Mozart Life Documentary - Salzburg and Vienna Years

Commemorating Mozart's life in Salzburg (birth & beginnings) and in Vienna (freelancer musician & death). 

Mozart in Salzburg 

With all his divine genius, Wolfgng Amadeus Mozart was born into a particular environment and was decisively formed here from his childhood and youth. 'Mozart in Salzburg' makes the Composer's Salzburg years accessible.

The 60-minute film illuminates Mozart's daily life and the political and historical circumstances. What did the young Mozart see in the streets and squares? What did he eat? How did he travel? What were his leisure activities like? Questions about his milieu will be thematically categorised: How did Mozart deal with the great authority figures: his father Leopold and the Archbishop Colloredo? How did he react to the Catholic norms? What moved the young genius to flee to Vienna? And how did his years in Salzburg form him? With Daniel Barenboim, Gil Shaham, Angelika Kirchschlager, Martin Haselböck and others. ~  A documentary by Daniel Finkernagel and Alexander Lück

In Mozart's Footsteps (1950-1955)

Mozart /

This post is based on an interesting video produced by Lady Dunn. Photography by S. Ziegler and S.A. Moy. Musical score adapted from works of Wolfgang A. Mozart. Lady Dunn narrates the documentary and is seen at the very beginning.




Featuring Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of the musical genius Wolfgang Amaadeus Mozart. The documentary describes in travelogue style sequence showing the landmarks of the city where Mozart was born and grew up.

Lady Dunn tells us that we will be following Mozart's footsteps and meet him in spirit at every turn. Local people in traditional dress are seen, street scenes, markets, etc. Mozart's birthplace is featured:  we are given a little tour of his house as Lady Dunn speaks of Mozart's childhood. We see portraits of Mozart and his family on the walls of the house.

More travelogue style footage of fountains, Cathedral, man playing Cathedral organ (as Mozart's father had done), statues, squares, St Peter's cemetery, country house of the Archbishops, ornamental gardens, St Peter's Kellar (?), wine is drunk, toasts are made. Mirabelle Garden, the little garden house in which Mozart wrote his last opera has been brought from Vienna to Salzburg, we see the house, Mozart's grave, statue of Mozart, music academy, stage settings for Mozart operas, Salzburg Marionette Theatre putting on a performance of one of Mozart's operas. People gather to rehearse for the Festival performances of Mozart's work. Austrian and some other countries' flags are seen flying. Salzburg at dusk.



Video Credit:

In Mozart's Footsteps (!950-1955). YouTube, uploaded by British Pathé.  Accessed January 27, 2015, the 259th birthday anniversary of Wolfgang Mozart.  

(c) January 2015.  Tel.  Inspired Pen Web.  All rights reserved.

Postscript - Mozart 2013 Holiday Special

Mozart; Man, Myth and Music (Parts 1 and 2)

Presented by CBC Radio-Canada

Apologies as this went through the cracks over the recent holiday rush of year 2013.  Still, for Mozarteans and Mozart enthusiasts, anything about the master is welcome. This Holiday Special on Mozart was kindly provided by Connie Woloschuk, a writer-friend, who apparently enjoyed the program.  We are pleased to share the links.

Mozart: Man, Myth and Music (Part 1) 
From boyhood triumphs to burial in a common grave; a Mozart “grand tour” with historians, archivists, musicians, musicologists, even a Freudian analyst, recorded in Paris, London, Prague, Vienna and Salzburg. PLUS excerpts from Mozart’s letters.


Mozart: Man, Myth and Music (Part 2)
Which of Mozart’s arias were composed in return for sexual favours? Do we see in Don Giovanni a coded quest to kill his father? Why did Mozart gamble so recklessly? Was the mysterious “grey messenger” who commissioned the Requiem the harbinger of his death?


Resource Credit:

"Holiday Special: Mozart; Man, Myth and Music". Living Out Loud. CBC Radio-Canada.  (Thanks, Connie, and have a wonderful New Year!)  Part 1  and Part 2.  Accessed January 27, 2014 (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 228th birthday).

Note:  Thanks for this info Connie. Have a wonderful New Year. 

BBC Podcasts - A History of Mozart

Interesting and informative podcasts from BBC, "A History of Mozart in a Dozen Objects."

What's it all about?

The  series of podcasts provide Mozart's world rediscovered in objects of his time.  Professor Cliff Eisen, a leading expert on Mozart's life, looks at the composer's 18th century world through objects that were close to him.

BBC - Podcasts - A History of Mozart in a Dozen Objects

www.bbc.co.uk

The 10 Podcasts / Recent Episodes:

(Downloads for non-commercial use are available from the BBC Radio3 podcasts. Please be guided by BBC policy for downloading podcasts. Thank you.)

• Prog. 11 Objects: Blood letting device

  
  (Duration: 12 mins.)
  
  
  In this final episode Cliff Eisen focuses on medicine in the second half of the 18th century, and contemporary views on science and death. We explore today's object: a scarifier,used to bleed Mozart's mother before her death in Paris, and hear a moving account of Mozart's death in 1791 as recalled by his sister-in-law.


• 
  

  Prog. 10 Objects: Leopold's books and Mozart's tea chest

  
  (Duration: 11 mins.)
  
  
  Cliff Eisen talks about travel in the 18th Century, and discovers the books Leopold Mozart picked up in London as well as the tea chest that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart carried with him on his travels.


• 
  

  Prog. 9 Objects: A Masonic periodical published in Vienna in the 1780s

  
  (Duration:  11 mins.)
   
  
  In this episode Cliff Eisen explores Mozart's Masonic links in Vienna, and the relationship between the Masons and Emperor Joseph II. The object, a Masonic Journal from the 1780s, gives clues about some of the pieces with Masonic symbols that Mozart wrote, like the Magic Flute, and works he composed for Masonic Lodges.


• 
  

  Prog. 8 Objects: A window from Mozart’s flat in Vienna

  
  (Duration:  12 mins.)
  
  
  A window from Mozart's flat in Vienna inspires Cliff Eisen to visit the actual place – the Figarohaus, today a museum dedicated to the composer, who tried to earn his life as a free-lance musician in the Imperial Capital – but what challenges did he face?


• 
  

  Prog. 7 Objects: Salzburg’s executioner’s sword

  
  (Duration:  14 mins.)
  
  Cliff Eisen starts with an executioner’s sword dating back from the days when Salzburg embraced capital punishment. This episode explores crime and punishment in Mozart’s time and how this was reflected in some of his operas from the 1780s.


• 
  

  Prog. 6 Objects: A telescope and a musical clock

  
  (Duration: 11 mins.)
  
  
  In this episode Cliff Eisen concentrates on a 18th-Century state-of-the-art telescope and on a musical clock as a sign of the Mozarts’ interest in science and technology – a typical concern of the time, which Wolfgang reflected in his music.


• 
  

  Prog. 5 Objects: The Mozarts’ Games

  
  (Duration:  12 mins.)
  
  
  Cliff Eisen focuses on the role of game-playing in Mozart's life, and takes a look at a range of games including card games painted by Leopold Mozart himself, and a board game which featured the characters of Mozart's Magic Flute.


• 
  

  Prog. 4 Objects: Mozart’s own piano

  
  (Duration:  10 mins.)
  
  
  Cliff Eisen explores some of the many types of piano Mozart played during his life, along with specially-recorded excerpts to illustrate the features he wanted to exploit as he wrote music for the instrument.


• 
  

  Prog. 3 Objects: A model of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

  
  (Duration:  10 mins.)
  
  
  Cliff Eisen focuses on a model of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Renaissance piece at the British Museum in London, which Nannerl Mozart mentions in her diary among the most remarkable things she saw during the Mozarts' stay in England.



• Prog. 2 Objects: Portraits of Mozart

  
  (Duration:  11 mins.)
  
  Cliff Eisen introduces the second in a series of programmes exploring Mozart's world through objects associated with him. Today, two of the most important portraits of Mozart: the Stock and the Lange portraits in Salzburg.

Source:  

BBC Podcasts: A History of Mozart in a Dozen Objects.  Accessed  January 28, 2012.  Retrieved second time, October 15, 2013

The Genius of Mozart - Miracle of Nature

Wolfgang Amadaeus Mozart and His Music

 

(NOTE: I'm sorry, the videos produced by Charles Hazelwood are no longer available at YouTube. Instead I found this video "Mozart Documentary -The Genius of Mozart Miracle of Nature", uploaded by bercmag, accessed August 9, 2025.)      

 

Here's a playlist of listening pleasure for Mozart lovers: 

Genius of Mozart by ncssmfinearts. YouTube, accessed August 8, 2025.   

The programme, The Genius of Mozart, produced by Charles Hazelwood, consisted of 3 series:
Part 1/3 - Genius of Mozart. Miracle of Nature
Part 2/3 - Genius of Mozart. A Passion for the Stage
Part 3/3 - Genius of Mozart. The First Romantic.

In this well-crafted film, Charles Hazelwood looks at Mozart's extraordinary life and music. Aired on BBC 2, Monday 4th to Wednesday 6th April 2005 (Originally broadcast Friday 19th March to 2nd April 2004.)

Part 1 of 3: In the first part or series of this programme Charles Hazelwood challenges the accepted belief that Mozart was born a genius, and thus became almost an immortal being.How could Mozart have touched our universal pulse without drawing from the turmoil of every day life himself? 

The story begins with Leopold Mozart, Wolfgang's father with whom Mozart conducted a passionate and tortured correspondence. It is Leopold who knows Mozart's secrets. There is another voice: that of the music itself. Music is the key to unlocking the emotions of Mozart, starting in this film with the great piano works. That without this key, how can we ever understand the emotions that gave birth to some of the most beautiful sounds the world has ever heard?

The Genius of Mozart Miracle of Nature. 




Video Credit:

Mozart Documentary -The Genius of Mozart Miracle of Nature. YouTube, uploaded by bercmag. Accessed August 9, 2025. 

Resource:

Sharethefiles.com.  Accessed January 13, 2013.

 

 

(c) January 2013. Updated August 8, 2025. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.  

The Genius of Mozart - The First Romantic (Part 3) from BBC

Wolfgang Amadaeus Mozart and His Music.

The programme, The Genius of Mozart, is produced by Charles Hazelwood. It consists of 3 series: Part 1 - Miracle of Nature, Part 2 - A Passion for the Stage, and Part 3 - The First Romantic.  In this well-crafted film, Charles Hazelwood looks at Mozart's extraordinary life and music. Aired on BBC 2, Monday 4th to Wednesday 6th April 2005 (Originally broadcast Friday 19th March to 2nd April 2004.)

Part Three - The First Romantic - Examines how, towards the end of his life, Mozart mastered the language of instrumental and orchestral writing - and how both love and loss provoked in him an extraordinary burst of creativity.

This was essentially crystallised in Mozart's three ambitious works that changed the future course of music: his last, great trilogy of symphonies - Numbers 39, 40 and 41 - which he wrote in six short weeks.

Part 1 of 3: The Genius of Mozart.  Miracle of Nature.

Part 2 of 3: The Genius of Mozart.  A Passion for the Stage.





BBC's The Genius of Mozart - The First Romantic (Part 3)

Video Credit:

BBC - The Genius of Mozart. ( 3 of 3 ). The First Romantic. YouTube, uploaded by El musico de Bonn por jcalvodiaz. Accessed January 13, 2013.

Resource:

Sharethefiles.com. Accessed January 13, 2013.

The Genius of Mozart - A Passion for the Stage (Part 2) from BBC

Wolfgang Amadaeus Mozart and His Music.

The programme, The Genius of Mozart, is produced by Charles Hazelwood. It consists of 3 series: Part 1 - Miracle of Nature, Part 2 - A Passion for the Stage, and Part 3 - The First Romantic.  In this well-crafted film, Charles Hazelwood looks at Mozart's extraordinary life and music. Aired on BBC 2, Monday 4th to Wednesday 6th April 2005 (Originally broadcast Friday 19th March to 2nd April 2004.)

Part Two - Examines three of Mozart's greatest operas, and shows how The Magic Flute, Idomeneo, and The Marriage of Figaro revolutionised the musical theatre.

The first important part of Mozart's short life was that of the travelling child prodigy - a gifted performer and writer of music - who grew into the genius who, despite working within the restrictions of his time, began to rewrite the musical rules.  But there was another facet to Mozart - the adult thinker aware of the bigger picture, passionately attached to the progressive values of the Enlightenment Period where he belonged - impressively well-read, a speaker of most European languages (even a little English), an Austrian Catholic, a Freemason and above all a composer at the height of his formidable powers, determined to succeed in the most difficult and lucrative genre of all, the Opera.

Part 1 of 3: The Genius of Mozart. A Passion for the Stage.

Part 3 of 3: The Genius of Mozart. The First Romantic.

BBC's The Genius of Mozart - A Passion for the Stage (Part 2)

Video Credit:

BBC - A Passion for the Stage. (2 of 3 ). A Passion for the Stage.  YouTube, uploaded by El musico de Bonn por jcalvodiaz. Accessed January 13, 2013.

Resource:

Sharethefiles.com. Accessed January 13, 2013.

In Search of Mozart - Phil Grabsky Interview

To Mozart lovers and admirers,

Don't miss the film documentary In Search of Mozart.  It's awesome, the best! It has been produced in celebration of the 250th anniversary of Wolfgang A. Mozart's birthday, filmed and directed by Phil Grabsky, narrated by Juliet Stevenson, with Sam West as the voice of Mozart.

I had the most wonderful time watching "In Search of Mozart" at our local Cinema in Cremorne on the North Shore.  After the film I had moments to reflect and discuss the film with a dear friend Agnes Selby, her husband, and another friend of mine. It's all about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This is by far the most awesome, the best ever documentary film I've seen about this child prodigy, this genius wunderkind.

Here's the interview with Phil Grabsky,  director of In Search of Mozart. He  speaks of the making of his award winning film documentary. 

MOZART Burial, St. Marx Cemetery

Mozart / Death Anniversary: December 5

St. Marx Cemetery, in Vienna, where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had been buried.

Historic graveyard in Vienna (St. Marxer Friedhof), the exact position is unknown. It's now used as a park for recreation, jogging, and tourist attraction. There were three busloads of Japanese tourists when I was last there. My soliloquy ended upon their arrival with all the excitement, and all I heard was the euphoric "Mozart!" "Mozart!".

Background music is Mozart's famous last unfinished work, Mozart Requiem, completed by his student and friend Franz Xaver Suessmayr.

Video Credit:
Cemetery, where Mozart had been buried. Youtube, uploaded by Gerard Schwertberger.


(c) December 2011.  Tel Asiado.  Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.