Happy 260th birthday, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart!

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart would have been 260 today. He died in 1791 at the age of 35, which means for the citizens of Vienna and the world, there has been a void of 225 years without a new Mozart composition.

Visitors to Austria quickly learn that in Vienna, there is no such thing as too much Mozart - or Strauss for that matter. For many travelers museums are frequently an acquired taste, but when they capture the essence of a personality or a particular era, they take on a new life. Vienna’s Mozarthaus is one of those places.

Don’t expect flashing neon signs or dozens of signposts saying “This way to Wolfie’s house.” In fact, you may wonder at first if you are in the right place. That’s because the apartments above the museum are still in use today, creating an atmosphere that makes it feel as if Mozart still lives at the site that was his home some 250 years ago. In a sense, the spirit of the great composer continues to thrive in a city that boasts such a rich musical heritage.

To walk up the ancient stone steps and see the sign over the door that simply says “Mozart” gives goose bumps to just about any visitor. Here, life goes on in the building just as it did two and a half centuries ago. As such, there is an aura about the museum that captures the imagination.

Curators have been unable to find most of Mozart’s original furniture and furnishings. For that reason the rooms of the apartment/museum are appointed as accurately as possible from written accounts of the composer’s life. When combined with other elements surrounding this unique venue, it becomes practically impossible not to feel a sense of being in the maestro’s presence during a visit. The design is intentional. It is meant to be an interactive venue rather than a stuffy memorial that fails to capture the spirit of the man who lived there.

It was in this location that Mozart wrote his world famous comic opera, “The Marriage of Figaro” (Le nozze di Figaro”). It was also in Mozarthaus where three of the six Haydn Quartets were written. But the back-story makes the main narrative even more intriguing. Already friends with Michael Haydn, during the time Mozart occupied this particular Viennese home, he was often visited by Michael’s more famous brother, Joseph Haydn. It is said Mozart and his friends would hold “jam sessions,” which must have seemed like an 18th century version of the Beatles, as such geniuses improvised music during the era of powdered wigs and silk knickers.

The Mozart apartment itself consists of four large rooms plus two smaller ones and a kitchen. Among the treasured artifacts at Mozarthaus is the stunning Flute Clock, a magnificent timepiece made around 1790, which plays the “Andante for a Cylinder in a Small Organ.” Many experts believe Mozart composed the music specifically for the clock.

In a city enveloped by music, Mozarthaus is a treasure to discover. Vienna’s tribute to one of the greatest composers of all time is tucked within narrow streets that must be very much as they were more than 200 years ago. As the British novelist once wrote, “There is nothing perfect in this world except Mozart’s music.” As if to verify this statement, the Mozarthaus still stands today as a museum in tune with the times.

At: http://www.commdiginews.com/entertainment/happy-260th-birthday-wolfgang-amadeus-mozart-56511/