A remarkable musician and composer, whose legend continues to grow more than two centuries after his death, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria in 1756. Before the age of four, he had exhibited such extraordinary powers of musical memory and ear-sophistication that his father, Leopold (a highly esteemed violinist and composer in his own right) decided to sign young Wolfgang up for harpsichord lessons. Almost from day one, the boy's reputation as an unexampled musical prodigy grew faster than wildfire. At five, he was composing music; at six, he was a keyboard virtuoso, so much so that Leopold took Wolfgang and his sister Maria Anna on a performance tour of Munich and Vienna.
             From that time on, young Mozart was constantly performing and writing music. He was the toast of Austria, and gave many concerts of prepared works and improvisation. Wherever he appeared, people gaped in awe at his divine gifts. By his early teens, he had mastered the piano, violin and harpsichord, and was writing keyboard pieces, oratorios, symphonies and operas. His first major opera seria, Mitridate, was performed in Milan in 1770 (when he was still only fourteen!), to such unqualified raves that critics compared him to Handel.
             At fifteen, Mozart was installed as the concertmaster in the orchestra of the Archbishop of Salzburg. Things did not go very well; Mozart didn't get along with the Archbishop, and relations deteriorated to the point where, in 1781, he quit this lofty position and headed for Vienna - quite against his father's wishes.
             Now a grown man, Mozart initially thrived in Vienna. He was in great demand as a performer and composition teacher, and his first opera, The Abduction from the Seraglio, was a hit. But life was not easy. He was a poor businessman, and finances were always tight, especially after his marriage to Constanze Weber. Political infighting at the Vienna court kept him from the patronage that c...