Child genius

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria. He and his sister Maria Anna were the only surviving children of Leopold Mozart and Anna Maria Pertl (called Nannerl). Leopold Mozart was a well-known violinist.

Both Wolfgang and Maria Anna showed musical talent as children. Wolfgang, however, was exceptionally gifted. When only 3 years old he was picking out chords, or musical tones, on the harpsichord. At 4 he was playing short pieces, and at 5 he was composing. A year later Leopold began taking Wolfgang and Maria Anna on tours throughout Europe. They gave public concerts, played at the various courts, and met the leading musicians of the day. Wolfgang played the violin, organ, piano, and harpsichord.

Wolfgang's first opera, La Finta Semplice (The Feigned Simpleton), was premiered in Salzburg in 1769. By the time he was 13 Mozart had become well acquainted with the musical styles of his time.

Early operas

In the late 18th century it was considered essential for a musician to master the Italian style in opera. Mozart and his father went on three Italian tours between 1769 and 1773.

In October 1770, in Milan, Mozart began work on a new opera, Mitridate, rè di Ponto (Mithradates, King of Pontus). Its premiere on December 26 was a success. Two other operas that Mozart wrote at this time—Ascanio and Lucio Silla—were great successes as well.

In Salzburg

By 1774 Mozart was working as an assistant to the conductor at the court in Salzburg. But he came into conflict with the local archbishop. In 1777 he petitioned the archbishop for his release and set out with his mother to find new opportunities.

They reached Paris late in March 1778. Soon after his mother fell seriously ill and died. Mozart's father summoned him home, and Mozart returned reluctantly to become court organist at Salzburg. He produced a number of religious works during this time, including the best known of his complete masses, the Coronation Mass.

Mozart, who loved dramatic music, received an offer to compose a serious Italian opera for Munich. Premiered in Munich on January 29, 1781, just after Mozart's 25th birthday, Idomeneo, ré di Creta met with success.On June 9, 1781, after more differences with the archbishop, Mozart left his job at the court in Salzburg. He started making a living for himself in Vienna.

Vienna

Joseph II, the king of the Austrian Hapsburg kingdoms, was devoted to German opera. Mozart's opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) enjoyed immediate success. It carried Mozart's reputation widely around the German-speaking countries.

In 1781 Mozart married Constanze Weber. Thereafter Mozart began one of the most creative periods of his musical life. In 1782–83 he wrote three piano concertos. Six more followed in 1784, three each in 1785 and 1786 and one each in 1788 and 1791. Six string quartets on which he had begun composition in 1782 were finished in the first days of 1785 and published later that year.

In spite of his success as a pianist and composer, Mozart had serious financial problems, spending more than he earned. Success in the court opera house was all-important. Joseph II was now partial to Italian opera. At Mozart's suggestion the Italian poet Lorenzo da Ponte wrote Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro). It was staged on May 1, 1786, and was somewhat successful.

Mozart's concert activities in Vienna were now on a modest scale. He did not perform at all in 1787. Mozart's chief occupation during that year was the composition of the opera Don Giovanni.

In November 1787 Mozart was appointed to a court post. The only requirement of the appointment was that he should supply dance music for court balls, which he did. The salary seems to have done little to relieve his financial troubles. In 1789 Mozart concentrated on completing his next opera commission, Così fan tutte. The year 1790 was difficult and unproductive.

In 1791 Mozart was engaged to compose a score to a play called Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute). Mozart worked on it during the spring and early summer. Then he received an anonymous commission for a requiem, or a mass for the dead, to be composed under conditions of secrecy. He was also invited to write the opera to be given during Leopold II's coronation festivities in September. Die Zauberflöte had its premiere on September 30, 1791. The opera became the most loved of all of Mozart's works for the stage.

Around this time Mozart fell ill. In November 1791 he was confined to bed. He died on December 5, 1791. Mozart was buried in a multiple grave, as was the custom at the time in Vienna for a person of his stature.