January 27

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 's Birthday
 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg in 1776 and is regarded by many as the world's most popular classical composer with more than 600 compositions to his credit, including operas, symphonies, concertos, chamber music, and choral works. Peter Shaffer's popular 1979 stage play Amadeus, as well as Milos Forman's brilliant film starring Tom Hulce as Mozart) based on the play, introduced many to an overview on the composer's life. However, much of the film and play are fictional including the scene in Shaffer's work in which Mozart dictates music to his fellow composer, Antonio Salieri, on his deathbed. Shaffer seems to have been fascinated by the contrast between Mozart's sexual vulgarity and the sublime character of his music. Mozart had a penchant for adolescent sexual and scatological humor, which is preserved in his many surviving letters and is evidenced by his canon in B-flat major "Leck mich im Arsch" (Lick my Ass), and which some historians claim was evidence of possible Tourette syndrome,

Wolfgang was a child prodigy whose talents were heavily promoted by his father,  Leopold , who was the deputy Kapellmeister to the court orchestra of the Archbishop of Salzburg, a music teacher, and a minor composer. Leopold began teaching his son to play the clavier when Wolfgang was four. After only a few months, the boy could play minuets faultlessly.  At the age of five, Wolfgang was already composing little pieces which he played to his father who wrote them down. Leopold soon realized that his son was a musical prodigy and gave up all of his other teaching to concentrate on his son's musical talents. When Wolfgang was six, Leopold began to arrange concerts for him. Because of their success, they embarked on a three-and-half year continental tour to many of the European major cities including Paris, London, Milan, The Hague, and Zurich.  Toward the end of the final Italian journey, Mozart wrote the first of his works that is still widely performed today, the solo cantata Exsultate, jubilate written for the castrato Venanzio Rauzzini. On January 1781, Mozart's opera Idomeneo, premiered with considerable success. He wrote the opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio), which premiered on July 16, 1782 and achieved a huge success and fully established Mozart's reputation as a composer.

When Wolfgang was twenty-one, he married the 15-year-old Constanze Weber on August 4, 1782 with Leopold's grudging consent. The Mozarts had six children over a period of about nine years, but only two survived infancy.  Mozart fell ill while in Prague for the September 6, 1791 premiere of his opera La clemenza di Tito (The Clemency of Titus). He was able to continue his professional functions for a few week including conducting the premiere of Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) on September 30. His illness intensified on November 29, at which point Mozart became bedridden, suffering from swelling, pain, and vomiting, and he Mozart died on December 5.  After his death, Constanze was heavily in debt. She obtained a pension from the Emperor, organized profitable memorial concerts, and embarked on a campaign to publish her husband's works. These efforts succeeded, eventually making Constanze financially secure.

The classic dessert for Mozart's birthday is Mozartkugel,  a famous Austrian layer cake filled with a chocolate ganache. which is a staple fixture at the Vienna International Airport and which we suggest pairing with the  film classic - Amadeus (1984).
 

Mozartkugel
(Mozart Cake)