- 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.
- UPDATE 5/4/2022: The concert is SOLD OUT. Watch the live event here Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. MT CPR Classical and The Spirituals Project Choir invite you to sing with us on May 14 at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts.
- Wolfgang Mozart’s father, Leopold, often gets a bad rap in history as a domineering, fame-obsessed father who exploited his children’s talents. There is a kernel of truth in those accusations. But he was also funny and smart, well-educated, and skilled at navigating upper crust society.
- Mozart was wined and dined by royalty, yet in his extensive correspondences with family and friends, he rarely commented on the food he was served. So just what did he like to eat?
- In this episode of Mozart Snapshots, Katie Mahan takes us into Mozart's Geburtshaus (birthplace) for a tourist-free walk through the house and shares a wealth of information about his early years.
- Ukrainian violinist Illia Bondarenko filmed himself in a basement shelter in Kyiv. He’s playing an old Ukrainian folk song called Verbovaya Doschechka (arranged by Illia Bondarenko). He was contacted by violinist Kerenza Peacock who reached out to 94 violinists in 29 countries to accompany him in harmony.
- In this episode of Mozart Snapshots, Katie Mahan takes us inside the Salzburger Dom and gives us an exclusive tour of the organ Mozart played every week with the current organist of the cathedral.
