Chill with Mozart
Probably the greatest genius in Western musical history, Wolfgang Amadeus was born in Salzburg in 1756, the youngest child and only surviving son of Leopold Mozart. He showed early precocity both as a keyboard-player and violinist, and soon turned his hand to composition.
His obvious gifts were developed under his father's tutelage, and through the patronage of the Archbishop of Salzburg the family were able to travel abroad to Paris and to London, to show off the young Mozart’s remarkable gifts. A series of other journeys followed, with important operatic commissions in Italy between 1771 and 1773.
The following period proved disappointing to both father and son, as the young Mozart grew to manhood, irked by the lack of opportunity and lack of appreciation of his gifts in Salzburg where a new Archbishop proved less sympathetic. Visits to Munich, Mannheim and Paris in 1777 and 1778 brought no substantial offer of other employment and by early 1779 Mozart was reinstated in Salzburg, now as court organist.
In 1781, Mozart broke his ties with Salzburg and spent the last ten years of his life in precarious independence in Vienna, his material situation not improved by an unsuitable marriage. Initial success with German and then Italian opera and a series of subscription concerts were followed by financial difficulties. Then, in late November of 1791, Mozart became seriously ill and died in the small hours of 5th December.