- Mozart’s sense of humor was off-color — adolescent and inappropriate by today’s standards. Some of his scores are riddled with good natured insults and jokes, especially his horn concertos that he wrote for a family friend, Joseph Leitgeb. In Mozart’s notes about his Horn Concerto No.
- Mozart had a number of pets over the course of his short life, but one stands out above all the others: his pet starling. The bird first attracted Mozart’s attention in May of 1784 when he heard it singing the melody of his latest — and not yet published — piano concerto.
- When Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died at the age of 35, he left his wife Constanze with two children, almost no money and his manuscripts. Constanze was determined to keep her beloved husband’s memory and music alive. “She did everything she possibly could to promote Mozart,” says Colorado pianist Katie Mahan.
- Sundays started with Mass for the Mozart family who were working musicians for the Archbishop’s weekly church service. But after Mass, Sundays were spent with friends playing games, drinking beer and going for strolls. The Mozarts like to bowl and play Bölzlschiessen, a game of shooting darts at painted targets with air guns.
- Superstar violinist Joshua Bell headlines the National Repertory Orchestra’s Denver debut on July 9th at the Newman Center. Bell, along with the young professional musicians of the NRO, will perform the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto on his 1713 Huberman Stradivarius violin. CPR Classical will be there and we hope you will join us!
- Summerfest Postcards are audio snapshots of some of Colorado’s summertime classical music festivals. There are nearly 20 festivals across the state, from a small chamber music series in Denver, to a mountain festival so large it drives the summer economy of its host town.
- Every summer the classical music world comes to Colorado. The Centennial State boasts more summer classical music festivals per capita than any other state! With nearly 20 festivals, it’s impossible to get to all the concerts you’d like to see, so CPR Classical brings the music to you during our 10-week Summerfest programming special.
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a petite 5′ 4″, but his shadow looms large over his city of birth, Salzburg, Austria. Tourism is Salzburg’s biggest industry today, and Mozart is at the center of that multi-billion-dollar industry.
- Mozart lived to write opera, but he struggled with box office success. The initial run of “The Marriage of Figaro” in Vienna ran only nine times before closing. “Cosi fan tutte” was performed only five times before closing in respect after the Emperor’s death.
- Fans of the movie “The Sound of Music” know the gardens of Salzburg’s Schloss Mirabell (Mirabell Palace) well.
- Mozart’s star shines so brightly in history that it overshadows nearly everyone around him, including his extraordinarily talented sister, Maria Anna “Nannerl” Mozart. By all accounts, Nannerl was Wolfgang’s equal as a keyboard player. She also composed. She often served as her brother’s first pair of eyes for his keyboard compositions.
- The tiny St. Johanneskirche am Imberg is rumored to have been the favorite little hideaway of Wolfgang and Nannerl Mozart as children. Dating back to the year 1319, this “kirchlein” is the oldest church on the east side of the Salzach River that flows through the center of Salzburg.
- A strong cup of coffee may be the cure you need in the morning to wake up and begin working, but in Mozart’s time it was thought to also cure stomach ailments. Hot chocolate, besides being delicious, was thought to make your blood vessels stronger.
- Mozart didn’t have an ordinary childhood. He never went to school. And he didn’t live at home very much. Instead, his father, Leopold, packed up the family and traveled Europe to show off the extraordinary keyboard skills of Mozart and his older sister, Nannerl.
- Mozart had friends in high places, most notably his father who was one of the most important musicians in Salzburg. In his role, Leopold held control over which composers received commissions. Not surprisingly, a lot of those commissions for church pieces went to his son, Wolfgang.
- Mozart loved to dress well and spent large sums of money on extravagant clothes and the latest fashions. His sense of style was just another extension of his creativity. Mozart’s flair for fashion developed at an early age, when he often wore hand-me-downs from royal children.
