Each week Colorado pianist Katie Mahan takes us on a journey of Mozart's life in Salzburg. Katie has been following in Mozart's footsteps and takes us to places where Mozart lived, worked and played - places that helped shape him into the person and genius composer/musician that he was.
Check back every week for a new episode!
The street where Mozart lived
The Getreidegasse is one of the oldest and most important trade streets in Salzburg’s old town.
Studying Mozart. Katie takes us inside the leading academic institution dedicated to Mozart
The roots of the Mozarteum University date back to 1841 and the founding of the “Dommusikverein und Mozarteum” on the 50th anniversary of Mozart’s death.
Inspiring views for a Mozart Mass
Salzburg is full of churches, and the Mozarts spent a lot of time going to church.
The mystery of Mozart’s C Minor Mass
The origin of Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor is somewhat of a mystery.
What nationality was Mozart? Austrian? German? Actually, neither.
What was is like to walk the streets of Salzburg when Mozart was growing up there? In the old part of the city, it’s remarkably similar.
Where did Mozart’s musical talent come from?
Where did Mozart get his musical talent? History has long pointed to his father, Leopold. Leopold was a violinist and authored an authoritative textbook on violin playing.
Mozart’s death: sorting out fact from fiction
An ancient cemetery is a good setting to sort out fact from fiction around Mozart’s death.
A party at the Mozart house included music and air rifles
Anyone with children living at home can relate to wanting more space as the family grows.
Mozart’s favorite (and only) form of transportation
Today you can travel from Salzburg to Vienna in under three hours. When the Mozart family undertook that trip, it took three weeks!
The link between Beethoven and Mozart
The young Ludwig van Beethoven had every intention of studying with Mozart. In 1787, when Beethoven was 16, he traveled to Vienna to meet and study with Mozart.
The magical world of Mozart puppet theater
Mozart is a billion-dollar industry in Salzburg, Austria, the composer’s hometown. Tourists line up to see Mozart’s birthplace, to buy Mozart Kugeln chocolate and to attend Mozart dinner balls.
Mozart’s home-school education
Mozart's father, Leopold, educated Mozart and his sister, Nannerl, and there's no question that Leopold Mozart taught his children music. But what about reading, writing and math?
The inspirations and intrigue behind Mozart’s opera ‘The Magic Flute’
Freemasons, the Illuminati and the mystery of who killed Mozart are all part of the lore surrounding the creation of Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute.” In this episode of Mozart […]
For the Mozart family, having friends in high places was the norm
In this week’s episode of Mozart Snapshots, pianist Katie Mahan takes us to an off the beaten path hidden gem in Salzburg, the beautiful rococo villa “Robininghof”.
Mozart’s terrifying character in the opera ‘Don Giovanni’
Mozart’s opera “Don Giovanni” is full of drama, ambiguity, comedy, tragedy and even supernatural elements.
What do Mozart’s Italian operas and the film ‘The Sound of Music’ have in common? A little known Count.
Mozart might not have ever written Italian opera had it not been for a little known Count, whose house was used two centuries later as the backdrop for 'The Sound of Music.'
Mozartkugeln: How to spot the real bonbon
Finding Mozartkugeln isn’t hard. You can find it online or at a specialty grocer. But finding authentic Mozartkugeln in Colorado, or the U.S., is nearly impossible.
Mozart’s sense of humor: jokes, riddles and toilet-humor.
Mozart’s sense of humor was off-color — adolescent and inappropriate by today’s standards.
Mozart’s favorite pet: a starling that could sing his melodies
Mozart had a number of pets over the course of his short life, but one stands out above all the others: his pet starling.
Constanze Mozart: Who was Mrs. Mozart?
When Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died at the age of 35, he left his wife Constanze with two children, almost no money and his manuscripts.
Sunday was Funday for Mozart and his family
Sundays started with Mass for the Mozart family who were working musicians for the Archbishop’s weekly church service.
Mozart’s shadow looms large over the city of Salzburg
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a petite 5′ 4″, but his shadow looms large over his city of birth, Salzburg, Austria.
Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute’: The lovable Papageno
Mozart lived to write opera, but he struggled with box office success. The initial run of “The Marriage of Figaro” in Vienna ran only nine times before closing.
Mozart and ‘The Sound of Music’: Inside Salzburg’s Mirabell Palace
Fans of the movie “The Sound of Music” know the gardens of Salzburg’s Schloss Mirabell (Mirabell Palace) well.
Who was the female Mozart?
Mozart’s star shines so brightly in history that it overshadows nearly everyone around him, including his extraordinarily talented sister, Maria Anna “Nannerl” Mozart.
Was Mozart outshined by his sister?
The tiny St. Johanneskirche am Imberg is rumored to have been the favorite little hideaway of Wolfgang and Nannerl Mozart as children.
Mozart’s homeopathic cure for a painful ailment
A strong cup of coffee may be the cure you need in the morning to wake up and begin working, but in Mozart’s time it was thought to also cure […]
The man with the money behind Mozart’s childhood travels
Mozart didn’t have an ordinary childhood. He never went to school. And he didn’t live at home very much.
That time when Haydn beat out Mozart for a job
Mozart had friends in high places, most notably his father who was one of the most important musicians in Salzburg.
More Mozart Stories
Mozart was a fashionista. Stylish clothes were a must for him.
Mozart loved to dress well and spent large sums of money on extravagant clothes and the latest fashions. His sense of style was just another extension of his creativity.
Mozart’s childhood was filled with friends and family fun
Mozart grew up in Salzburg, but over a third of his adolescence was spent traveling Europe showing off his extraordinary keyboard skills and learning from other composers and musicians.
WATCH: Mozart’s father, Leopold, was a strict but nurturing parent. His son was not his only legacy.
Wolfgang Mozart’s father, Leopold, often gets a bad rap in history as a domineering, fame-obsessed father who exploited his children’s talents. There is a kernel of truth in those accusations.
Mozart’s favorite meal
Mozart was wined and dined by royalty, yet in his extensive correspondences with family and friends, he rarely commented on the food he was served.
Mozart’s birthplace: the room where it happened
In this episode of Mozart Snapshots, Katie Mahan takes us into Mozart's Geburtshaus (birthplace) for a tourist-free walk through the house and shares a wealth of information about his early years.
Mozart played the organ. Who knew?
In this episode of Mozart Snapshots, Katie Mahan takes us inside the Salzburger Dom and gives us an exclusive tour of the organ Mozart played every week with the current organist of the cathedral.
Introducing: Mozart Snapshots with pianist Katie Mahan
An exclusive new series from Denver native, pianist Katie Mahan, that follows Mozart's footsteps through the city of his birth. Katie takes us to places where no tourists are allowed.
