The home where Mozart was born today offers an exhibition detailing the family life and upbringing that led to a child prodigy.
The wide-eyed 13-year-old child stares at the viewer from under a Baroque wig. At this tender age, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – usually just known as Mozart – was already a professional musician. Dressed in a red gala skirt, he sits at a harpsichord and his playful melodies come to mind. The notes of this particular score have been preserved only in the 1770 painting Mozart In Verona.
“The portrait was sold at auction a few years ago for an incredible €4.6mil (RM21.56mil),” says Linus Klumpner, director of the Salzburg Mozart Museum in Salzburg, Austria.
“The new owner in Asia eventually granted us a permanent loan after long-winding negotiations.”
Today, the portrait hangs in Mozart’s eight-room home into which his family moved in 1773. Eager tourists can admire the original piano with only 61 keys (instead of the usual 88). The maestro’s aura can still be felt in this spacious ballroom.
Many other places in Salzburg take visitors back to the Mozart era.
Like so many places in the city, Salzburg Cathedral has stories to tell about Mozart.
Was Mozart locked up?
The Magic Flute Lodge, which has been on display in the courtyard of the museum since 2024, is also original. Legend has it that Mozart was locked into the hut to complete his opera The Magic Flute on time.
The popular opera has been on the Salzburg Marionette Theatre’s repertoire since 1952. The puppeteer, Heidi Holzl, has performed the piece over a thousand times. “I always discover something new about Mozart,” says the 81-year-old Holzl. “I cannot get enough of his music.”
Visitors can have a closer look at the handmade puppets during guided tours of the theatre’s backstage and workshop. Puppets on strings hang closely together, as if they are waiting for their next performance. Mozart loved playing and having fun and would have adored this fairytale chamber.
Mozart lovers from all over the world will head to the most famous address, Getreidegasse 9, in Salzburg’s old town centre. The musical genius was born in the yellow house in 1756 and began composing there at the age of four.
The composer also has a statue on a square named after him in Salzburg. — Tourismus Salzburg/dpa
What did Mozart look like?
The visitor is immersed in the family life of the Mozarts, with his father Leopold, the driving force, his mother, who was also a talented musician, and his sister Maria Anna and of course, Pimperl, their beloved dog.
The exhibits include Mozart’s childhood violin, a lock of his hair and miniature portraits of him. Yet nobody knows exactly what Mozart looked like, says Andrea Eder, adding: “He wasn’t handsome because he had a big nose, pockmarks on his face and slightly bulging eyes.”
The 1842 statue of Mozart on Salzburg’s Mozartplatz, for instance, bears no resemblance to the great musician, who was not very tall.
The androgynous Homage To Mozart statue by sculptor Markus Luepertz on the banks of the River Salzach does not even attempt to do so.
However, there are established but astonishing facts about his musical impact: “We know that Mozart debuted at the Residenz at the age of seven,” says Andrea Stockhammer, director of the DomQuartier Salzburg museum complex.
Mozart later worked as concertmaster of the court orchestra for the prince-archbishops. Given this backdrop, it comes as no surprise that 70% of his Salzburg works are religious pieces.
Impact on festival
“He played his music on the organ,” says art mediator Angelika Widerin, pointing to one of the smaller organs in Salzburg Cathedral.
Visitors can easily imagine how Mozart, who was only 1.5m – short by European standards – in height, flooded the huge nave with his music.
Mozart, the court musician, frequented the sumptuous Baroque state rooms in the Old Residence and was commissioned by the clergy to compose music for ceremonial and everyday occasions. He also conducted a court orchestra of over a hundred musicians. And like 21st century visitors, Mozart probably gazed at the opulent ceiling paintings from time to time.
Of course, the Salzburg Festival is barely conceivable without the so-called child prodigy. “Mozart is one of the dramaturgical pillars,” says Margarethe Lasinger, head of the festival’s archive.
Artefacts of the world’s most important classical music festival have been on hand in a villa in Salzburg’s Riedenburg district since 2024.
Drawers in the theatre’s archive contain schedules, posters, booklets and stage directions. The Queen Of The Night’s sequinned black and blue velvet costume in The Magic Flute is enthroned in the centre of the room.
If you don’t like Mozart’s music, you might find the sweet souvenirs of Mozartkugeln more appealing. — MARCUS BRANDT/dpa
Austria’s oldest cafe
After work, Mozart used to hurry to his favourite cafe, now called Tomaselli, which claims to be the oldest cafe in Austria. The smell of coffee and pastries is everywhere and probably whetted the appetite of Mozart, who is said to have loved good food.
Mozart remains the preferred composer of opera singer Cecilia Bartoli. The artistic director of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival has added the little-known Mozart opera La Clemenza di Tito to the repertoire. The historical piece is set in the contemporary political sphere.
“This sober backdrop fits perfectly on our stage in the House of Mozart,” says Markus Hinterhauser, the Salzburg Festival director.
During the festival, stages in the Grosses Festspielhaus and Kleines Festspielhaus, now called the House of Mozart, near the Felsenreitschule, are a draw for fans of classical music.
One taxi driver, who hails from Somalia, says he has never been to one of Mozart’s operas – but he is familiar with the handmade small dark chocolates made of pistachio, marzipan and nougat.
These local souvenirs are exported by the millions – akin to the Mozart cult. “I love Mozartkugeln,” he says. – DANIELA DAVID/dpa
With only 61 instead of the usual 88 keys, this piano can still be seen in Mozart’s home. — Photos: DANIELA DAVID/dpa
