Wolfgang Amadeus #Mozart Biography: Like what Mozart?

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756 in Salzburg (Austria) and was a musician who was able to play multiple instruments, at the age of 6. Over the years, Mozart has joined several European venues and patrons, composing hundreds of works with sonatas, symphonies, masses, chamber music, concertos and operas, characterized by vivid emotions and refined textures.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was the only surviving son of Leopold and Maria Pertl Mozart. Leopold was a successful composer, violinist and assistant concertmaster at Salzburg Court. Wolfgang's mother Anna Maria Pertl was born into a middle-class family of local community leaders. His only sister was Maria Anna (nicknamed “Nannerl”). With the encouragement and guidance of their father, they were both introduced to music at a young age. Leopold started with Nannerl when she was seven and three-year-old Wolfgang watched. Wolfgang mimicked her and demonstrated a strong understanding of chords, tonality and pace. Soon he was accompanied by his father. Leopold was a dedicated and task-oriented teacher for both his children. He made the lessons fun, but also insisted on strong work ethic and perfection. Fortunately, both children proved good in these areas. Recognizing their special talents, Leopold devoted much of his time to their education in music and other subjects. Wolfgang soon showed signs of excellence beyond his father's teachings with an early composition at the age of five and with excellent ability on harpsichord and the violin. He would quickly play piano, organ and viola.

In 1762, Wolfgang's father Nannerl, then eleven years old, and Wolfgang, six years old, took to the Bavaria court in Munich in what would become the first of several European tours. They traveled to the courts of Paris, London, The Hague and Zurich as prodigy children. Wolfgang met a number of experienced musicians and became familiar with their works. Particularly important was his meeting with Johann Christian Bach (Johann Sebastian Bach's youngest son) in London, who had a strong influence on Wolfgang. The trips were long and often heavy, as they traveled in primitive conditions and waited for invitations and refunds from the nobility. Regularly, Wolfgang and other members of his family became seriously ill and had to limit their performance schedule.

In December 1769, Wolfgang was 13 years old. His father then left his mother and sister at home from Salzburg to Italy. It seems that Nannerl's professional music career was over at the time. She approached marriageable age, and according to the customs of the time, she was not allowed to show her artistic talent publicly. The Italian outing was longer than the others (1769-1771) when Leopold wanted to display his son's abilities as a performer and composer for as many new audiences as possible. When he was in Rome, Wolfgang heard Gregorio Allegri's Miserere performed once in the Sistine Chapel. He wrote the whole score out of memory and returned only to correct a few minor errors. During this time Wolfgang also wrote a new opera, Mitridate, re di Ponto in Milan court. Other assignments followed and in later trips to Italy Wolfgang wrote two other operas, Ascanio in Alba (1771) and Lucio Silla (1772).