Mozart Snapshots

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.

Mozart grew up in Salzburg, but over a third of his adolescence was spent traveling Europe showing off his extraordinary keyboard skills and learning from other composers and musicians. We know a lot about those travels because of the letters sent home to Salzburg.

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.

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.

An exclusive new series from Denver native, pianist Katie Mahan, that follows Mozart's footsteps through the city of his birth. Katie takes us to places where no tourists are allowed.