As you can gather from the facsimile on the wall to the right, Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart began his career very early – he composed his first piece of music at the tender age of 5. Incidentally, the name Theophilus first was changed to Gottlieb and ultimately to Amadeus. Mozart himself never used the Latin version, and called himself Wolfgang Amadé from 1780 onwards. 

His childhood was dominated by travel – as a child prodigy, he performed in all the major cities, joined by his sister, Maria Anna (“Nannerl”), and was celebrated wherever he went. As a young man, however, things would no longer come as easy. Throughout his life, he tried to secure a permanent court position; he finally succeeded to do so at the court of the archbishop in Salzburg, but soon fell out with him (Colloredo) and was then rudely dismissed with Count Arco’s now famous “kick up the backside”. Four years before his death, he was given another chance in Vienna under Emperor Joseph II., but “only” as a chamber composer for the Viennese Court balls. Mozart only lived to the age of 36, but during the 30 years he spent composing, he wrote a staggering number of works. He also continued to travel, often under the most arduous conditions, conducted, rehearsed for his operas, taught and accepted composition commissions. Although, to us, Mozart’s music may appear light and full of harmony – his life, in comparison, was not.

The screen in the right-hand corner shows that Mozart started by writing the violin melody of this composition, only adding the piano accompaniment later. Usually, he had already finished the melodies in his head and only needed to write down his musical outpourings; his scores contain virtually no corrections. 

Mozart’s most famous opera probably is “The Magic Flute”. To your left, you can see the playbill advertising its premiere (1791), along with facsimiles of an aria and puppets for the characters “Sarastro the Enlightened Sovereign” and his opponent, the “Queen of the Night”. On the pillar, you’ll also find the Schinkel stage sets from 1816, and next to these, a model of the State Opera’s new stage production from June 1st, 2000. Alltogether, objects from three different centuries shed light on the influence of lifestlye and zeitgeist in art. When discussing “The Magic Flute”, we can never forget to mention freemasonry: Mozart and Emanuel Schikaneder, who was the author of the opera, were lodge brothers together. The opera is peppered with Masonic symbolism, such as these words from the final chorus: “May power be victorious, and coronate as a reward beauty and wisdom with an eternal crown”, thus citing the highest Masonic ideals. 

It is well-known that Mozart was not particularily fond of wind instruments, and when he composed for them they were mostly occasional or commissioned pieces. Mozart probably composed his oboe concerto in C major, KV 314, in 1777 for Italian composer and oboist Giuseppe Ferlendis (1755 – 1810). In 1778, Dutch doctor and amateur flutist Ferdinand Dejean (1731-1797) commissioned Mozart to compose a few flute works for him. Mozart composed for Dejean, among other things, the flute concerto in G major, KV 313, and the flute concerto in D major, KV 314; he adapted his oboe concerto for the latter. The oboe concerto score was lost for more than 100 years, and its existence was only known due to references pointing to its composition in Mozart’s correspondence. It wasn’t until 1920 when Austrian musicologist, conductor and composer Bernhard Paumgartner (1887 – 1971) found the oboe concerto vocal score at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, that one could confirm that the flute concerto in D major was in fact a revision of Mozart’s work for the oboe. Nowadays, Mozart’s oboe concerto and his flute concertos are among the most popular and most-performed works out of his repertoire for winds.

Furthermore, Mozart received composition commissions from the lodge, acted as an independent concert organiser, gave private lessons and also received a fixed salary from Emperor Joseph II. for his job as court musician during the final years of his life. Therefore, he can be described as a high earner, but was unable to manage his money and spent it all immediately – as did his wife Constanze. His lifestyle was so wasteful, that Constanze didn’t have to pay any inheritance tax following his death, as you can gather from his estate, which hangs to the right of the family portrait.

Incidentally, this is the only authentic painting of the Mozart family. The painter, Johann Nepomuk della Croce, completed it in 1781. His mother, Anna Maria, is the only one not standing next to the piano, as she died of pneumonia in 1778 during her son’s concert tour of Paris. His sister Nannerl is sitting next to Wolfgang at the piano. Like her younger brother, she was also an extremely talented pianist. Both children were initially encouraged, but as they got older, Nannerl’s training was neglected in favour of Wolfgang’s.