Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was one of the greatest composers of all time. Born in Salzburg, Austria in 1756, he started writing music before he was four
years old. He was a child prodigy and toured the Courts of Europe playing his own compositions to adoring audiences. Like most child prodigies, his
audience lost interest once he grew up and despite his genius he had to work hard throughout his life to earn a living. He died almost penniless.
Mozart, like other composers had to find patrons to sponsor his work. Composers were hired servants who were expected to write music to order. They
had to write masses for church, chamber music for whatever combination of instruments were available and pieces to celebrate birthdays or anniversaries.
Mozart was not just a great composer but a great dramatist. At the
beginning of his career, he wrote
operas like Idomeneo, based
on classical subjects, but his later
works were concerned with people
and emotions. He adopted the form
of the opera seria, using recitatives and arias to
move the plot forward whilst exploring the character's emotions.
Although many of Mozart's plots seem far-fetched - with disguises and lovers who can't recognise each other, the characters are real people
and the emotions painfully real. Beneath the comic surface the operas are about betrayal, marriage gone awry, unfaithfulness, fickleness, lust and
love. In The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni he goes beyond this and combines character with social comment.
Introduction
