in September 1791, but continued his professional activities, including conducting the premiere of The Magic Flute

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart loved billiards, his pet starling, and food! Food was plentiful in Vienna during Mozart’s time, and a cheap and common meal would have consisted of two large meat dishes with soup, vegetables, bread, and a quarter liter

The composer and tenor Benedikt Schack (1758-1826) was a close friend of Mozart, and he was the first performer of the role of Tamino in The Magic Flute. Schack hailed from the Bohemian provinces of the Austrian Empire, but moved

Let’s start this little series on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his circle of friends with a look at the supposed relationship between Mozart and Beethoven. Biographer Otto Jahn related the following anecdote: “Beethoven… was introduced to Mozart, and played to

In the 21st Century, pop stars—real, imagined or virtual—are a dime a dozen. In 250 years will we see their faces printed on chocolates, dishtowels, coffee cups and all kinds of digital media? I suspect that the great majority will

Should we consider Mozart to be the most positive of composers? In all of his dozens of symphonies, they were all in a major key, with two exceptions and those were both in the same minor key. Mozart’s Symphony No.

The music of Mozart fascinates. Often, his name is synonymous with musical genius, and he is perhaps the most popular classical composer ever. His musical output and extraordinary life, including musical precocity, have been the subject of many studies, books,

When it comes to Mozart operas, “The Marriage of Figaro” is one of my all-time favorites. Mozart composed this opera buffa in 1786 to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte. The libretto is based on a stage comedy by